Foley & Lardner

Firm overview:

“I place a lot of high regard on Foley & Lardner”, says a peer. The 25-office full-service firm offers contentious and non-contentious advice, attracting leading clients capable of affording the fees of its partners. Foley’s services include global portfolio management, encompassing prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of trademarks as well as litigious matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), and federal and state courts.

Team overview:

Accomplished litigator Robert Weisbein is described as a “top-notch trademarks litigation attorney” who has prosecuted trademark, unfair competition, copyright and false advertising matters for clients such as Burlington Coat Factory, Nokia, Yahoo!, Toys “R” Us and Emerson Radio. He has applied his expertise in disputes to proceedings before the federal courts, Trademark Trial and Appeal board, and in mediations.

Key matters:

• Foley & Lardner secured summary judgment in a trademark and trade dress infringement case on behalf of Southern Technologies and its founder. Blue Bottle Coffee sued Southern Technologies in 2021, alleging infringement of 17 trademarks and its trade dress.
• Prior to the suit’s filing, Nestlé had acquired a controlling interest in Blue Bottle Coffee. Foley’s team, including Victor de Gyarfas and Laura Ganoza, discovered the plaintiff had assigned its rights in the asserted marks to Nestlé before filing the suit and failed to produce a licence during discovery.
• In May 2024, the district court ruled in favour of Southern Technologies, finding the plaintiff lacked standing to sue on its infringement claims and that there was no likelihood of confusion. The court also denied the plaintiff’s attempt to cancel Southern Technologies ‘Blue Brew’ trademark.

Clients:

Alkermes, American Senior Benefits, Arcus Biosciences, Blink Health, Chegg, Cloud Cannabis, Darden Restaurants, Do Good Foods, Euclid Vision Group, Global Payments, Helix OpCo, Hermès International, Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, Mindvalley, Naked Wines, Robert Half International (RHI) and Protiviti, SA Hospitality Group, Slutty Vegan, SmileDirectClub, Southern Technologies, Sub-Zero Group, United Therapeutics, WR Grace, ZS Associates.