Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Firm overview:

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher is a full-service firm with ten offices across the US and a further 11 worldwide. The Intellectual Property Practice Group provides full trademark services to clients including household names, from prosecution through to litigation in federal and state courts.

The firm’s trademark litigators have handled high-profile trademark matters for clients across a range of industries, including media and entertainment, consumer products, food and beverage, software, and technology.

In June 2024, Gibson Dunn convinced the US Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari in a trademark case on behalf of Dewberry Group. The case, Dewberry Group v Dewberry Engineers, is set to be heard during the 2024–25 Supreme Court term.

Team overview:

Trademark practitioner Howard Hogan (Highly Recommended, Contentious) is a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office and chair of the Fashion, Retail and Consumer Products group. He handles complex cases up to the US Court of Appeal. Hogan was part of the Gibson Dunn team that achieved a complete defence verdict in a $350 million trademark infringement case brought against TikTok and ByteDance.

Ilissa Samplin has been widely recognised for her litigation work across IP, media and entertainment and technology disputes. Samplin was on the team that represented Yahoo in a copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by Evox Productions. Other clients of Samplin’s include AMC, Hewlett Packard and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

“Maestro in the courtroom” Orin Snyder is a leading trial lawyer who has represented many of the world’s largest tech, media and entertainment companies as well as a roster of high-profile individuals.

Partner Blaine Evanson has deep knowledge across various areas of IP law and has represented clients in matters before the US Supreme Court as well as federal and state appellate courts around the country.

Key matters:

• Dewberry Group v Dewberry Engineers. Gibson Dunn represents Dewberry Group in a dispute between two commercial real estate development companies that share the same name. An August 2023 ruling significantly increased damages against Dewberry Group by factoring in profits from related but non-party corporations—which the US Supreme Court is set to review.
• Gibson Dunn represented Rex Real Estate in a trademark dispute with online real estate broker Rex Real Estate Exchange. The Fifth Circuit found that Rex Exchange’s use of the contested marks created a likelihood of consumer confusion and remanded the case for a new trial on infringement claims. Rex Exchange declared bankruptcy and stopped using the mark in question but appealed the district court’s decision to dismiss the case without prejudice, asking the Court of Appeals to grant its motion for attorneys’ fees. In October 2024 the Court of Appeals sided with Gibson Dunn and dismissed the appeal in its entirety.
• Evox Prods v Yahoo. A Gibson Dunn team including Scott Edelman, Ilissa Samplin and Blaine Evanson represented Yahoo in a copyright and trademark suit filed by Evox Productions. A district court dismissed Evox’s trademark claim with prejudice, affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on appeal.
• Stitch Editing v TikTok et al. Gibson Dunn secured a complete defence verdict in a $350 million trademark infringement suit brought against TikTok and ByteDance. London-based video-editing company Stitch Editing alleged that TikTok’s ‘stitch’ tool infringed one of its marks, but the jury found no infringement or damages suffered. The plaintiff filed a notice on appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit but the appeal was dismissed in November 2024.

Clients:

A SHOC Energy, American Airlines, Casa Cuervo, Converse, Dewberry Group, Javo Beverage Company, LeBron James, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Big Fish Entertainment), Milk Makeup, Nike, Remedy Drinks, Rex Real Estate, TikTok, Walgreens, Yahoo, Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.