Caroline H. Mankey

Caroline H. Mankey's journey into IP law in the mid-nineties was motivated by a desire to support artists and owners of IP after working in the music industry between college and law school. She began her legal career at a small IP boutique and honed her skills in copyright, trademark and right of publicity cases, further igniting her interest in the field.

Throughout her career, she's had numerous mentors.

"My first mentors, Bela Lugosi [the attorney son of the actor] and Robert Benjamin, taught me to be fearless by giving me opportunities in my first few years of practice to make numerous court appearances and even to give an oral argument in the Court of Appeal, and to research and draft briefs on complex IP issues," she said. "My next mentor, Patty Glaser, taught me how to try cases and to use my own personality and style of practice to win them."

Recently, Mankey won a complete defense verdict in a week-long jury trial on behalf of an adult toy manufacturer in a breach of contract claim brought by one of its European distributors. B.V. v. PD Products, LLC DBA Pipedream Products, 20CHCV000547 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 17, 2020).

She said she navigated the delicate task of presenting adult toys to a jury in a manner that was respectful yet infused with a touch of humor, maintaining the court's decorum while making the subject matter approachable.

"We had to overcome the biases that jurors and the judge might have had towards a manufacturer of very explicit adult toys and to legitimize the client's business, the seriousness of the issues in dispute, and convey the message that the goods at issue were equivalent to any other consumer goods for the purposes of the determination of the case," Mankey said.

In another notable case, Mankey represented a client against claims of deceptive advertising due to the use of the trademark Texas Pete for hot sauce made in North Carolina. Phillip White v. T.W. Garner Food Co., 2:22-cv-06503 (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 12, 2022).

Employing both substantive arguments and creative procedural strategies, she conducted an in-depth investigation into the plaintiff's qualifications as a class representative. This investigation raised significant concerns, leading to the voluntary dismissal of the case by the plaintiff.

"We had to formulate creative solutions to overcome strong resistance from plaintiff's counsel to third party discovery that we sought as part of our investigation into the propriety of the plaintiff's role as class representative, as well as to effectuate service on third parties who were avoiding service of subpoenas," she explained.