Copyright, Trademark & Brand Litigation

/Overview

Our team of experienced copyright, trademark, and brand litigation attorneys provides strategic counsel in high-stakes matters. We represent clients in disputes involving copyright, trademark, trade dress, brand protection, anti-counterfeiting, entertainment, social media, rights of publicity, and false advertising claims. We approach each matter with an eye toward our clients’ broader business objectives, helping legal and non-legal stakeholders alike weigh the financial and reputational dimensions of every dispute. Our counsel equips both legal and executive teams with the insights they need to make informed decisions at every stage of a dispute.

Our copyright and trademark attorneys advise established and emerging entities and individuals across a wide range of industries, including:

• Entertainment, media, and music
• Social media, influencers, and digital platforms
• Sports and athletics
• Fashion, luxury goods, beauty, and personal care
• Video games and esports
• Healthcare
• Food and beverage
• Consumer electronics
• Software and mobile applications

Our experience encompasses providing strategic counsel to both plaintiffs and defendants across the country in state and federal court, at arbitration, and on appeal, as well as handling disputes before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (including the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board). We prosecute anti-counterfeiting enforcement actions and other brand protection matters on behalf of some of the world’s most recognizable brands, pursuing infringers in federal court and across online marketplaces.

/Representative experience

Anti-counterfeiting

• Secured permanent injunctive relief for Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation in trademark enforcement actions against counterfeiters and unauthorized online sellers, halting ongoing infringement and preserving assets as part of the company’s broader anti-counterfeiting strategy across online marketplaces.
• Obtained a default judgment for NASCAR, resulting in the permanent shutdown of the counterfeiting website.

Rights of Publicity

• Achieved an early, favorable resolution for plaintiff Vanessa Hudgens, an American actress, entrepreneur, and singer, in a suit against SBLA Beauty relating to violations of rights of publicity, unfair competition, and false advertising. (C.D. Cal.)
• Secured a favorable outcome for plaintiffs Brittany Xavier, a well-known social media influencer, and her company Thrifts and Threads, Inc., in a suit against beauty brand Undefined, Inc. for copyright infringement, violation of statutory and common law rights of publicity, false advertising, and unfair competition. (N.D. Cal.)

Trademark

• Secured a final ruling for Advanced New Technologies Co. (ANT) in a seven-year TTAB opposition to registration of the mark APAY by serial fraudster Haibin Zhou’s alter-ego companies, overcoming bad-faith gamesmanship and TTAB-imposed sanctions to secure a final ruling in November 2024 that APAY was likely to cause consumer confusion with ANT’s well-known ALIPAY mark.
• Successfully employed a First Amendment defense to secure a full dismissal on a motion to dismiss on behalf of defendant video game companies Ironclad Games and Stardock Entertainment in a trademark infringement dispute.

Trade Dress

Counseled a furniture company through a federal court trade dress dispute as part of a comprehensive trademark portfolio management relationship spanning more than six years.

Copyright

• Substituted in as counsel for plaintiff New Leaf Publishing, Inc., and achieved a successful settlement after close of discovery in a copyright infringement action concerning defendants’ unauthorized copying of six copyrighted films published on plaintiff’s ReelShort mobile application, defeating defendants’ summary judgment motion regarding ownership of the copyrights to the films at issue. (C.D. Cal.)
• Secured a series of court victories for UbiFun in copyright and trademark enforcement proceedings against infringers who exploited leaked source code to distribute unauthorized versions of the popular Dekaron video game.
• Achieved an early favorable settlement for defendant UNCAS International, LLC, in a copyright infringement suit brought by LA Gem & Jewelry Design involving jewelry designs.

False Advertising

• Defended DECA International Corp. and GolfzonDECA in a false advertising suit filed by SkyHawke Technologies LLC concerning golf GPS devices, securing dismissal of 15 of 21 claims on a motion to dismiss and settling the remainder on favorable terms on the eve of trial (C.D. Cal.)
• Achieved a favorable settlement for St Andrews Links, the legendary golf course, in a trademark infringement matter against unauthorized commercial use of the ST ANDREWS mark.

/Recognition

• Eleven Nixon Peabody attorneys and the firm’s trademark practices in California and Illinois are recognized in World Trademark Review 1000 (2026).
• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Litigation - Intellectual Property and Trademark Law in the 2026 edition of Best Law Firms®.