Debevoise & Plimpton - US Trademark Rankings 2023
Firm Overview:
Peers single out Debevoise & Plimpton’s “strong litigation group” as one of the top trademark practices in the US. The firm represents clients before fora from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board up to the Supreme Court. The firm has acted on precedential and bet-the-company cases for a roster of well-known brands across industries, including Bank of America, retail corporation CostCo, food delivery platform Grubhub and luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent. Headquartered in New York and with 10 offices worldwide, Debevoise offers high quality advice to its global clients on their US and cross-border trademark matters.
Team Overview:
“Phenomenal lawyer” David Bernstein chairs the Intellectual Property Litigation Group and is unrivalled in his track record of trademark matters. One of his many landmark cases includes representing Booking.com in the first US Supreme Court case over telephone, prevailing with an 8-1 ruling for the client to add ‘.com’ to its trademark. Fellow IP lawyers commend the “gold standard” litigator not only on his high level advocacy, but his pro bono work and involvement in supporting his colleagues. The team includes “terrific lawyer” Megan Bannigan, an heir apparent versed in emerging trademark trends, who leads on a high profile, NFT-related case against Nike.
Key Matter:
- Nike v StockX, Civil Action 1:22-cv-00983-VEC (S.D.N.Y. Jul. 14, 2022)
Debevoise’s Megan Bannigan, Christopher Ford, David Bernstein, Justine Ferrone, Jyotin Hamid and Kathryn Saba, defend StockX in an ongoing case brought by footwear and apparel retailer Nike. StockX, a reselling platform, sold ‘Vault NFTs’, depicting an image of a pair of Nike sneakers that allows the buyer to redeem an NFT for the physical product.
Nike argued that the NFTs are distinct digital products with their own value, whilst StockX countered its actions are “no different (to) major e-commerce retailers and marketplaces who use images and descriptions of products to sell physical sneakers”. The case is significant not only in understanding the place of NFTs in IP, but in answering the complex question of how legally distinct an NFT is to its corresponding object.
Clients:
Booking.com, CostCo, Kate Spade, MSCHF Product Studio, NBCUniversal, Pernod Richard, StockX, WeWork, Yves Saint Laurent.
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