Susan M. Natland

Susan M. Natland is a top trademark attorney and co-chair of her firm’s trademark and brand protection practice group. She has worked to protect brands and marks ranging from Fox Corp.’s “Avatar” films and the USFL football league to Illumina Inc.’s gene sequencing products and services.

She was part of the Knobbe Martens team that secured a summary judgment for client lululemon athletica inc. and its Align yoga pants to end a trademark infringement action by Aliign Activation Wear. The 9th Circuit affirmed the win in August just 11 days after argument, Natland said. Aliign Activation Wear LLC v. Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc, 21-55775 (9th Cir., dec’d Aug. 9, 2022).

Natland said she is especially proud of that case. Even though the two companies use very similar names on athletic clothing, they had “completely separate trade channels,” she said. “When you see them as used … nobody is confused.”

She also is proud of the “multi-prong strategy” she and her team put together to aggressively protect Public Storage’s brand and the iconic orange trade dress the company uses on its facilities. That includes an ongoing action against U-Haul International Inc., including its use of orange.

But she is especially proud of her year as the chair of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Public Advisory Committee. Natland said the panel is the main stakeholder advisory group regarding trademark policy, goals, performance and budget.

“Trademarks and brands are extremely valuable to the U.S. economy,” she said. According to a report issued last year by the office’s chief economist, “trademark-intensive industries” accounted for $7 trillion, or about a third, of the U.S. GDP in 2019. Those industries also support about 60 million jobs every year, she said.

While Natland was the chair, the advisory committee examined ways to trim the time required to examine trademark applications, combated counterfeiting and frauds against the trademark office and worked to advance equity, inclusion and accessibility in the trademark ecosystem.

Her main goal as chair, however, was to really “put the spotlight on trademarks” and “make sure that there is focus and promotion of trademarks and brands because they’re doing all these great things for the economy,” she said.

Therefore, Natland created the USPTO’s first-ever trademark award for stakeholders. Nominations just opened last month for the first Trademarks for Humanity Award, which will be given later this year to the owner of registered trademarks that are being used to make a positive impact on humanity.

Natland said she also is proposing that Congress codify the award through a Trademarks for Humanity Act.

The award “is kind of like my legacy in a way,” she said. “It’s something I was able to do in a year to have a lasting impact on trademarks.”

— Don DeBenedictis