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Dave is currently accepting speaking engagements, so if you would like him to speak at your business, professional, educational or legal association or group on any of his areas of expertise, please call 727-531-1111 or email to [email protected].

Dave has written a wide variety of articles in the areas of Intellectual Property and Computer and Cyberlaw which have been published in various print and online publications.  His most recent article is entitled “Artificial Intelligence and The Legal Protection of AI-Generated Creative Works.”  That article and a list and links are included in the Articles section of this website.

Florida Bar Re-Certification:  Dave has just been re-certified by the Florida Bar as a Board Certified Intellectual Property Lawyer for a fourth term of five years effective August 2022.  Dave was in the inaugural group of attorneys certified in IP Law in 2007 and taught Copyright Law and Prosecution at the Florida Bar Intellectual Property Law Certification Seminar for those taking the inaugural I.P. Certification examination.  Certification is the highest level of evaluation by the Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys, requiring special knowledge, skills and proficiency in I.P. law, and professionalism and ethics in practice.  Only lawyers who are certified in Intellectual Property Law are permitted to identify themselves as specialists or experts in the field.

World Traveler: Dave has visited 61 countries on six continents, 45 U.S. states (plus Puerto Rico, where he lectured twice on Computer Law), and seven Canadian provinces. In the past few years, he visited Japan, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, South America, Cuba and the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and Iceland and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard (Norway), land of the midnight sun.

On December 14, 2023, Dave was featured in a news report on News Channel 8 in Tampa in an interview about a copyright lawsuit brought on behalf of country star Luke Combs against a local woman who had sold eighteen tumblers with his image on them.  He was awarded $250,000 in damages for her sale of “counterfeit” items, but later apologized to the woman for his representatives’ suing her and others without his knowledge.  On the program, Dave discussed copyright and trademark infringement, unauthorized uses of images and likenesses, and related intellectual property law issues.

On April 24, 2023, Dave gave an online interactive presentation on Copyright Law to students and faculty of Schiller International University, Tampa campus.

In January 2022, Dave’s daughter, Dana Ellis Hunnes, Ph.D., had her new book published by Cambridge University Press, the oldest academic publisher in the world (e.g. Newton, Milton, Stephen Hawking, Noam Chomski) .  The book is entitled Recipe For Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life.  Dana  is an Assistant Professor with the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA and Senior Dietitian at the UCLA Medical Center. She has dedicated herself to understanding the relationships among climate change, food choices, and food security, and how they affect our health.  For more information and to order the book, please see https://danaellishunnes.com.

On January 21, 2020, Dave spoke at the Hale Activity Center in Dunedin about Computer Crime and Internet Law, including how to avoid online scams and frauds, and how to seek redress for criminal violations and breaches of privacy.

On September 11, 2019, Dave gave a presentation about Copyright Law  to students and faculty of the Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami International University of Art and Design, in Tampa.

On August 20, 2019, Dave addressed the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Suncoast Chapter, in a continuing education presentation entitled “The Name’s The Game: Branding and Trademarks, Domain Names and Cybersquatting.”  The talk was presented at a Business and Baseball program at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg preceding a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners.

In February 2019, Dave was interviewed for a Bay News 9 Tampa Bay television newscast about am ongoing trademark dispute at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office between Dairy Queen, makers of the DILLY ice cream bar since 1953, and a food truck company called DILLY DILLY DONUT, one of the purveyors of food and drink at the Florida State Fair.

Dave attended the annual Florida Dispute Resolution Conference in Orlando in August 2019, 2018, and 2017, a two-day statewide event focused on the enhancement of alternate dispute resolution and mediation knowledge, skills, and ethics.

On April 25, 2018, Dave spoke in Tampa about Copyrights and Trademarks  to students and faculty of the Art Institute of Tampa, a branch of Miami International University of Art and Design.

On October 29, 2016, Dave appeared on a segment of ABC Action News just before Halloween discussing the reasons why costume makers often avoid using the actual names of celebrities and cartoon characters for their costumes so as not to violate the publicity rights and copyrights of individuals and companies. The show featured a Prince costume called “The Purple Artist,” while a Minnie Mouse look-alike became “Adorable Miss Mischief.”  See https://fbarrera3.wistia.com/medias/aj9b7vijw6.

On September 28, 2016, Dave spoke on “Copyright Law for Filmmakers” to members of the Sunscreen Film Society at a meeting at Suite 4K Studio in Clearwater.

On March 24, 2016, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property Law and Licensing Agreements at a Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education program on Basic Transactional Law sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar in Tampa.

