Paralegal

New Era Cap, LLC. is an international lifestyle brand headquartered in Buffalo, NY with an authentic sports heritage that dates back over 100 years. Best known for being the official on-field cap for MLB, official sideline cap for NFL, and official on-court cap for NBA, New Era Cap is the brand of choice not only for its headwear collection, but also for its accessories and apparel lines for men, women and youth.

The brand is worn as a symbol of self-expression by athletes, artists and some of the most interesting people around the globe. New Era Cap encourages people to truly express their personal style and individuality through its products.

Since 1920, this family-owned business has hired employees who are masters of their craft. We are innovators, architects of culture, experts, and forward thinkers. We demand excellence because we pride ourselves on the quality of our products and the authenticity of our brand.

Interested in working with us? Check out this exciting opportunity at New Era Cap's Headquarters (HQ) building located in downtown Buffalo, NY. This role is 100% on-site, encouraging employees to collaborate and connect in person five days a week. HQ offers an inviting atmosphere, complete with an on-site cafe, fitness center, and Flagship store.

Apply to join New Era's team!

The role of the paralegal is to support New Era's legal department on all legal matters affecting New Era Cap, LLC and its related entities. Responsibilities will include: trademark searching, clearance, and administration (support and database tracking); patent administration; contracts, and corporate review and administration; counterfeit management; litigation support; immigration support; and other corporate matters. The goal of this position is to help increase the organization and maintenance of all workflow moving through the legal department.

The paralegal reports to the Manager of IP & Contracts/Sr. Paralegal.

• Trademark maintenance, clearance and administration:
  • Conduct preliminary knock out searches for cap names and cap designs using domestic and international online search engines including online trademark office databases and Corsearch
  • Assess risk on trademark clearance issues
  • Assign and review trademark searches from Law Clerks
  • Assist with trademark prosecution and maintenance
  • Gather specimens for filing use affidavits and renewals
  • Correspond with outside counsel and international foreign associates
  • Assist in maintaining detailed trademark search records
  • Review and process Powers of Attorney
  • Review trademark watch notices for potential infringements and liaise with outside counsel to assess potential enforcement options
• Patent administration:
  • Assist with processing potential patentable matters and clearance for new product designs to outside counsel for review
• Contract maintenance and administration
  • Conduct initial review of contracts, including general business contracts, license agreements, real estate leases, confidentiality agreements, manufacturing agreements, vendor agreements, services agreements, and other business contracts domestically and internationally to help support our divisions in Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Korea, China and Japan
  • Assist in preparing various types of agreements, on a global basis with attorney oversight, including but not limited to:
    • Trademark consent agreements, non-disclosure agreements, collaboration agreements, statements of work, production services agreements, insertion orders, data protection addendums, and waiver letters for vendor compliance
  • Interact with and update General Counsel and all department attorneys, as well as internal business clients (including upper management as needed) on legal and business matters including contract status, legal risks and business terms of various deals
  • Assist in ensuring consistency of business and legal objectives in all contracts
  • Assist in research and review of unique legal issues impacting the organization by identifying applicable statutes, judicial decisions and codes
  • Process contracts for signature
  • Implement and maintain contract database
  • Assist in coordination of other legal issues and responsibilities as directed
• Counterfeit and infringement administration
  • Gather evidence to support and coordinate with brand protection team concerning ongoing counterfeit actions and entering third-party marketplaces
  • Initiate the take-down of counterfeit auctions and monitor other staff responsible for taking down counterfeit auctions
  • Draft cease and desist letters for counterfeiters and imitators of New Era Intellectual Property
• Litigation support
  • Compile information and respond to discovery demands
  • Gather evidence to support/defend enforcement actions
• Immigration assistance to include gathering of documents to process immigration applications
• Corporate/Administration
  • Assist in the maintenance of the corporate database system
  • Assist with the filing of annual qualifications and registrations
  • Assist with drafting and…