Consumer Products

Home / Industries / Consumer Products
All industries
Commercial · Retail

Consumer products legal counsel covering trademark and trade dress protection, anti-counterfeiting and gray market enforcement, advertising and influencer marketing compliance, and the commercial agreements that bring products to market and defend the brand.

In consumer products, the brand is the asset and the marketing is the minefield. We help consumer products companies protect their trademarks and trade dress, shut down counterfeits and knockoffs, and keep advertising claims on the right side of the rules. As an IP and technology firm, we are also ready for the data, e-commerce, and platform questions that come with selling to consumers in a market that now runs largely online.

Trademark and Trade Dress

Your name, logo, and packaging are what customers actually buy. We build trademark portfolios that cover the marks and classes that matter, protect the trade dress and packaging that make your product recognizable on a shelf or a screen, and manage your domain name footprint. When someone trades on your reputation, we enforce those rights through cease-and-desist work, oppositions, and litigation, scaled to the threat and the value at stake.

Counterfeiting and Gray Market

Counterfeits and diverted goods erode both revenue and trust, and online marketplaces make them harder to contain. We pursue counterfeiters through marketplace takedowns, customs recordation and seizures, and court action when needed, and we attack the gray market channels that undercut your authorized distribution. We help you design distribution and authentication strategies that make diversion easier to detect and harder to profit from in the first place.

Advertising and Influencer Marketing

Consumer marketing draws heavy scrutiny, and a single claim can trigger regulators or competitors. We counsel on advertising claims and the substantiation behind them, comparative advertising that picks a fight without inviting a lawsuit, and FTC-compliant endorsement and influencer programs. We also handle the rules around sweepstakes and promotions and the disclosure obligations that follow your marketing into email, social, and other digital channels.

Frequently asked questions

A trademark protects your brand name and logo, while trade dress protects the overall look and feel of your product or packaging — shape, color, and design — when it identifies you as the source. To protect trade dress you generally must show it's distinctive and not merely functional. Both can be registered, and together they stop competitors from copying not just your name but the visual identity customers recognize on the shelf.

You have several tools: takedown programs on marketplaces and brand registries, customs recordation to stop counterfeits at the border, and direct enforcement through cease-and-desist letters or litigation. The fastest results usually come from registered trademarks plus marketplace enrollment, which lets you remove listings quickly. We can help you set up a recurring enforcement process rather than chasing infringers one at a time.

Sometimes. Gray-market goods are authentic products sold outside your authorized channels, and stopping them is harder than stopping counterfeits because the goods are real. You can often act when the imported version differs materially from your authorized version — different warranty, labeling, or formulation — or use contractual distribution restrictions and quality-control programs. The strategy depends on the specific differences, so the facts of your product matter.

Influencers must clearly disclose paid or material relationships with you, and any claims about your product must be truthful and substantiated — the FTC holds brands responsible for what their endorsers say. Health, performance, and comparative claims draw the most scrutiny and need real support before you publish them. Put disclosure and substantiation requirements directly into your influencer contracts so the obligation is theirs and yours is documented.

Our team

Attorneys for this industry

Document products

Related document products

Order attorney-drafted documents related to this industry.

Browse all products

Protecting innovation in consumer products.

Get in touch