On December 8, 2015, Dave spoke at a meeting of the Clearwater Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm Section about his experience practicing law in the Tampa Bay area for over thirty years, both in private practice and as in-house counsel for Paradyne Corporation, a high tech modem manufacturer.  Before moving to Florida, Dave practiced law in New York and New Jersey as in-house corporate counsel for RCA Communications in satellite and international communications, and in private practice in New York City after graduation from Harvard Law School and MIT.

Dave’s law firm has been named as one of the nation’s Top Trademark Firms by Intellectual Property Law Today magazine.  Dave’s firm ranked among the top 125 law firms nationwide in obtaining new trademark registrations issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

On October 20, 2015, Dave spoke on “Copyright Law for Visual Artists” at a meeting of the Professional Association of Visual Artists (PAVA) at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center in Dunedin.

On October 15, 2015, Dave spoke on “Branding and Trademark Protection” at a meeting of the Tampa Bay Paralegal Association in Tampa.

On August 31, 2015, Dave spoke about Copyrights and related legal issues at a meeting of the Suncoast Information Specialists, a professional association of librarians and information specialists in the Tampa Bay area, at the Largo Library.

On August 24, 2015, Dave spoke about Copyrights and related legal issues at a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Writers Group (BAPWG)  on the topic “What the Professional Writer Needs to Know About Copyrights in the Digital Age” in Largo.

On May 12, 2015, Dave appeared on “Joy on Paper,” a radio program for writers on WTAN 1340 in Clearwater to discuss and answer questions about publishing, copyrights, and other intellectual property law issues.

On April 11, 2015. Dave spoke about Copyrights for Screenwriters at a meeting of the the Actors, Screenwriters, Artists and Crew Productions (ASACP) at Suite 4K Studios in Clearwater.

On March 20, 2015, Dave presented a half-day seminar entitled “Copyright in the Digital Age” to medical and hospital librarians at a meeting of the Tampa Bay Medical Library Network at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearw

On  November 20, 2014, Dave presented a seminar on Intellectual Property Law to small business owners at the Florida Small Business Development Center at Pinellas County Economic Development in the EpiCenter in Clearwater.

On July 14, 2014, Dave spoke about Intellectual Property issues to an Introduction to Paralegalism class at St. Petersburg College, Paralegal Studies Program, in the College of Policy Ethics and Legal Studies.

On June 14, 2014, Dave spoke to the Pinellas Authors and Writers Organization, PINAWOR, on “Copyright Law for Writers” in Largo.

On May 3, 2014, Dave presented an interactive educational workshop entitled “Great Ideas? Learn How to Protect Yours – and Establish Your Brand!” at the Toastmasters International District 48 Spring Convention in Tampa.

On March 18, 2014, Dave presented a seminar on Intellectual Property Law featuring copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets for the FastTrac NewVenture Program for Military Veteran Entrepreneurs sponsored by the Tampa Bay Innovation Center in Largo.

On November 4, 2013, Dave spoke at St. Petersburg College on Intellectual Property issues and the Right of Publicity, including the Trayvon Martin case, to an Introduction to Paralegalism class in the College of Policy Ethics and Legal Studies, Paralegal Studies Program.

On October 23, 2013, Dave spoke about the Trayvon Martin case and the Right of Publicity and other Intellectual Property issues at the Thomas Cooley Law School, Tampa Campus, at a meeting of the law school’s Student Intellectual Property Law Association.

Dave was interviewed by a reporter for Florida Public Radio, WFSU in Tallahassee as an expert on Intellectual Property Law, particularly the Right of Publicity and Trademark Law, for a report called “Profiteering Or Tribute? Trayvon Martin T-Shirts Raise Moral And Legal Questions,” broadcast on September 13, 2013.  You can hear the audio and read the transcript at:
https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wfsu/audio/2013/09/TMartinTshirts0913crWEB.mp3  and
https://news.wfsu.org/post/profiteering-or-tribute-trayvon-martin-t-shirts-raise-moral-and-legal-questions.

On August 19, 2013 Dave spoke on “Branding for Fun and Profit” at a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Largo.

On April 17, 2013, Dave appeared on a panel of Intellectual Property attorneys at a luncheon program hosted by the Stetson College of Law Intellectual Property Law Society in St. Petersburg.

On November 8, 2012, Dave was the principal speaker at a Continuing Legal Education seminar entitled “U.S. Trademark Registration: The Attorney’s Role from Clearance to Renewals”  sponsored by LawReviewCLE in Tampa.

