Tal S. Benschar is Of Counsel at Koffsky Schwalb LLC. Tal’s practice focuses on intellectual property disputes, including both litigation and pre-litigation enforcement, and commercial litigation.

Tal has litigated the full range of intellectual property: utility and design patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, grey goods disputes and anti-counterfeiting. He has represented clients in foundational intellectual property work, prosecuted copyright and trademark applications, and been involved in many inter partes disputes and ex parte appeals before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Tal’s commercial litigation practice has focused on business disputes in federal and state courts, where he has helped numerous clients assert and protect their rights both against private parties and regulatory bodies.

Tal has also worked on many internet law related issues, including domain name disputes, and has litigated computer software infringement cases.

Tal has represented a broad range of clients, from large multinational conglomerates to small privately owned businesses. He has advised clients about planning and implementing protection strategy for large intellectual property holders. And he has overseen enforcement programs for several world-famous brands.

Tal has published extensively on intellectual property and commercial law topics in university law journals, the New York Law Journal, in Forbes magazine and in industry websites. He was a lecturer for the New York State Judicial Institute on the topic, Contracts and Coronavirus.

Representative Experience

• Lead litigator in Cartier v. Four Star Jewelry Creations, which established rights for the client in four watch designs. Victory in that case was then used to obtain seven registrations, and enforcement against many other infringers through summary judgment.
• Lead litigator in Van Cleef & Arpels v. Landau Jewelry, in which the Court found on summary judgment ownership and validity of a forty-year-old copyright believed to have been lost to the public domain. Decision then used successfully in many later subsequent litigations..
• Lead litigator in Cartier v. Symbolix, which established that altered watches are counterfeit as a matter of law.
• Lead litigator in Chloe vs. Queen Bee of Beverly Hills, a Second Circuit decision which established that personal jurisdiction exists based on a single on-line sale of a counterfeit item to an investigator.
• Lead litigator in Audemars Piguet Holding S.A. v. Swiss Watch International, Inc., resulting in $4.4 Million award for client.

Tal is a graduate of Columbia School of Law, where he was twice named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Tal holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yeshiva University, magna cum laude, 1989. He worked in a leading intellectual property boutique for over 20 years.