Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Firm overview:

Acknowledged as a “top practice” with “a lot of clients” by its peers, Kilpatrick is a stand-out firm for trademark matters in the US. Its popularity among brands is reflected in its numbers; the team currently manages more than 100,000 trademark registrations and applications worldwide, and has been involved in over 315 trademark and copyright cases in US district courts in the last five years.

Alongside the quantity, the quality of the team’s calibre shows in its client list, which includes some of the biggest technology companies in the world. The firm is recognised in the highest tier of the rankings for its market-leading non-contentious services, which cover trademark prosecution, portfolio management and licensing, offered by attorneys with specialised expertise in each area.

Kilpatrick is also a force to be reckoned with in contentious matters, and is entrusted with high-stakes trademark and trade dress litigation, as well as matters before the US Patent and Trademark Office and other registries around the world.

Team overview:

Within its full-service setting, Kilpatrick has teams of lawyers focused solely on trademark law and specialised areas within. Firmwide, over 120 lawyers practice trademark, copyright and advertising law, offering the expertise found typically in IP boutiques.

Leading the Trademark & Copyright team are Anthony Malutta, Gwen Peterson, Charles Hooker, and Alicia Grahn Jones.

A trademark industry peer says Malutta is deserving of his place in the Outstanding category based on his “excellent reputation”. Malutta, who led Facebook’s global name change to Meta and has advised PayPal on trademark matters, is sought out by brands with large and complex global portfolios. He has guided Kilpatrick’s Trademark & Copyright team since 2010, during which it has more than doubled in size.

Visible in multiple high-profile trademark disputes, Hooker focuses his practice on IP litigation, enforcement and counselling, with representative clients including Adidas, Meta Platforms and The Collegiate Licensing Company.

Theodore ‘Ted’ Davis is described by a peer as “an amazing academic” with an “encyclopedic knowledge of cases”, with another admitting that he is “kind of a luminary in the trademark world”. Davis advises clients with litigation and portfolio management and frequently serves as an expert witness in trademark-related matters.

Experienced trial lawyer Charles Henn regularly represents companies, sports leagues and teams in cases involving trademark and trade dress infringement claims. Widely acclaimed for his litigation practice, Henn’s notable matters include serving as co-lead trial counsel for Adidas in trademark infringement litigation against Payless Shoesource, and representing Major League Baseball Properties and the Chicago Cubs Baseball Club in a trademark infringement and counterfeiting suit.

Notable additions to the team this year include counsel Sharon Smith, who joined from Goodwin bringing first-chair experience from dozens of trials and is described as “one of the top IP pathfinders on the West Coast”.

Peter Willsey also joined the Trademark, Copyright & Advertising team. Formerly global chair of the trademark, copyright and advertising team at Brown Rudnick, Willsey is a seasoned litigator who has represented major companies in trademark cases.

Key matters:

• Sony Interactive Entertainment: Global filing strategy and portfolios

Kilpatrick serves as outside trademark counsel for Sony, managing global filing strategy and portfolios for several Sony Interactive Entertainment marks, global clearance programmes, and overall trademark strategy. The team has also counselled Sony on trademark enforcement matters.

Mehrnaz Boroumand Smith has been doing trademark and copyright litigation for Sony since 1998. Most recently, she has been doing trademark litigation and trademark enforcement before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and internationally for the company.

• LPD New York v Adidas America

Kilpatrick represented Adidas in a dispute with fashion startup LPD New York which started ten years ago, when LPD sued Adidas for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and defamation. At the outset, Kilpatrick secured dismissal of LPD’s breach of contract and trademark abandonment claims. LPD amended its complaint to assert claims of promissory estoppel, quasi contract, and implied licensing.

In February 2025, a jury returned a verdict for Adidas on all of LPD’s remaining claims, and found that LPD and its founder had engaged in willful infringement and counterfeiting and awarded Adidas statutory damages.

• Fujifilm North America v PLR IP Holdings et al

Kilpatrick represents Polaroid in a trademark dispute in New York against Fujifilm for its alleged infringement of Polaroid’s famous Classic Border logo. Fujifilm North America filed a complaint seeking a legal determination that its Instax Square film products do not infringe Polaroid’s logo and sought to cancel Polaroid’s trademark registrations for the logo.

Polaroid counterclaimed against Fujifilm. In late 2023, Fujifilm moved for summary judgment on its functionality defence. This year, the court issued an order denying Fujifilm’s motion for summary judgment, ensuring that its claims against Fujifilm will proceed to trial.

Clients:

Adidas, Polaroid, Sony Interactive Entertainment