On August 22, 2012, Dave spoke on “Copyrights, Trademarks and Entertainment Law for Film Makers” at a meeting of the Florida Film Network in Tampa.

In May 2012, Dave’s article “The Name’s the Game: Branding and Trademark Protection” was published in the inaugural issue of Attorney at Law Magazine, Tampa Bay Edition.

On May 23, 2012, Dave participated in an hour-long televised panel discussion, “Creating Your Own Job: Licensing and the Law,” on the Tampa Bay Community Network.

On October 29, 2011, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property Law to a graduate class on Managing Innovation in the Executive MBA Program at the University of Tampa College of Business.

On May 25, 2011, Dave spoke on Branding, Domain Name Disputes and Other Intellectual Property Law topics at a meeting of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Hillsborough County Bar Association in Tampa.

On May 21 and June 12, 2011, Dave spoke on “Copyright Law for Genealogists” at meetings of the Pinellas Genealogical Society in Largo and the Jewish Genealogy Society of Tampa Bay in Clearwater.

Dave helped organize and was a principal speaker at two Continuing Legal Education seminars entitled “Introduction to Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Intellectual Property Law” sponsored by LawReviewCLE in Miami and Tampa on March 22 and April 12, 2011. His presentation covered Copyrights, Trademarks, Domain Names and Other Internet-related Topics, and Ethical Considerations for Intellectual Property practitioners.

On September 14, 2010, Dave addressed the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Suncoast Chapter, in a continuing education presentation entitled “The Name’s The Game: Branding and Trademarks, Domain Names and Cybersquatting.”  The talk was presented at a Business and Baseball program at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg preceding a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees.

On July 28 and April 28, 2010, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property Law featuring trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets at seminars sponsored by the Pinellas County Business Development Center in Clearwater.

On May 24, 2010, Dave spoke on Copyright and Internet Law and Cyberlaw at a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Writers Guild in Largo.

On  April 28, 2010, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property Law featuring trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets at a seminar sponsored by the Pinellas County Business Development Center in Clearwater.

On April 16, 2010, Dave spoke on Copyrights and related legal issues at a seminar entitled “Copyright Basics for Artists in the Digital Age”  sponsored by  the Pinellas County Cultural Affairs office and Lawyers for the Arts at the EpiCenter in Clearwater.

On April 14, 2010, Dave spoke on the Copyright Fair Use doctrine as a guest lecturer at  a Copyright Law class at Stetson University College of Law  in Tampa. Dave taught Intellectual Property, Computer Law and Copyright Law as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Law Schools of Stetson and the University of Florida over a ten year period from 1989 to 1999.

On October 22, 2009, Dave presented a program entitled “What the Business Lawyer Needs to Know about Trademarks, Copyrights and Cyberlaw”  to the Business Law Committee of the St. Petersburg Bar Association.

On October 6, 2009, Dave spoke on Computer and Internet Law to the Society for Technical Communication (STC), Suncoast Chapter, in Clearwater.

On April 1, 2009, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw at an Introduction to Paralegalism class in the Legal Assistance Program at St. Petersburg College, Clearwater Campus.

On March 3, 2009, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property Law at a seminar sponsored by the Pinellas County Business Development Center in Clearwater.

Dave was quoted in the Tampa Tribune on the eve of the 2008 World Series about an attempt by Tropicana, owner of the naming rights to the Tampa Bay Rays’ ball field, to stop an alleged cybersquatter from using the domain name tropicanafield.com.

Duke Lecture – Dave gave a lecture and presentation on Intellectual Property, Computer and Cyberlaw and related legal issues at Duke University in Durham, NC at a meeting of the university’s ACM Chapter, Computer Science Department, on April 10, 2008.

Dave spoke on Copyright Law and related legal issues at a meeting of the Tampa Writers Alliance on April 2, 2008 in Tampa.

On December 6, 2007, Dave lectured on Copyright and Trademark Law at an Intellectual Property Law Continuing Legal Education seminar sponsored by the National Business Institute in Tampa.

Board Certification!  Dave was named by the Florida Bar as a Board Certified Intellectual Property Lawyer in the inaugural group of attorneys certified in Intellectual Property Law in 2007. In Florida, certified attorneys are the only lawyers permitted to identify themselves as specialists or experts, and this new intellectual property law specialty is the first of its kind in the United States. Certification is the highest level of evaluation by the Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in certain areas of law, requiring special knowledge, skills and proficiency in the law and professionalism and ethics in practice.

