What Experience and Credentials Does Richard J. Greenstone Have?

Updated

Richard J. Greenstone is a San Francisco–area intellectual property and entertainment attorney with more than thirty-four years of legal experience. His practice centers on copyright, trademark, trade secret, licensing, and transactional law for the computer, entertainment, and publishing industries. If you are evaluating whether to contact his firm for a trademark, copyright, licensing, or entertainment matter, the credentials below are what the firm's own site documents.

Bar admissions and professional memberships

  • Member of the California state bar.
  • Admitted to several United States District Courts.
  • Elected member of the Los Angeles Copyright Society.

These establish his standing to practice in California and in federal trial courts, and connect him to a copyright-focused professional community.

Agency practice

Greenstone practices before:

  • The United States Copyright Office.
  • The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in trademark matters.

This matters if your matter requires filing, prosecution, or portfolio work directly with either agency rather than only advisory opinions.

Trademark volume and scope

The firm states he has well over five hundred trademark applications and registrations to his credit, performed both for clients and for other attorneys who seek his advice. His trademark practice covers:

  • Branding
  • Registration
  • Infringements
  • Trademark portfolio management

The volume figure is the most concrete indicator of hands-on filing experience on the site.

Entertainment law experience

Greenstone maintains an active entertainment law practice representing producers, directors, actors, authors, and musicians in the motion picture, television, and music industries. The site cites a current project involving clearance of all music rights for the album Welcome to the Folksong Café — a specific example of rights-clearance work rather than a general claim.

Recognition

  • Avvo Top Attorney, with a 10.0 Avvo Rating for trademark application work.
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating.

Both are third-party rating designations, not credentials issued by a court or agency.

Client base and industries served

The practice represents media and entertainment companies, domain name owners, software, book and magazine publishers, programmers, authors, actors, artists, and producers — across California, the United States, and internationally. If your work falls in software, publishing, or entertainment, that client mix is a reasonable proxy for familiarity with your type of matter.

How to weigh these credentials

Credential What it tells you What it does not tell you
34+ years experience Longevity and sustained practice Fit for your specific matter
California bar + federal district courts Jurisdictional reach for litigation Which districts, or whether yours is covered
Copyright Office / USPTO practice Ability to handle agency filings Outcome or timeline for your filing
500+ trademark applications/registrations Depth in trademark prosecution Success rate on contested matters
Avvo 10.0, Martindale-Hubbell AV Peer/client recognition A guarantee of results

If your need is trademark registration or portfolio management, the volume and agency practice are the most relevant signals. If your need is entertainment or music rights clearance, the industry client list and the cited album project are more relevant. For anything outside these areas, the site does not document experience, so ask directly before assuming coverage.

Contact

  • Phone: 415/438-1890
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Address: 5885 Doyle Street, Emeryville, California 94608

The site invites calls to discuss intellectual property and entertainment issues. No pricing, fee structure, or consultation terms are stated on the page, so confirm those directly rather than assuming a free initial consultation.