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Ron Coleman

Ronald David Coleman (born March 11, 1963) is a lawyer and legal blogger who is known for his work in the areas of First Amendment and intellectual property rights, especially pertaining to the Internet, and particularly in his role as author of the Likelihood of Confusion blawg. He served briefly as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall University, and is a frequent lecturer and writer on legal issues.Coleman, a partner in a New York commercial law firm and formerly general counsel of the now-defunct Media Bloggers Association, wrote the first article on Internet law in the American Bar Association Journal in 1995. Coleman also co-authored a chapter entitled Responses to Complaints in the first edition of the American Bar Association Litigation Section's treatise, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, was the principal author of an American Bar Association public education work on consumer law and wrote the Princeton Review Pre-Law Companion for aspiring law students. He was also a contributing editor for the American Bar Association publication, Student Lawyer, during the 1980s, winning a Chicago Newspaper Guild Stick-O-Type Award for Feature Writing in 1987 for his work there.Coleman represented Steven Brodsky in the early cybersquatting dispute Jews for Jesus v. Brodsky (in 1998) and The National Debate's online parody of The New York Times's corrections page against legal threats by the paper. Coleman has subsequently become associated with the defending the rights of bloggers. Other reported blogger clients include William A. Jacobson, Rogers Cadenhead, Lance Dutson, Joan Stewart, Kevin Aylward, Patrick "Patterico" Frey, Katherine Coble Jeffrey Wright, Michael Bates and Mandy Nagy.Other legal work that has drawn attention include his representation of businesses and personalities in disputes over the use of intellectual property on and off the Internet. These include his legal defense of copyright infringement claims against former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin and SarahPAC for using a thumbnail version of the Raising the Flag at Ground Zero photo on Facebook, his experience with respect to Web-based defamation claims and the lawsuit he filed on behalf of independent shoe designer Antonio Brown against LVMH for trademark infringement. Coleman also participated, as co-counsel with Marc Randazza, in the legal representation of various defendants involved in the Righthaven "copyright troll" litigation and has represented Simon Tam and his band The Slants in their appeal of the refusal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to register the band's name as a trademark.A graduate of Princeton University and Northwestern University School of Law, Coleman is credited with coining the term "blogola" to refer to supposedly illicit consideration given to bloggers in return for favorable reviews or other mentions of products or services in their blog postings. He also studied in a number of Jewish Orthodox institutes prior to beginning his law practice, the longest period having been spent at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. He has been actively involved in litigation involving orthodox Jewish causes and representation of communal institutions. He is affiliated with Agudath Israel of America.