Expert Witness Services – Introduction
Introduction
Chuck Gilman’s expertise in the field of trademark licensing has been cultivated over a 40+ year career as a licensor, a licensee, a licensing agent, and a licensing consultant. His introduction to this field came while he was the CEO and principal of a successful 7th Avenue fashion apparel manufacturer throughout the 70’s and early 80’s. Having spent many years as both: 1) a licensee for several designer names and 2) a licensor of these designer names (and their designs) to companies outside the U.S., Chuck developed a passion for deal-making. In 1984, Chuck founded Apparel Connections International (later changed to Gilman Licensing Associates LLC), a licensing agency whose mission was to build licensing programs for designer, fashion, and lifestyle brand owners. One of Chuck’s great successes during this time was helping L.A. Gear to grow from a $5 million start-up venture to a $900 million footwear behemoth through the establishment of a very successful licensing program. Another was putting Tommy Hilfiger together with the company that launched him to fame. GLA’s success continued in the mid to late 90’s as the company evolved into a licensing consultancy, with a view towards representing industry-leading manufacturers (licensees) for the identification and acquisition of major brand licenses.
To date, Chuck has personally been involved in negotiating over 250 deals in the apparel, accessories, sporting goods, home furnishings, fitness, consumer electronics, appliance, auto, giftware, and pet products industries. His company has a client base of over 100 manufacturers, most of whom are major players in their fields, for the acquisition of powerful, appropriate licenses. He also counts hundreds of companies whom he can approach at any given time when appropriate opportunities arise. In the relatively small licensing industry, Chuck is well liked and well known as one of its early pioneers. He’s recognized as much for his integrity, responsibility, and sincerity as he is for his longevity, diligence, and success.
Because of his extensive experience and wealth of knowledge regarding the subjects of trademark licensing and fashion, Chuck is uniquely suited to provide expert witness and trademark evaluation services in licensing-related and/or fashion-related matters. Among the types of cases for which he has provided expert witness services in the past are: trademark infringement, trademark evaluation, breach of license agreements, and counterfeit goods.