Copyright Litigation Strategies: From Soup to Nuts

J. Michael Keyes is an intellectual property attorney with extensive trial and litigation experience in cases involving trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition and false advertising. He has tried several cases in federal courts across the United States.

Recently, Mike and his team obtained a final judgment and permanent injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of Rovio Entertainment, Ltd., the creator of Angry Birds?. The Court entered findings that the Angry Birds? trademark was “widely recognized by the general consuming public of the United States” and that the Defendants’ use of the mark “Angry Clubs” on golf-related merchandise was likely to cause confusion and dilution in the marketplace.

Mike previously served as trial counsel in Chicago federal court for Kraft Foods in a highly-publicized false advertising trial that was featured on ABC’s Good Morning America and also covered by the likes of The Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. He was also trial counsel for Abercrombie & Fitch in a high-profile case in California federal court brought by Levi Strauss & Co. involving claims of unfair competition, trademark infringement, and dilution. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Abercrombie & Fitch on all claims. The case was profiled in the Daily Journal—California’s largest legal publication—as one of the Top 10 “Defense Wins” in California that year.

Mike’s intellectual property litigation clients have also included the likes of Hall of Fame Major League Slugger George Brett, Amazon.com, Foot Locker, Beats Electronics, LLC (Beats by Dr. Dre), Helly Hansen, The North Face, Nestle, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Novatel Wireless, Esprit, Quest Diagnostics, Red Lion Hotels, Cervecer?a Modelo (the manufacturer of Corona? beer), Robert Bosch, LLC, and Carma Labs.

In addition to Mike’s trial practice, he also has substantial experience in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Office, and has been lead counsel on several appellate matters before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mike is an active member of the copyright and trademark litigation bar and frequently teaches, speaks, and writes about intellectual property law. Mike is a co-creator and the co-editor of Dorsey’s IP Blog, TheTMCA.com, which focuses on legal developments in the world of TradeMarks, Copyrights, and Advertising. Mike is frequently called upon by members of the media for his insights and perspective on cutting-edge IP issues and disputes. He has recently been quoted by the likes of USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and the New York Business Journal. Mike is the co-editor of the forthcoming ABA Copyright Litigation Desk Book. One of Mike’s law review articles was cited extensively and relied upon by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a case involving allegations of alleged music copyright infringement by Lady Gaga. See Francescatti v. Germanotta, No. 11 CV 5270, 2014 WL 2767231, at *9 (N.D. Ill. June 17, 2014)(Aspen, J.).

Dale Cendali is a nationally recognized leader in the field of intellectual property litigation, having successfully litigated and tried numerous high-profile cases, and having argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Her practice encompasses copyright, trademark, Internet, and trade secrets law, as well as defamation, the right of publicity, false advertising, privacy, complex contract disputes and similar areas, including electronic discovery. The National Law Journal selected Ms. Cendali as one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America”. The Journal had previously named her one of “America’s Top 50 Women Litigators,” one of the “50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America,” and one of “The Most Influential Lawyers” for media and entertainment. Ms. Cendali has repeatedly been ranked as a “top tier” lawyer by Chambers Global and Chambers USA, which describes her as “one of the best lawyers in the country” in her field who combines “intellectual acuity” with a “tough, hard-working attitude”; a “superb litigator” who “thinks quickly on her feet and vigorously defends her clients.” She was recently named one of the 2013-2014 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. Euromoney Legal Media Group also named Ms. Cendali as “Best in Copyright [in] the Americas” at its Americas Women in Business Law Awards in 2012 and 2013, and included her in its Benchmark guide, “The Top 250 Women in Litigation.” Ms. Cendali is also an integral part of the intellectual property team, which in 2010 won Kirkland the title of “Trademark Contentious Firm of the Year”, and in 2013 won “Copyright Firm of the Year” for the Northeast region by Managing Intellectual Property. Ms. Cendali is an adjunct professor at Harvard Law School, teaching copyright and trademark litigation. She is also a prolific writer and has long been active in the bar. In 2010, the International Trademark Association elected Ms. Cendali to serve as Counsel, the highest ranking position in the organization for an outside counsel. Ms. Cendali was also the Vice Chair of the Copyright Division and chair of the IP Special Issues Division for the IP Section of the American Bar Association, and currently serves as Council for the ABA IP Section.