Daniel Dovi – New Era Cap

The NFL season is underway, and during the league’s opening night game between the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was shown on the NBC broadcast countless times on the sideline. Was he wearing his Chiefs helmet? No. He wore New Era-brand hats and headbands with his team’s logo as required because of a deal between the league and the Buffalo, New York-based sports apparel maker.

Those deals are struck in part because of the hard work of the New Era legal team, including Daniel Dovi, associate general counsel and senior director, legal. He leverages his extensive experience and background in intellectual property and transactional law to support the company’s growth and help it maintain its position at the top of the headwear and apparel industry as a leading licensee and proprietor of its established lifestyle brand.

“It has been truly rewarding having the opportunity to use my unique background and expertise in intellectual property law to contribute to New Era’s continued growth and success, which has been strengthening and increasing steadily for more than 100 years,” Dovi tells Vanguard during an interview in August.

New Era was founded in Buffalo in 1920 and has an expansive portfolio of licenses. The company has been the official cap of Major League Baseball since 1993.

Since joining the company in November 2017, Dovi has been deeply involved in efforts to protect and expand the New Era brand, which is recognized globally. He helps to ensure the legal foundation is robust enough to support the company’s expansion, including in connection with growing New Era-branded product lines in addition to the licensed products for which it is so well known, supporting its product and marketing collaborations with influential partners, working on new or improved product lines, and expanding its international presence through new partnerships including consumer product licenses and New Era branded retail stores. This is vital for maintaining and enhancing New Era’s brand recognition and market presence.

“By securing the legal aspects, we ensure that the company can confidently pursue new business opportunities and continue to lead the industry while still honoring the traditions that got New Era to where it is today,” Dovi says.

Protecting the brand

Dovi deals with the complexities of IP enforcement and brand protection as part of his multifaceted role. Counterfeiting and IP infringement are persistent issues exacerbated by New Era’s international presence, and they harm both New Era and consumers. A large percentage of New Era’s revenue comes from international markets, but with this global reach comes an increased risk of counterfeit products and other infringements. New Era employs a robust brand protection strategy, including training customs officials and conducting investigations and raids to combat counterfeiting, and leveraging a strong trademark watch program and vigorous trademark opposition strategy. The company has registered its core trademarks in at least 115 countries, a testament to its commitment to IP protection.

“Policing infringements effectively is vital to protecting the integrity and value of New Era’s brand, goodwill, and consumer relationships, among its most valuable assets. It requires steadfast diligence because it often seems ubiquitous, with issues arising consistently around the globe and in many time zones. It is a necessary responsibility,” Dovi explains.

Navigating the complexities of IP protection isn’t just about physical products anymore; digital and social media platforms have introduced new avenues for piracy. New Era must constantly adapt to these evolving threats, dealing with incidents almost daily. It’s a constant game of whack-a-mole, but Dovi and the entire New Era legal and brand protection teams are well-equipped to handle it, leveraging their expertise and the strong legal framework New Era has built.

“The fact that we’re copied as much as we are means we’re creating great products in high demand worldwide,” Dovi says. And with a hint of sarcasm, he laughed, saying that “it is a backhanded compliment, in a way—imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

Despite the challenges, Dovi finds his in-house role incredibly fulfilling, particularly for a company like New Era. It allows him to be deeply involved in the business, providing legal advice that is both practical and strategic while working in parallel with business partners and stakeholders to achieve common goals. The transition from private practice to in-house counsel has been everything Dovi hoped it would be—an opportunity to focus on a client, business, and industry that excites and challenges him, become an industry expert, and make a meaningful daily impact.

Deals, deals, deals

New Era holds many licenses across industries, including licenses with all four major sports leagues in the U.S.—NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL—and has expanded its reach internationally.

One of the standout moments in Dovi’s career at New Era was negotiating a new NHL licensing agreement. New Era had previously held an overall license with the NHL and separate licenses at the local level with several individual teams when the main license had expired. Dovi says the decision to re-enter the hockey space was not taken lightly.

“There was significant positive feedback from both inside and outside the company, with many pointing out that New Era’s experience and reputation for quality—well established through its work with the MLB, NFL, and NBA—would naturally extend again to the NHL,” he explains.

Dovi was at the forefront of memorializing these discussions from a legal perspective, navigating the complexities of licensing agreements involving many considerations, such as royalty rates, product distribution and exclusivity, and regional rights. His work helped secure New Era’s position as an official licensee of the NHL once again, rounding out the company’s portfolio with all four major US-based sports leagues.

The legal intricacies of these deals are immense. Dovi and the New Era legal team must constantly negotiate legal and commercial terms, ensuring that New Era’s interests are protected while maintaining strong relationships with the leagues and other licensing partners. Each agreement is unique, varies by region and product, and often includes provisions highly specific to the league and licensed property.

“Rights in the U.S. and Canada vs. international rights may be broader or more restricted, requiring careful legal maneuvering to maximize the company’s reach without overstepping boundaries,” Dovi states.

Beyond the sports leagues and another notable transaction from Dovi’s New Era experience, New Era is also an official licensee of the Olympics and for the upcoming 2028 LA Olympics, further solidifying its status as a key player in the global sports headwear and apparel industry. New Era’s products aren’t just headwear—they include apparel, bags, and accessories designed with meticulous attention to detail. The brand is known not just for its use of licensed logos but also for the original designs that it develops in-house, ensuring that each product has staying power in a highly competitive marketplace. Dovi’s legal expertise is critical in overseeing the legal review of designs, ensuring that IP and logos are properly licensed and cleared for use. All necessary permissions are in place before a product ever reaches the market.

Opportunity knocks

New Era’s legal team is lean but mighty, consisting of six attorneys, four paralegals, and an administrative legal operations manager. The team has grown under the leadership of the Chief Legal Officer Lorrie Turner, the first in-house attorney at New Era who built the department from the ground up. It continues to expand as the company’s legal needs evolve. Dovi’s role as associate general counsel is not just about managing legal risks; it’s about being a trusted business advisor who can navigate the complexities of a global marketplace while ensuring that New Era remains at the forefront of the industry.

Dovi, who holds a degree in telecommunications management from Ithaca College and a Juris Doctor from the University at Buffalo School of Law, began his legal career in private practice. For nearly eight years, he honed his skills across various practice areas, particularly on IP, including trademark prosecution, enforcement, and transactional work. However, going in-house always appealed to him, as he believed that working directly for a company would offer an opportunity for a more focused and intimate understanding of a specific business and industry.

About seven years ago, Dovi found the opportunity he had been waiting for—a position at New Era Cap as corporate counsel and director of legal. The decision to join New Era wasn’t just a career move; it was the perfect alignment of his legal background with a company whose core business revolves around IP and where there was a real opportunity to contribute to and grow with the business.

Dovi’s story is one of finding the perfect fit—a legal career that combines his passion for IP with his love of sports and entertainment, all within a company that is as dynamic and innovative as he is. His work at New Era Cap exemplifies the crucial role that in-house counsel plays in today’s corporate world, where legal expertise and business acumen must go hand in hand to drive success.