- Acumen Powered by Robins Kaplan LLP®
- Affirmative Recovery
- American Indian Law and Policy
- Antitrust and Trade Regulation
- Appellate Advocacy and Guidance
- Business Litigation
- Civil Rights and Police Misconduct
- Class Action Litigation
- Commercial/Project Finance and Real Estate
- Corporate Governance and Special Situations
- Corporate Restructuring and Bankruptcy
- Domestic and International Arbitration
- Entertainment and Media Litigation
- Health Care Litigation
- Insurance and Catastrophic Loss
- Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation
- Mass Tort Attorneys
- Medical Malpractice Attorneys
- Personal Injury Attorneys
- Telecommunications Litigation and Arbitration
- Wealth Planning, Administration, and Fiduciary Disputes
Acumen Powered by Robins Kaplan LLP®
Ediscovery, Applied Science and Economics, and Litigation Support Solutions
-
December 5, 2024Jake Holdreith Named to Twin Cities Business Top 100
-
December 4, 2024Robins Kaplan Obtains $10.5 Million Post-Verdict in Landmark Aerosol Dust Remover Abuse Case
-
December 2, 2024Robins Kaplan LLP Announces 2025 Partners
-
December 11, 20242024 Year in Review: eDiscovery and Artificial Intelligence
-
December 12, 2024Strategies for Licensing AI: A Litigation Perspective
-
December 2024A Landmark Victory for Disabled Homeless Veterans: Q&A with the Trial Team
-
November 8, 2024Trademark tensions on the track: Court upholds First Amendment protections in Haas v. Steiner
-
November 8, 2024Destination Skiing And The DOJ's Mountain Merger Challenge
-
September 16, 2022Uber Company Systems Compromised by Widespread Cyber Hack
-
September 15, 2022US Averts Rail Workers Strike With Last-Minute Tentative Deal
-
September 14, 2022Hotter-Than-Expected August Inflation Prompts Massive Wall Street Selloff
Find additional firm contact information for press inquiries.
Find resources to help navigate legal and business complexities.
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Disputes
You must read the following notice before sending an e-mail message to Robins Kaplan LLP.
Any information that you send us in an e-mail message should not be confidential or otherwise privileged information. Sending us an e-mail message will not make you a client of Robins Kaplan LLP. We do not accept representation until we have had an opportunity to evaluate your matter, including but not limited to an ethical evaluation of whether we are in a conflict position to represent you. Accordingly, the information you provide to us in an e-mail should not be information for which you would have an expectation of confidentiality.
If you are interested in having us represent you, you should call us so we can determine whether the matter is one for which we are willing or able to accept professional responsibility. We will not make this determination by e-mail communication. The telephone numbers and addresses for our offices are listed on this page. We reserve the right to decline any representation. We may be required to decline representation if it would create a conflict of interest with our other clients.
By accepting these terms, you are confirming that you have read and understood this important notice.
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) >
The explosive growth of social media and recent changes impacting the ability of college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) have substantially increased NIL licensing transactions. Unfortunately, this growth of NIL licensing has led to a substantial growth in NIL disputes. Today’s creators, athletes, and other influencers face serious risks around the use (and misuse) of their name, image, and likeness. Leading companies who seek to partner with these individuals also face challenges from an increasingly contentious NIL market. Robins Kaplan is uniquely positioned to help.
For decades, Robins Kaplan has represented both NIL licensors and companies who incorporate NIL strategies in their advertising efforts in disputes involving breaches of license, improper use of NIL rights, and other violations of “rights of publicity.” As highly skilled commercial and intellectual property litigators, we know that NIL rights—and associated trademarks—are often among our clients’ most valuable assets.
Leveraging a sophisticated knowledge of IP infringement litigation and formidable trial skills, our attorneys vigorously protect clients’ brand assets against infringement, dilution, and other unfair competition. We have experience representing high-profile athletes, authors, writers, producers, actors, directors, and musicians, as well as their estates and heirs, in claims related to copyright and trademark infringement, breach of contract and license disputes, profit participation, violation of rights of privacy, defamation, and more. We provide zealous advocacy to protect our clients’ valuable interests.
Our record of success includes victories on both sides of the courtroom in complex, high-stakes licensing, profit participation, and name, image, and likeness disputes. Our plaintiff-side successes include what is reputably the largest profit participation case in history: a $320 million judgment for the creator of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire franchise in a breach of contract dispute over intellectual property rights. Successes for defendants include defense verdicts for licensees in disputes with hundreds of millions of dollars and attorneys’ fees at stake. Robins Kaplan was also proud to represent Olympian Gable Steveson in the first-of-its-kind Name, Image, and Likeness deal with the WWE.
Because of these and other client results, licensing professionals and other service providers in the sports and entertainment industries turn to us to handle their clients’ highest-stakes disputes.
About the Robins Kaplan Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation Group
The Robins Kaplan National Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation Group has a long history of extraordinary courtroom victories, innovation defense, and IP asset monetization. We represent some of the world's largest multinationals and most innovative emerging companies, as well as individual authors and inventors, across a full range of intellectual property matters, including trademark litigation, copyright litigation, license and breach of contract disputes, patent litigation, strategic IP monetization, trade secret litigation, and more.
Our experience spans traditional court, arbitration, and mediation venues, with successes in domestic and international arbitration, federal district courts, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
FEATURED RESULTS
RELATED PROFESSIONALS
David Martinez
Partner
Member of the Executive Board;
Member of the Firm's Diversity Committee;
Pro Bono Chair, Los Angeles Office
Zac Cohen
Associate
If you are interested in having us represent you, you should call us so we can determine whether the matter is one for which we are willing or able to accept professional responsibility. We will not make this determination by e-mail communication. The telephone numbers and addresses for our offices are listed on this page. We reserve the right to decline any representation. We may be required to decline representation if it would create a conflict of interest with our other clients.
By accepting these terms, you are confirming that you have read and understood this important notice.