Gina Durham
SociaRegularly recognized as a highly regarded practitioner, Gina is complimented for her "fantastic ability" and "does great things as a creative problem solver." Gina is a directories ranked lead trial lawyer handling high profile trademark and copyright disputes for the most recognized brands resulting in successful outcomes. An experienced trial attorney and strategist, she focuses her practice in the areas of trademark, copyright, right of publicity, trade dress, false advertising, AI and other disruptive technologies. She has more than two decades of experience in disputes surrounding questions of proprietary rights in emerging technologies, from the earliest web-scraping disputes to the latest generative AI models.
Gina approaches matters from a global perspective, often coordinating multijurisdictional strategies to advance the interests of her multinational clients primarily in the technology, media, life sciences and retail sectors. Her AI practice integrates deep knowledge of intellectual property rights with an understanding of data aggregation practices and model functioning. Gina works with some of the most popular generative AI companies in the world, bringing her experience and understanding surrounding IP ownership, protection and disclosure issues in this rapidly evolving space. Gina has successfully litigated the enforceability of online terms of use, civil claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Internet crawling disputes.
EXPERIENCE
Trademark, Copyright & False Advertising – Selected Engagements
- Chicago Mercantile Exchange v. Intercontinental Exchange (N.D. IL): Lead trial lawyer defending Intercontinental Exchange (owner of the New York Stock Exchange) in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by competitor seeking over $1 billion in damages; trial conducted under pandemic circumstances, including completing a month-long hybrid remote/live trial
- Fourth Dimension Software v. DER Touristik (N.D. Cal): Lead trial lawyer defending user of reservation software against claims of 20+ year breach of license agreement; multi-week trial involved disputes to discovery rule and continuous accrual exceptions to limitations defense
- Nanolabs v, Coinbase Global (N.D. Cal): Lead lawyer defending Coinbase in trademark infringement lawsuit, involving issues of descriptive fair use of term in connection with futures contracts
- Zamfir v. Casperlabs, LLC (S.D. Cal): Defended CasperLabs against a preliminary injunction filed against the company on the eve of a planned token sale involving the CSPR cryptocurrency
- Betty's Foundation v. Trinity Broadcasting Network (C.D. Cal): Lead lawyer that won dismissal of a trademark infringement lawsuit filed against TBN over the name of its Remember the Music Television show based application of Rogers Doctrine (affirmed by 9th Cir).
- Lisa Frank v. The Orb Factory (D. AZ): Lead trial lawyer in jury trial defending toy company against copyright and trade dress infringement lawsuit involving multiple craft toy lines
- Lontex v. NIKE (E.D. PA): Lead counsel defending NIKE in in trademark infringement claim involving allegations of reverse and forward confusion; successful partial motion to dismiss; trial counsel in multi-week trial
- Glass Egg v. Gameloft SE, Vivendi, SA, et. al., (N.D. Cal.): Defending video game publisher and related companies in copyright infringement dispute involving Ashphalt 8 games
- ON24 v. Goldcast (N.D. Cal.): Lead counsel for ON24 in competitor false advertising case; the litigation was settled in favor of ON24
- Simoniz v. Dollar Shave Club, (D. Conn.): Represented Dollar Shave Club, Inc. in a pretrial victory attained with a successful motion to dismiss on standing issues in trademark infringement case
- Craig R. Bell d/b/a Destinee Eploriums v. Harley-Davidson Motor Company et. al., (S.D. Cal.): Represented Harley-Davidson in a successful summary judgment motion to dispose of trademark infringement claims based on fair use defense
- Nike, Inc. v. Nikepal International, Inc., (E.D. Cal.): Successfully represented Nike in a trial for claims of trademark infringement and dilution: the case involved the famous NIKE mark and a rare appeal of a Trademark Office opposition to a district court and claims involving injunctive relief
- Protect-A-Car Wash Sys v. Car Wash Partners (D. MD.): Represented defendant, the largest national car wash chain, in trademark and unfair competition claims relating to MISTER CAR WASH mark
- Superpoints v. Rakuten Inc. (N.D. Cal.): Represented Rakuten in trademark and unfair competition litigation over use of RAKUTEN SUPER POINTS.