On July 19, 2007, Dave spoke on Copyright Law and Prosecution at a two-day Florida Bar Intellectual Property Law Certification Seminar in Orlando designed for those taking the inaugural Florida Bar Intellectual Property Certification examination.

On June 8, 2007, Dave spoke on Copyright Law at an Intellectual Property Law Continuing Legal Education seminar sponsored by the Hillsborough County Bar Association and the Clearwater Bar Association in Tampa.

On April 18, 2007, Dave gave a talk, “What You Need to Know About Copyright Law,” to members of the Stetson Intellectual Property Law Society at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg.

On April 17, 2007, Dave presented a Copyright Workshop for members of the Professional Association of Visual Artists (PAVA) and other artists at the Fine Art Center in Dunedin.

On February 3, 2007, Dave made a presentation entitled “Copyright Law for the Professional Genealogist” at a meeting of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists at the Library in Largo.

On January 19, 2007, Dave was one of the featured speakers at a seminar entitled “IP Rocks: Intellectual Property and the Entertainment Business” presented by the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law (EASL) Section of the Florida Bar at the Bar’s annual midyear meeting at the Hyattt Regency Hotel in downtown Miami. His presentation included an update on Trademarks, Internet Domain Names, and other Intellectual Property issues.

On November 20, 2006, Dave spoke about Copyrights and related legal issues in Tampa at a meeting of the Florida Writers Association, Tampa Group.

On September 18, 2006, Dave addressed the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Suncoast Chapter, in a continuing education presentation entitled “The Name’s the Game: Trademarks, Logos, Domain Names, Cybersquatting, and Player and Entertainer Publicity Rights.” The talk was presented at a Business and Baseball program at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg preceding a game between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Baltimore Orioles.

Dave was a member of a subcommittee of the Intellectual Property Law Committee of the Florida Bar’s Business Law Section that reviewed a proposed bill to revise Florida’s Trademark Act. The committee made extensive comments on the bill, after which it was amended by the legislature and enacted into law, effective January 1, 2007 (for more about the new law, see the the article, “What’s In A Name” at https://www.lawyers.com/davidrellis/legallinks.jsp).

Over past few years, Dave has had several of his articles published on a variety of topics in the areas of Intellectual Property and Computer and Cyberlaw, including the Supreme Court’s decision in the file-sharing case, MGM v. Grokster;Florida’s New Trademark Act; Copyright Law and the Rght of Publicity; Trademarks and Internet Domain Names; and cases featuring Elvis, Evel Knievel, Dwight Eisenhower, Napster, and the Washington Redskins. Links to these articles can be found in the Legal Links section.

On September 14, 2006, Dave made a presentation to the Florida Writers Association, St. Petersburg Group, on Copyrights and related legal issues.

Dave conducted a seminar on Copyrights and Intellectual Property Law for Public Access Television Producers at the Tampa Bay Public Access television studios in Tampa on July 24, 2006. Dave was the featured speaker at a meeting of the Florida Motion Picture and Television Association, Tampa Bay Chapter, on Copyrights, Trademarks, Publicity Rights, Contracts, and related legal issues in Clearwater on May 17, 2006.

Dave spoke at a meeting of the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation in Clearwater on April 20, 2006. The title of his talk was “Thumbing Along the Information Highway: Legal Issues in Advertising, Intellectual Property and the Internet.”

On February 27, 2006, Dave presented a talk on Copyrights and Publishing Contracts at a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Writers Guild in Largo.

On October 15, 2005, Dave spoke on Copyrights and Intellectual Property Law at a seminar in Clearwater entitled “The Artist and the Law,” sponsored by the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, of which he has been a member for many years.

On January 21, 2005, Dave spoke and served on a panel at a seminar presented by the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law (EASL) Section of the Florida Bar at the Bar’s annual midyear meeting at the Hyattt Regency in downtown Miami. His topic was Visual Arts Law and Technology: Art on the Internet and in Digital Media.

On November 12, 2004, Dave presented a lecture and discussion forum on the Law of Cyperspace, Computers, and Technology to students and faculty of Florida International University in Miami at the local chapter of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), Department of Computer Science.

On September 18, 2004, Dave spoke on Copyrights and Intellectual Property Law to the Pinellas Genealogy Society at the Largo Library on East Bay Drive in Largo.

On July 13, 2004, Dave conducted a two-hour seminar for Public Access Television Producers at the Tampa Bay Public Access Television studios on Copyright and Intellectual Property Law.

On May 22, 2004, Dave spoke on Intellectual Property and Copyrights at a seminar on Art Law in St. Petersburg sponsored by the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, of which he has been a member for many years.

