Dale Cendali

Renowned as a powerhouse litigator, Dale Cendali is known for handling complex, precedent-setting cases that have actively shaped modern IP law. 

As a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, where she heads the Copyright, Trademark, Internet, and Advertising Practice Group, she has spent decades representing prominent technology companies, media organisations, and global brands in high-profile disputes. 

She has appeared in numerous landmark court battles, including successfully representing JK Rowling and her publishers in the ‘Harry Potter Lexicon’ fair use litigation, as well as advising the Associated Press in its copyright dispute with artist Shepard Fairey over the iconic Obama ‘Hope’ poster. 

Her experience also includes defending Oracle during critical stages of its long-running software copyright battle against Google, obtaining a milestone jury verdict for Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games regarding copyrighted tattoos depicted in the NBA 2K video game series, and securing a crucial fair use digital media victory for Fox News against TVEyes.

In the trademark arena, Cendali secured a unanimous 9-0 victory before the US Supreme Court in Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashions Group, which clarified important procedural defence principles in trademark litigation. She also argued before the Supreme Court in Dastar v Twentieth Century Fox Film and represented Victoria’s Secret in its dilution litigation over ‘Victor’s Little Secret’, a foundational dispute that led to her helping draft the federal Trademark Dilution Revision Act. 

Cendali contributes to the future of the legal profession by serving as a long-time adjunct professor at Harvard Law School, where she teaches copyright and trademark litigation.