Michelle A. Cooke

Manatt, Phelps

& Phillips LLP

Los Angeles

Intellectual property protection, trademark

Cooke leads Manatt's IP protection and enforcement business unit -- a role she said allows her to collaborate with all other practice groups and stay connected with other industry sectors at the firm.

She started as a general commercial litigator, but her practice evolved, and she became more specialized in IP. Today, she's more focused on keeping clients out of court and away from litigation.

In 2019, Cooke led a Manatt team that successfully resolved a years-long trademark dispute in Europe for Yoobi. The dispute was related to a multi-jurisdictional challenge.

"Half of the work that I do is outside the U.S. and one of my favorite things is when I get to handle a multi-jurisdictional dispute, which is what we had for them. Here we had an entity that was a thorn in our side in different countries and was senior to us in those jurisdictions. But we were very firm from the very beginning that we thought that their position was very weak."

Using a strategy that was mindful of all the different trademark laws in various countries, Cooke was able to achieve favorable results for Yoobi at every phase of the dispute in every jurisdiction, including the European Union. The matter concluded with a successful appeal that removed a potential obstacle to the global school supply company's entrance into the European market.

Public Media Group of Southern California, which was created when KCETLink Media Group merged with PBS SoCal in 2018, is one of Cooke's other clients.

"So this one was their largest merger, where they merged with PBS SoCal. It was kind of a merger of equals, and they rebranded themselves Public Media Group of Southern California," Cooke said. "And in doing that, we worked with them on securing the new name, clearing the new name and the best way to transition to the new brand, which is never easy."

She also advises clients on how intellectual property applies to privacy and data security. This includes counseling clients on what they do online, outside of the usual trademarks, logos and copyrights.

One of her clients experienced a data breach, in which trade secrets and copyrighted information was stolen along with the customers' personal information, which had been posted online.

Using both traditional and new IP tools, Cooke worked around the clock to come up with a strategy that led to the removal of all of the stolen assets from the forums.

"The client was really grateful for that help, and we did it in a way that they, the client, had not really anticipated," she said.

"We have been trying to educate other clients of these options in case they suffered a data breach. And you know, unfortunately for many of us, it's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when."

-- Kamila Knaudt