Julia Huston

Representative Experience

Trademarks

• Counsel for major food manufacturer defending a high profile trademark infringement action involving tagline.
• Counsel in lawsuit involving trademarks for software for autonomous vehicles and geolocation mapping technologies.
• Counsel for craft brewery in lawsuit by another brewery alleging trademark infringement based on product name.
• Counsel for financial services company enforcing rights in famous mark against provider of higher education services.
• Counsel for American college asserting trademark rights against third parties in multiple jurisdictions in Central and South America.
• Counsel for manufacturer of baby food in trademark dispute with competitor regarding product name.
• Counsel for university asserting dilution claims against online education provider using “not” before client’s famous trademark as its own trademark.
• Counsel for maker of blood glucose monitoring devices in trademark dispute with competitor regarding product names.
• Counsel for provider of health care services and medical monitoring devices enforcing trademark rights in house mark in connection with skin moisturizer.
• Counsel for developer of search engine and software for curating and sharing data on social networks in trademark dispute with social media network.
• Counsel for company selecting global name for antibiotic, which involved trademark and regulatory clearance in multiple jurisdictions and ancillary cancellation actions.
• Counsel for owner of famous trademark for clothing defending against genericide challenge in TTAB.
• Counsel for domain name company defending against reverse domain name hijacking claims and related claims brought by media company.
• Counsel for leading coffee shop chain enforcing rights in famous name of beverage against competing chain.
• Counsel for publisher of business documents defending trademark and EULA claims based on use of font names.
• Counsel for hair care company defending against trademark infringement allegations brought by a competitor in multiple jurisdictions worldwide.
• Counsel for educational software and SaaS company in international dispute with European provider of education-related goods and services.
• Counsel for industrial manufacturer asserting famous trademark against generic uses of trademark in the United States and abroad.
• Counsel for leading computer manufacturer defending trademark infringement action by computer distributor and tech support provider in connection with anti-virus software.
• Counsel for statistical computing software company in TTAB trial against provider of software for entity relationship modeling.
• Counsel for maker of portable electric fans in TTAB trial against competitor involving allegations of descriptiveness and mutilation.
• Counsel for security company asserting trademark rights and defending against genricness allegations in connection with account security software.
• Counsel for automotive company obtaining Lever Rule protection against gray market auto parts from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
• Oversaw numerous takedowns on third party websites involving counterfeit and/or infringing products, including Amazon, Ebay, and Alibaba.
• Testified as expert witness in federal and state court proceedings regarding trademark infringement, trademark assignments and licenses, and intellectual property holding companies.

Trade Dress

• Counsel for OTC consumer products company asserting trade dress in product packaging for fiber supplement against competitor.
• Counsel for company asserting trade dress rights in pattern of non-woven disposable wipes and fabrics.
• Counsel for apparel manufacturer defending against allegations of infringement of allegedly famous trade dress for sneakers.
• Counsel for manufacturer of portable electric fans asserting trade dress rights against competitors.
• Counsel for one of the country’s oldest and most historic jewelers asserting trade dress rights in fish-shaped pitcher design.
• Counsel for musical instrument company asserting trade dress rights in product packaging.
• Counsel for pharmaceutical company analyzing its ability to challenge a competitor’s claim to exclusive use of a specific color in connection with its product.
• Counsel for automotive company obtaining trade dress registrations for the interior and exterior design of its dealerships.

Copyrights

• Counsel for major movie studio defending copyright claims based on alleged authorship of the main characters and plot lines in a blockbuster film franchise that earned over $1.8 billion at box offices worldwide.
• Counsel for developers of translation software enforcing copyright and related rights against world’s largest privately held language services provider.
• Counsel for diagnostics company seeking to protect and enforce copyright in format of proprietary reports.
• Counsel for software company defending copyrights claims based on the interface screens and menu structure of its CAD software.
• Counsel for cryogenics company accused of infringing copyright in photographs used on website.
• Counsel for owner of widely known blog devoted to fashion and popular culture in trademark dispute with non-profit that provided a fashion blog collateral in connection with its charitable and fundraising activities.
• Counsel for major sports franchise accused of infringing the copyright in a popular song.
• Successfully argued appeals of the U.S. Copyright Office’s refusal to register business logos and sculptural works.
• Counseled clients with respect to copyright protection for works as diverse as medical record templates, computer software, cartoon characters, musical recordings, photographs, paintings, religious texts, firms, websites, and multimedia presentations.

False Advertising & Disparagement

• Counsel for major food manufacturer defending against false advertising and disparagement claims in relation to use of preservatives in competitor’s products.
• Counsel for client defending NAD action in relation to accused depiction of competitor’s products containing non-natural ingredients in an allegedly disparaging manner.
• Counsel for musical instruments company asserting false advertising and disparagement claims against retailers seeking to discourage the purchase of school band instruments at big box stores.
• Counsel for manufacturer of baby food in false advertising dispute regarding advertising claims about ingredients made by competitor.
• Counsel for food manufacturer asserting claims in NAD against comparative advertising based on a consumer taste test.
• Counsel for client defending NAD action based on reliance on USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference in advertising sugar content of food products.
• Counsel for major big box retailer chain in challenging competitors’ advertisements and responding to competitor challenges.
• Counsel for food company defending against false advertising claims based on comparative advertisements calling out the characteristics of sucralose.

Patents

• Counsel for provider of online language learning products and services asserting patent against competitor in relation to a system and method for teaching foreign languages over a network.
• Counsel for global pharmaceutical manufacturer of anti-anemia drugs defending against claims of patent infringement directed to methods for creating synthetic forms of erythropoietin.
• Counsel for leading speech recognition software company defending against claims of patent infringement for method and system of pattern recognition.
• Counsel for market-leading manufacturer of computer monitors, laptops and tablets in defending claims of patent infringement involving gallium nitride thin film semiconductors.
• Counsel for athletic cleats manufacturer asserting patent directed to cleat locking mechanism against competitors.
• Counsel for athletic cleats manufacturer defending against patent claims directed to golf cleats.
• Counsel for CAD software company defending against patent infringement claims directed to keyboard template.
• Counsel to manufacturer of component parts for computers and other electronic devices asserting patents in DC fans.
• Counsel to designer of baby products asserting patent for rear-facing car mirror against former licensee.
• Counsel for leading software company asserting patent directed to speech recognition system in a non-wireline communications network against competitors. 
• Counsel for musical instruments company asserting utility patents for percussion instrument tension member and retail product packaging against competitors.
• Counsel for musical instruments company asserting design patents for the retail packaging for drums against a competitor.
• Counsel for musical instruments company asserting a design patent for a guitar case against a competitor.
• Counsel for consumer products manufacturer asserting patent infringement claims directed to a portable humidifier.
• Counsel for company challenging patents on video games through multiple inter partes reexamination proceedings.