Sean F. Kane is a member of Drakeford & Kane LLC and Manager of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He counsels clients in the interactive entertainment, video game, virtual world, publishing, licensing and merchandising, and sweepstakes and gaming industries. His clients are engaged in all aspects of these industries and he regularly counsels his clients on various aspects of their business enterprises, including negotiation and completion of business agreements, counseling on the management and protection of intellectual property rights and other matters relating to their business operations, mergers and acquisitions, and representation in resolution of disputes. Moreover, he is regularly involved in transactions ranging from development, financing, publication and distribution of interactive entertainment properties and related technology licensing; licensing and merchandising of brands, character, entertainment and sports properties.

He has substantial experience litigating complex business disputes in federal and state courts at trial, appellate levels and in ADR forums throughout the country. These matters usually concerned either infringement issues or disputes over the contracts that licensed, assigned or otherwise dealt with intellectual property. In addition to his work in interactive entertainment, his practice has also included negotiation, consultation and client representation in a broad range of other intellectual property transaction involving copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets and publicity/privacy rights. While Mr. Kane has a special interest in interactive entertainment, video games and virtual worlds, he has represented clients engaged in various entertainment, communications and consumer products business segments, such as music publishing, records, motion picture (feature and independent films) and television production ¬and distribution, computer software, video games, virtual worlds and the Internet. Furthermore, his practice has encompassed many matters arising out of advertising, marketing and promotional issues, embracing contract disputes (such as, for example, an advertiser's termination of its ad agency or an advertiser’s use of sweepstakes) and litigation between competitors over claims of false and misleading comparative advertising. Prior to founding Drakeford & Kane LLC, Mr. Kane practiced with Hall Dickler, LLP (f/k/a Hall Dickler Kent Goldstein & Wood LLP) from 1998 to 2004.

Mr. Kane has written and lectured extensively on legal topics relating primarily to intellectual property and entertainment issues. His recent articles are as follows: “Internet Gambling Banned, New Legislation Forces Online Gaming Sites to Decide When to Hold Them and When to Fold Them”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 4, No. 11, November 2006; “New Kinds of e-Commerce”, published by e-Commerce Law & Strategy, Vol. 23, No. 4, August 2006; “Protecting Your Client’s Motion Picture Investment”, published by the New Jersey State Bar Association Business Law Section, Vol. 30, No. 1, July 2006; “Asset Creation, Seclusion And Money Laundering In The Virtual World”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2006; “Can The Grokster Settlement Close The File-Sharing Pandora’s Box?”, published by e-Commerce Law & Strategy, Vol. 22, No. 8, December 2005; “Can The Grokster Settlement Close Pandora’s Box?”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 3, No. 12, December 2005; “International Film Production Incentives”, published by Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. 21, No. 7, October 2005; “Virtual Worlds And Digital Rights, Can Stealing An Online Gamer’s IP Or Magic Sword Mean Real-World Legal Hot Water?”, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 3, No. 9, September 2005; Contributing author to “Inside Grokster” an Internet Law & Strategy Virtual Roundtable, published by Internet Law & Strategy, Vol. 3, No. 8A, August/September 2005; “A Primer On Protecting Investments In Motion-Picture Productions”, published by Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. 21, No. 4, July 2005; “Protecting Against Defamation Claims From Docudrama Productions”, published by Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. 19, No. 3., June 2003 and “Securitization May Work Beyond Music Royalty Income Stream”, published by Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. 19, No. 5, August 2003.

Additionally his frequent commentary on business and law have appeared in various media outlets including: The Economist, New Scientist, BBC World News, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, MSNBC, BNA's Daily Tax Report, Tech News World and National Journal's Technology Daily.

Mr. Kane’s most recent speaking engagements are as follows: October 2007 “Tax and e-money: what does it mean?”, speaking engagement at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe, London, England; October 2007 “IP Wealth and Pitfalls of Synthetic Worlds”, speaking engagement at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, San Jose, California; August 2007 “Virtual Law - How Online Games Are Shaping Legal Rules”, speaking engagement at the ABA 2007 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California; August 2007 “Virtual World – Real Law”, speaking engagement at the ABA 2007 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California; May 2007 “Before You Sign: Business and Legal Issues for Animators” speaking engagement at NYC ACM SIGGRAPH, New York, New York; April 2007 “Virtual Law - How Online Games Are Shaping Legal Rules”, speaking engagement at the ABA 22nd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, Washington, DC; March 2007 “Legal Ramifications of User Created Content in Open and Closed Virtual Worlds”, featured speaker at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, California; January 2007 “UNCITRAL Second International Intellectual Property Colloquium on Secured Transactions”, speaking engagement hosted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, Vienna, Austria; January 2007 “UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions”, speaking engagement hosted by the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Center, Oxford University, England; October 2006 “Managing Your Intellectual Property Arbitration”, speaking engagement hosted by the Intellectual Property Section of the New York State Bar Association; June 2006 “Legal Issues Arising In Video Games And User-Created Content”, speaking engagement at the ABA Summer IPL Conference; June 2006 “Selecting The Best Arbitrator For Your Case”, speaking engagement hosted by the American Arbitration Association and October 2005 “Lotta Talent v. Starstruck Management Associates”, a mock mediation program hosted by the American Arbitration Association on entertainment and intellectual property issues.

Mr. Kane is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, where he is a Co-Chair of the Securitization of Intellectual Property Section, as well as a member of the Section of Science & Technology Law, where he is a Co-Chair of the Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games Committee. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, as well as a member of the American Arbitration Association IP Panel of Neutrals. Mr. Kane is also a member of the Board of Editors of the LJN publication, Internet Law & Strategy. Additionally, he is a Member of the International Game Developers Association (“IGDA”).

He earned his J.D. in 1998 from Fordham University School of Law, and his B.A. in 1995 from Villanova University. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, as well as the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York.