Knobbe Martens

Firm overview:

One of the country’s largest IP specialist firms, Knobbe Martens advises clients ranging from trailblazing startups to Fortune 500 companies on brand protection matters. The firm’s place in the rankings reflects the calibre of its clients, expertise across the full spectrum of trademark law, and significant representations.

Knobbe Martens is adept at handling expansive global trademark portfolios, and advises clients in a wide variety of industries spanning aerospace, fashion, biotech, entertainment, and fintech. The team has had a busy year, filing more than 1,600 US trademark applications and over 1,700 international applications, and has a case load of over 5,200 trademark opposition, cancellation or other administrative actions. It is known as a go-to firm for big-ticket litigation.

The team’s expertise extends to cutting-edge issues such as NFTs, non-traditional marks and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content.

Team overview:

Knobbe Martens’ US trademark team spans its seven offices, located in major innovation centres. Most of its brand expertise can be found in its Irvine, California location.

In November 2025, the firm lost a trio of IP partners to BakerHostetler: former co-chair of the Trademark and Brand Protection Group Susan Natland, and partners Jessica Sganga and Katherine McMorrow.

Brand experts on the team include managing partner Steven Nataupsky, whose practice involves all aspects of IP rights. Nataupsky has obtained numerous patents, trademarks and copyrights in various fields and tried cases resulting in eight-figure jury verdicts on behalf of his clients.

Orange County partner Jason Champion is a renowned litigator with a strong non-contentious practice, which includes counselling clients with regards to licensing issues and obtaining global IP protection.

A former co-chair of the Trademark and Brand Protection Group, Jeff Van Hoosear focuses on international trademark and unfair competition matters, and represents a number of clients in the apparel and hospitality industries, among others.

San Francisco partner Rosaleen Chou advises on brand protection and strategy, and has managed extensive global trademark portfolios across 200+ countries. As a full-time secondee at Facebook, Chou managed and developed trademark and copyright portfolios for Facebook, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp. A client says that Chou and her team “are well versed in all the various nuances in trademark law and provide succinct legal analysis from a business perspective”.

Key matters:

• First American: Trademark and brand protection

Leading financial services company First American has over $7 billion in revenues, and handles a significant proportion of real estate transactions in the US. For many years, Rosaleen Chou and her team have represented First American’s acquired entities and protected its trademark portfolios. They were chosen by the client to take over its First American and FirstAm portfolios and grow its global brands.

• SoftBank Group: ‘Stargate Project’ joint venture with OpenAI

SoftBank launched the ‘Stargate Project’ in January 2025 as a new joint venture with OpenAI to invest $100 billion in building new AI infrastructure in the US. The initial equity partners in the Stargate Project are SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX.

Knobbe partners Jeff Van Hoosear and Stacey Halpern assisted in the initial trademark clearance and with filing applications to register the ‘Stargate’ trademark. The Knobbe team is also advising and assisting in the worldwide prosecution, enforcement, and licensing issues that have arisen since the launch announcement and the trademark applications being filed.

• AECOM: Global brand protection

Knobbe Martens serves as lead outside IP counsel for AECOM’s global brand protection. The team represents the company in all aspects of its global branding and domain name strategy including clearance, protection, enforcement, and licensing of its global portfolio of hundreds of trademarks for its ‘AECOM’ house mark, as well as all of its global product- and service-level marks and taglines.

The key lawyers involved are Charlene Azema, Steven Nataupsky, and Charles Crane.

Clients:

AECOM, First American, Fox Media, Golden State Foods, Hawaiian Host,  Home Instead and Honor, Illumina, Jacuzzi Brands, Mana Up Hawaii, Mattel, Miss Me, National Resilience, Olaplex, Passy-Muir, Revolve Clothing, Rivian Automotive, SoftBank Group, St John Knits, Thai Union, Veracyte