Anthony Dreyer

Anthony Dreyer is a commercial litigator concentrating on intellectual property, sports, entertainment and licensing disputes. He co-chairs the firm’s Sports practice and oversees its Trademark, Copyright and False Advertising litigation practice.

Mr. Dreyer litigates matters involving Lanham Act claims, copyright and rights of publicity. A significant part of Mr. Dreyer’s IP practice involves counseling clients on the intersection of emerging technologies and IP protection and use, advising clients on a wide range of IP issues (including copyright, trademark and right of publicity concerns) relating to generative AI, NFTs, the metaverse, and data scraping and protection. In addition, he is a frequent lecturer on the use and protection of IP rights in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Mr. Dreyer has been recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a top practitioner in both the intellectual property and sports categories. He has been named an IP Star and Trade Mark Star by Managing Intellectual Property, as well as selected repeatedly to the WTR 1000 by World Trademark Review as a leading trademark practitioner nationwide and as one of the publication’s Global Leaders: Private Practice. Mr. Dreyer also has been recog­nized by Sports Business Journal as a Sports Law Power Player, by The Best Lawyers in America for his work in sports law, by World Intellectual Property Review for his work in contentious trademarks and by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America.

Mr. Dreyer has served as adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School, teaching courses on Advertising Law and Advanced Trademark Law, and at Cardozo Law School, teaching Sports and the Law.

• On behalf of the Miami Heat (the Heat) and National Basketball Association (NBA), Anthony secured a favorable resolution this year when fashion designer Joel Pena agreed to voluntarily dismiss all claims and counterclaims against the Heat, NBA, and Nike in a trademark infringement dispute in the Southern District of New York and abandon his claim to trademarks used by the NBA and the Heat. The litigation arose from Pena’s allegations that the Heat infringed his purported trademark rights in “CULTURE” and “CULTURE TV” through marketing and selling merchandise bearing “CULTURE” and “CULTURE”-formative marks. The Heat filed counterclaims seeking cancellation of Pena’s federal and state trademark registrations and a declaratory judgment confirming that the team is the senior user of “CULTURE” and “CULTURE”-formative marks. The voluntary dismissal comes after the court denied Pena’s motion to dismiss the Heat’s counterclaims in April 2025. Following dismissal, Mr. Pena abandoned his relevant trademark registrations. 
• Anthony and Skadden obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of Metacapital Management, L.P. — a New York-based investment adviser that has offered financial services under its “Meta” name since 2001 — in its trademark infringement lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. (MPI) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit began in September 2022 when Metacapital sued MPI for trademark infringement arising out of the company’s October 2021 rebrand from “Facebook” to “Meta.” The Skadden-authored complaint sought significant monetary and injunctive relief, noting Metacapital’s concerns about consumer confusion due to MPI’s notoriety and pointing to a December 2021 transaction in which MPI paid $60 million for “Meta” and “Meta”-formative trademarks to another company in the financial services industry. On May 10, 2024, after more than 1.5 years of discovery and other proceedings, our team informed the court that the parties had reached agreement on a settlement in principle.
  
  
• On behalf of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), Anthony and Skadden defeated a motion to dismiss or stay in an action to enforce a guaranty against JoongAng Ilbo Co., Ltd., the parent company of the LPGA’s former South Korea-based broadcast partner JTBC Discovery, Inc. Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruling from the bench, denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss, in which it argued that the LPGA had not established the existence of an underlying debt and an absolute and unconditional guaranty, and that the LPGA had not adequately pled JoongAng’s failure to perform. Rejecting these arguments, the court held that the LPGA adequately pled its claim. The court also denied the defendant’s alternative motion to stay the case pending the outcome of an arbitration JTBC Discovery commenced shortly after the LPGA filed its federal lawsuit.
  
  Skadden previously represented the LPGA in a dispute with JTBC PLUS Co., Ltd. (JTBC), a South Korean subscription network and broadcasting conglomerate that has served as the primary broadcaster and sponsor of LPGA events in Korea for over a decade. Following an aggressive defense by Skadden, JTBC agreed to resolve the matter in a manner that was favorable to the LPGA in the summer of 2022.
  
  
• Skadden is advising The National Football League (“NFL”) on various trademark and copyright matters, including in a copyright infringement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concerning use of a photograph of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders from 1995 to curate a statue now outside of the Detroit Lions stadium. In January 2024, professional photographer Allen Kee filed his initial lawsuit, which sought damages and accused Getty Images, the Detroit Lions and the NFL for copying, selling and licensing the photo without Kee's authorization. Kee later dropped the NFL from his suit. 
  
  
• Anthony is representing a major professional sports league and four professional teams in securing the favorable settlement of music copyright infringement claims relating to social media posts by the league and/or its clubs. He is also advising the league in several separate enforcement matters involving their portfolio of trademarks and copyrights. 

• J.D., Fordham University School of Law (Managing Editor, Fordham Law Review)
• B.A., Rutgers University  

   

• Former Counsel, International Trademark Association
• Co-Chair, International Forum on Sports Law
• Director, Federal Bar Foundation (2016-2019)

• New York
• New Jersey
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, District of Columbia and Federal Circuits
• U.S. District Courts for New Jersey and the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York
• U.S. Supreme Court