Leading US trademark firms and lawyers recognised in new national rankings

WIPR has published Trademarks Rankings for this year highlighting top firms and practitioners in the US | New firms included in 2024 listing which covers contentious and non-contentious work.

“One of the top IP firms hands down”, a “phenomenal lawyer” and a team with a “never-ending flow of work” are among those recognised in newly released trademark rankings from WIPR Insights.

WIPR’s USA Trademark Rankings 2024 include the stand-out firms and individual pioneers in the vast, dynamic and competitive US trademarks legal market.

“This year, WIPR has expanded its US research and covered the full roster of trade secrets, trademarks and patents rankings in the US,” explained rankings editor Baron Armah-Kwantreng.

Following the inaugural USA Trade Secrets Rankings published earlier in December, the USA Trademarks Rankings are in their second year running and represent a progression of the list in 2023, according to Armah-Kwantreng, with new firms and individuals added this year.

Additions for 2024 include Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld which comes well recommended by a leading peer, and 100% women-owned boutique law firm Bates & Bates.

The rankings are split into the categories of contentious and non-contentious work, with some all-rounder firms providing an exceptional service in both.

These include Kilpatrick, whose household-name clients include Adidas, Formula 1 and Krispy Kreme, and Fross Zelnick which handles everything from straightforward registration matters to intricate cross-border enforcement.

Powerhouse litigators

Two firms in this year’s rankings are currently facing off in the Supreme Court in one of the most closely watched US trademark cases of the year.

Gibson Dunn represents Dewberry Group, and Hunton Andrews Kurth acts for Dewberry Engineers, in a dispute that has triggered key questions over how trademark infringement damages should be calculated and prompted amicus briefs from the International Trademark Association (INTA) and influential non-profit legal group the Washington Legal Foundation, among others.

Elsewhere in this year’s contentious category, Quinn Emanuel’s reputation for “litigating the hell out of a case” continues to be noted by its peers.

Debevoise & Plimpton is also singled out by others in the industry for its strong track record in the courtroom, and it received an ‘Outstanding’ rating on the contentious side for the second year running.

The firm’s 2024 highlights include securing trademark registration for Snapchat owner Snap’s augmented reality glasses ‘Spectacles’ following a US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejection and representing art group MSCHF after it was sued over parody versions of Vans trainers, culminating in a settlement.

A numbers game

Firms ranked in the non-contentious category this year are thriving in a challenging environment where balancing quality portfolio management and prosecution services with the high cost of such work is a fine line, according to the WIPR Insights team’s research.

With clients increasingly scrutinising the value of their trademarks, the most successful firms are those that are demonstrating the benefits, providing strategic oversight and using technology for cost efficiencies.

Dechert, which manages the trademark portfolios of some of the world’s most famous brands and has advised the likes of L’Oréal, Zara and The Ivy League, uses 12 generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tools to serve its clients effectively.

A new addition to the rankings for 2024 in the ‘Notable’ non-contentious category, Morgan Lewis enables clients to visualise their global trademark rights through interactive maps via digital platform VizBridge.

Firms with strong international trademark practices appeal to brands with global ambitions that want a single point of contact, such as Perkins Coie and Baker McKenzie, which managed a worldwide portfolio of over 150,000 trademarks for over a decade.

Other listings published by WIPR this year include UK Trademark Rankings, China Trademark Rankings of International and PRC firms and the top Global Trade Secrets firms.

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