McDermott, Will & Emery

Firm overview:

Peers acknowledge McDermott Will & Emery as a firm to refer to. McDermott is one of few general practice firms that has a comprehensive and fully integrated top-band trademark practice. The firm’s global experience spans brand management, trademark prosecution and counseling, enforcement and litigation, and licensing and related transactional work. McDermott Will & Emery has a prolific roster of longstanding trusted advisor relationships, often spanning many decades with marquee brand names across myriad industries. The firm serves as lead counsel for global trademark portfolios representing some of the world’s most valuable brands across a wide range of business sectors.

Some of McDermott’s notable clients for trademark-related matters have included Mars, Absolut Vodka, Pebble Beach—owner of the world-famous Pebble Beach resorts in California—and leading food and agribusiness Olam International.

Team overview:

Global head of McDermott’s Trademark Prosecution and Controversy Practice, Christina (Tina) Martini, focuses on domestic and international trademark and copyright law. She assists clients in protecting their intellectual property rights through litigation and other means, including the courts and uniform dispute resolution procedures.

Sarah Bro is the office managing partner of the Orange County office, her experience includes management of global trademark portfolios for Fortune 100 and international clients in a wide array of industries. A referral relationship law firm says: “Sarah Bro is brilliant. She works around the clock, she’s always on top of things, extremely intelligent and well spoken. The clients love her. She’s always approachable and accessible and she gets the same service from us.”

Key matters:

• Martini is the lead lawyer managing all aspects of the trademark portfolio for Tampico Beverages, a manufacturer of beverage products available in more than 50 countries across North and Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.
• McDermott has acted as trademark counsel for Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer Hitachi for over 20 years. The team, led by Jennifer Mikulina and Robert Zelnick, provides guidance on Hitachi’s more than 100-year-old brand, which is regularly ranked in the top 100 strongest brands in the world by leading brand-ranking publications, including Fortune and Forbes.
• Bro leads the McDermott team working with Zodiac Pool Systems for the last decade on its trademark portfolio. Zodiac is a leading manufacturer of automatic pool cleaners and swimming pool accessories. The team assists with trademark prosecution, counseling, and enforcement matters. The 2017 merger of Zodiac and Spanish company, Fluidra, expanded the team’s trademark prosecution and enforcement work for Zodiac, including recent enforcement work on a global scale.

Clients:

BDO USA, Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), CXtec, Hitachi, Hornblower Cruises, Ilegal Mezcal, Lyell Immunopharma, New York Life Insurance, Olam International, One Home Brands, d/b/a Blueland, Outward Hound, Planson International, Plume Design, Rexair, Seko Worldwide, Tampico Beverages, Terlato Wines International, Valant Medical Solutions, Walking Fish Therapeutics, Young Innovations, Zodiac Pool Systems / Fluidra.