Dave had four articles on intellectual property published in the May 2004 issue of the EASL (Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law) Newsletter of the Florida Bar on such diverse topics as Elvis, Napster, Dwight Eisenhower, and the Washington Redskins. For a link to the newsletter, please go to the Legal Links section of this website.

On January 28, 2004, Dave spoke on Copyright, Intellectual Property and Internet Law to the West Pasco County Genealogy Association in New Port Richey, his second appearance before the group.

Dave headed the planning committee and moderated a Florida Bar Business Law Section Continuing Legal Education program entitled “Landmark Cases in Intellectual Property, Computer Law and Trade Regulation: Winning Strategies from the Lawyers Who Argued Them” at the Florida Bar Midyear Meeting in Miami on January 16, 2004. The seminar was jointly sponsored by two committees in which he has long been active, the Intellectual Property Law Committee and the Computer Law Committee, as well as the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Committee.

Dave spoke on Intellectual Property and Computer and Cyberlaw on October 8, 2003 at a meeting of the Tampa Bay Inventor’s Council in Largo, of which he is a founding member.

Dave spoke on Copyrights, Fair Use and Intellectual Property Issues relating to the Internet at the Florida Public Relations Association’s annual Professional Development Seminar in Gainesville on April 11, 2003. He also spoke about Copyright Law on behalf of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts at a workshop sponsored by the Pinellas County Arts Council on February 25, 2003 at St. Petersburg College in Tarpon Springs.

Dave spoke at the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section’s seminar “Managing Your Entertainment Practice in a Tough Digital World” on January 17, 2003 during the Florida Bar’s Midyear Meeting in Miami. His topic was Copyright Law Update for the Entertainment Lawyer.

Dave passed the Patent Bar Examination in October 2002. He is licensed to prosecute patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office under Registration No. 52,860.

Dave spoke to a variety of groups about Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw and Computer Law at seminars and conferences in 2002, including:

Florida Writers Association (Copyrights and Publishing Contracts), Ringling School of Art and Design (Copyrights and Contract Law), CLE International Seminars (Information Technology Law), Stetson University College of Law, Florida Association of Woman Lawyers (Intellectual Property and Computer and Cyberlaw), Pinellas County Arts Council, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (Intellectual Property Protection), American College of Computer & Information Sciences, ACM Chapter (Computer and Cyberlaw), Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Suncoast Chapter (Cyberlaw and the CPA), Association of American University Presses (Copyright and Fair Use in a Digital Environment), West Pasco County Bar Association (Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw), National Business Institute (Trademarks and Copyrights, Trade Secrets, Licensing, and Ethics).

Dave also spoke at two Florida Bar Continuing Education seminars in 2001 and 2000. In 2001, Dave was Co-Chair of the subcommittee planning the annual Florida Cyberlaw seminar held on May 4, 2001 in Fort Lauderdale. The seminar entitled the “Third Annual Internet Law and Representation of Technology Companies” was a two-track presentation co-sponsored by the Intellectual Property, Corporations & Securities, and Financial Services Committees of the Business Law Section.

The previous year, Dave spoke on Copyrights in Cyberspace at the second annual Florida Cyberlaw seminar in Miami on Friday, February 11, 2000, www.Internetlaw.com II, which updated the highly successful 1999 seminar sponsored by the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar.

Dave presented his Tenth Annual program in April 2001 as part of the Florida Bar’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section’s CyberEntertainment Seminar in Tampa. In March 2000, Dave presented his Ninth Annual Intellectual Property Law Update Luncheon Seminar for the EASL Intellectual Property Committee, of which he was Co-Chair.

Dave also appeared on two radio call-in shows on Computer and Cyberlaw and Intellectual Property Law: WWBA Radio 1040 on February 6, 2000, and WTAN Radio 1340, The Computer Connection, on August 5, 2000.

Dave served as an Adjunct Professor teaching a course in Copyright Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in the Spring of 1999.  From 1989 to 1995, Dave was an Adjunct Professor at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, annually teaching courses in Intellectual Property and Computer Law.

In March 1999, Dave gave lectures on Intellectual Property and Cyberspace Law at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Binghamton University (N.Y.), and Syracuse University Law School, as part of a college speaking tour sponsored by the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM).  Dave also gave lectures for ACM at nine college campuses in South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky in 1994 and 1996.

Dave has written a number of articles on Intellectual Property and Computer and Cyberlaw that have been published in various print and online publications. A list and links are included in the Articles section of this website.