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Geri L. Haight

(she/her/hers)

Member

[email protected]

+1.617.348.1705

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Geri has a multifaceted practice focusing on employment litigation, counseling, and compliance, as well as intellectual property and trade secret matters. In addition, she chairs the steering committee of the Mintz Women’s Initiative, an affinity group dedicated to supporting and enriching the lives and careers of the firm’s female attorneys.

Geri leverages extensive experience as an in-house attorney and trial lawyer and with a broad range of business and employment issues to advise clients across a variety of industries, including food & beverage, consumer products, retail, and technology. Her work primarily involves both litigation and counseling on a broad spectrum of employment issues, including trade secret and intellectual property protection, the enforcement of noncompetition and nondisclosure agreements, independent contractor and employee classification, internal investigations, as well as compliance matters. 

Geri returned to Mintz after more than seven years as in-house counsel with a national fast-casual restaurant chain, most recently as vice president and deputy general counsel. In that role, she managed employment, litigation, intellectual property, contract, marketing and advertising, and data security and privacy matters and provided guidance on a broad spectrum of workplace issues and employment-related compliance matters. 

During her prior tenure with Mintz, Geri was a Member and Associate, practicing in the firm’s litigation and intellectual property practices for 14 years. She handled litigation, arbitration, and mediation of trademark, trade secret, copyright, false advertising, domain name, and patent disputes in courts throughout the country, as well as matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Her practice also involved counseling clients on intellectual property matters and negotiating settlement and licensing agreements. 

Geri is also actively involved in pro bono work on behalf of the firm, including representation of the Human Rights Campaign. She has also served as an adjunct professor of trademark law at the Northeastern University School of Law.

viewpoints

An Update: The Cost Of An Illegal Download

September 20, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

As you may recall, we asked the question in a recent blog post “Are You Willing to Pay $22,500 to Download A Song? " Well, we now ask "Are you willing to pay $9250 to download a song?" 
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S. 3523: Louboutin, Lululemon, and Fashion Design: Finally Getting Some Respect?

September 20, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

A few weeks ago, the Second Circuit's ruling in the Louboutin decision made clear that color as a trademark can be protected in the fashion industry.  Recently, Lululemon has sued Calvin Klein for design patent infringement over the design of yoga pants.
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Further to the “Copying from the Internet” Issue…..

September 18, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

In our August 14th blog, we explained why just because you can copy something from the Internet, doesn’t mean you should copy from the Internet. A case on this very issue that has been around for several years involved the well-known “Hope” poster of President Obama’s face made during the 2008 campaign.
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When Can You Claim A Color As Your Trademark?

September 13, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

In its recent decision in Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America, Inc., the Second Circuit held there was no "per se rule that would deny protection for use of a single color as a trademark in a particular industrial context."
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Politician Settling Case for Unauthorized Use of Music at Campaign Events

August 29, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

It appears that Newt Gingrich and Frankie Sullivan, a member of the rock band Survivor, and his company Rude Music , have reached a tentative settlement in the latter’s copyright infringement suits against Gingrich for use of the song "Eye of the Tiger" during Gingrich’s presidential campaign bid.
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Are You Willing to Pay $22,500 to Download A Song?

August 28, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

The August 23, 2012 decision in Song BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the most recent in this extended litigation, leaves no doubt that individuals who download music and distribute it without proper authorization through peer-to-peer file sharing sites are subject to liability for copyright infringement and payment of substantial statutory damages for doing so.
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As we reported in December, two adult entertainment companies filed suit in federal district court in Los Angeles against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and ICM Registry, the sole operator of the .XXX domain name registry.
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Just Because You Can Copy It Does Not Mean That You May Copy It

August 15, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

In a number of recent cases, individual photographers have successfully sued third parties for unauthorized reproduction and use of photographs, particularly those from stock photography sources.
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Google Search Results Will Reflect Repeated Copyright Infringement

August 13, 2012 | Blog | By Geri Haight, Susan Neuberger Weller

On Friday, August 10, 2012, Google announced that it was changing its search algorithms so that websites with high numbers of valid copyright infringement removal notices would appear much lower in the search results.
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ICANN has announced that it has extended the public comment period for new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications for an additional 45 days. The public comment period was scheduled to close on August 12th. The new end date is now September 26, 2012. 
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News & Press

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Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
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BOSTON – Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has recognized Mintz in its inaugural Empowering Women awards program, which honors law firms that have shown a strong commitment to supporting and elevating women attorneys in Massachusetts, and showcase tangible and innovative efforts by law firms to advance women attorneys in the workplace and community.
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Member and chair of the firm's Women's Initiative Geri Haight was quoted in SHRM discussing when employees develop long COVID-19, what the implications could be for employers.
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Mintz continues its ongoing commitment to ensuring the firm is an equitable workplace, establishing a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee that reports directly to the firm's main decision making body, the Policy Committee. The new Equity Advisory Council (EAC) will be responsible for driving equity for the firm’s attorneys, especially women, attorneys of color and LGBTQ+ attorneys.
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Law360 reported that Geri Haight has rejoined Mintz as a Member in the firm’s Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice, based in Boston.
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Publications

Co-author, "Contract Corner," The Licensing Journal (November-December 2023).

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Recognition & Awards

  • Featured in Best Lawyers in America, Employment Litigation (2024)

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Involvement

  • Chair, Legal Affairs Committee, Association of National Advertisers (2018-2020)
  • Co-Chair, Intellectual Litigation Committee, Boston Bar Association (2009–2011)
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Massachusetts Bar Association
  • Member, International Trademark Association (INTA)
  • Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
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Geri L. Haight

(she/her/hers)

Member

Boston