Alyssa M. Bruno, Esq.

Alyssa represents clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey state courts, as well as in federal courts throughout the country on a pro hac vice basis.  She concentrates her practice on intellectual property infringement litigation, copyright and trademark registrations, business transactions, and business litigation.

Copyright law is a central focus of Alyssa’s practice.  Artists, authors, photographers, musicians, and other creators seek Alyssa’s guidance on how to best protect their creative works and what to do when someone infringes upon their copyright-protected work.  Alyssa provides her clients with practical and cost-effective solutions to enforcing their rights and pursuing copyright infringement claims when necessary.  In instances where the merits of a copyright infringement claim are strong, and there is a high likelihood of recovering significant monetary damages, Alyssa will handle the case on a contingency fee basis, meaning that the client does not pay for their legal services until monetary compensation for their injury is recovered.

Trademark law is also a central focus of Alyssa’s practice.  Alyssa represents both plaintiffs and defendants in trademark infringement litigation matters.  She also files federal trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and counsels clients on choosing strong company names, logos, and phrases that are likely to qualify for federal trademark protection.  If an issue arises during the trademark application process, Alyssa advocates on behalf of her clients through filing responses to Office Action letters and appearing in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

In addition to her intellectual property practice, Alyssa also represents small business owners in business transactions and business litigation matters.  Business litigation has been the core of Alyssa’s practice since the onset of her career.  She has extensive experience representing both large and small companies in complex litigation matters, including breach of contract disputes, partnership breakups, and business torts.  She also negotiates and drafts a wide variety of contracts for her business clients, including non-compete agreements, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), intellectual property assignment contracts, independent contractor agreements, and licensing contracts.

Alyssa attended Villanova University School of Law on a Full-Tuition Dean’s Merit Scholarship.  She attended the Honors College at the University of South Carolina on an academic scholarship and graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing.

Prior to entering private practice, Alyssa served a year term as an appellate judicial law clerk for the Honorable Jack A. Panella of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.  As a judicial law clerk, Alyssa assisted in drafting over fifty (50) decisions on civil and criminal appeals.  She gained tremendous insight through this experience, which continues to shape the way she approaches cases to this day.

Following her clerkship, Alyssa joined a regional commercial litigation firm in Morristown, NJ where she focused on products liability, insurance coverage matters, and other complex commercial litigation disputes.  After several years of this work, Alyssa returned to her hometown in Easton, PA and pivoted her practice to focus on serving individuals and small businesses rather than large corporations.  Since then, Alyssa has been representing artists, designers, and creative businesses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.  She finds this work incredibly fulfilling and looks forward to serving these communities for many years to come.

Alyssa is the Co-Founder of the Villanova Fashion Law Society, which is a student-run organization dedicated to putting on events involving the niche area of law known as Fashion Law.  Alyssa organized the Fashion Law Society’s inaugural Fashion Law Symposium, which featured panelists from top fashion companies, including Louis Vuitton and Stuart Weitzman.

As an attorney in private practice, Alyssa regularly speaks on issues concerning artists’ rights and intellectual property law.  She has twice acted as a faculty member and course planner for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s “Copyright Permissions and Online Use” CLE.  She has also served as a guest lecturer at George Washington University Law School, the University of Southern California School of Law, Drexel University School of Law, and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Here are a few of the notable cases that Alyssa has handled for her clients:

• Successfully registered federal trademarks on behalf of musicians, visual artists, and small business owners.
• Negotiated large sum product licensing deals on behalf of visual artists collaborating with luxury fashion and beauty brands.
• Obtained significant settlements on behalf of visual artists whose works were misappropriated by large corporations and included in global advertising campaigns without their consent.
• Recovered significant settlement on behalf of author whose work was reproduced in a commercial setting over several years without his consent or any payment being made to him.
• Negotiated settlement on behalf of photographer whose work was stolen and incorporated into a social media marketing campaign without his consent or any payment being made to him.
• Obtained reversal of temporary restraining order (TRO) wrongfully entered against independent apparel designer and illustrator in federal trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit.
• Member of the litigation team that recovered a substantial settlement on behalf of a well-known painter who had one of his famous copyright-protected paintings reproduced in a top-grossing video game without his consent and without any payment to him.
• Served as co-counsel and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on behalf of a local billboard advertising company attempting to enforce a covenant not to compete provision of a $15,000,000.00 asset purchase agreement that it entered into with a prominent real estate developer.
• Member of the litigation team that recovered a significant settlement on behalf of a small retailer who had their trademarked company name infringed upon by a large, big-box retailer in a nationwide product line.
• Served as co-counsel and recovered a large settlement in a subrogation case involving a fire that occurred at a retail store due to defective store lighting equipment.

• Panelist at University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law’s APALSA/ADR Symposium on “AI’s Cultural Shift on Art and Fashion,” 2024
• Guest Lecturer at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, 2022-2024
• Faculty Member and Course Planner for Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s “Copyright Permissions and Online Use” CLE, 2021 and 2023
• Guest Lecturer at Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, 2022- 2023
• Panelist at George Washington School of Law’s “The Supreme Court Meets Andy Warhol” Discussion, 2022

• Member of the Pennsylvania Bar
• Member of the New Jersey Bar
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• United States Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania
• United States Northern District Court of Illinois