- Truco Enterprises, L.P. v. N.F.B.Foods, (S.D.N.Y.): Counsel for plaintiff in preliminary injunction proceeding involving alleged trade dress infringement of food packaging
Right of Publicity / Name, Image, Likeness- Selected Engagements
- Estate of Jackie Robinson: Lead counsel for The Estate of Jackie Robinson in dispute matter pertaining to name and image
- A.V.E.L.A. v. The Estate of Marilyn Monroe, LLC, (S.D.N.Y.): Lead counsel for The Estate of Marilyn Monroe in seminal case regarding use of Marilyn Monroe name and image
- CMG Global v. The Estate of Marilyn Monroe, LLC (S.D.N.Y.): Lead counsel for The Estate of Marilyn Monroe in dispute over name, image, likeness rights and representation agreement
- Sofia Vergara v. Venus Concept, (Los Angeles Superior Court): Defended beauty company in widely publicized right of publicity lawsuit
Relevant AI Experience – Selected Engagements
- Midjourney v. Fantastic Labs et. al. (N.D. Cal.): Represented Midjourney in successful litigation, obtaining a final judgment and permanent injunction in favor of Midjourney in case involving a fraudulent iPhone App
- Southwest Airlines Co. v. CheckinSooner.com LLC (N.D. TX): Lead counsel for airline in case alleging breach of online terms of use and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims against a company alleged to have designed and sold access to a flight check-in tool which, through an automated process, circumvented Southwest's authorized check-in procedures
- Southwest Airlines Co. v. BoardFirst, LLC (N.D. TX): Represented Southwest Airlines in successful enforcement of terms and conditions of airline's website under breach of contract theory
- Advising numerous companies on best practices associated with Generative AI integrations into business workflows
- J.D., DePaul University 1999
Order of the Coif, Dean's Scholar
with honors - B.S., Northwestern University 1996
with honors
Awards
Chambers USA
- Band 4, California Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (2022 – 2024)
- Chambers USA comments, "Gina Durham regularly advises household-name clients on a broad range of contentious and noncontentious trademark and copyright matters." Clients say, "Gina is attentive and understands our goals. She thinks out of the box to offer creative solutions for achieving them."
The Legal 500 United States
- Recommended, Patents Litigation: Full Coverage (2024)
- Recommended, Advertising and Marketing: Transactional and Regulatory (formerly Advertising and Marketing: Transactional) (2024)
- Recommended, Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission) (2023 – 2024)
- Recommended, Patents: Prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings) (2023 – 2024)
- Recommended, Copyright (2023 – 2024)
- Recommended, Trademarks: Litigation (2018 – 2024)
- Recommended, Trademarks: Non-Contentious (including Prosecution, Portfolio Management and Licensing) (2019 – 2024)
- Recommended, Private Equity Buyouts (2019 – 2020)
- Clients describe Gina as an "outstanding trial lawyer," who "put together a very good evidentiary records, and did a superb job examining the opponent's witnesses, and handling our defense against IP infringement claims,” calling her work "truly excellent."
Additional Awards
- The California Daily Journal named Gina to its list of Top IP Lawyers (2017)
- Commended in the WTR 1000: The World's Leading Trademark Professionals (2017 – 2020)
- Named to The San Francisco Business Times' "40 Under 40" List (March 2014)
- World Trademark Review recently ranked Gina in its listing of top practitioners, noting that "[she] is complimented for her 'fantastic ability' in trademark litigation and transactional work; she manages global trademark portfolios for numerous household-name brands"
Bylines
- "Text to Image AI Generators: Familiar Legal Questions About This Novel and Fast-Growing Technology," The Computer & Internet Lawyer (May 2023)
- "New York Just Made It Easier for Artists to Protect Their Image After They Die (Guest Column)," Billboard (December 11, 2020)
Seminars
- Moderator, "Innovative Teaming: The New Role of AI," Global Women's Leadership Summit, September 18, 2024
- Beverly Hills Bar Association-Cutting Edge Legal Considerations of Employees Using Generative Artificial Intelligence at Work, September 2023
- Generative AI: risks, opportunities, and legal implications, presentation with Michael Douglas, theoretical physicist, senior research scientist at Harvard University
- Trials In the Time of Covid-19, ChIPs, February 2021
- Media Law Resource Center, Intersection of Right of Publicity & Social Media, November 2016
- To post or not to post: a global perspective on social media and celebrity (false) endorsement, May 2016
Media Mentions
- "Artificial Intelligence Drives New Approach to M&A Due Diligence," Bloomberg Law (November 28, 2023)
Memberships And Affiliations
- International Trademark Association, service on several committees, including China Anti-Counterfeiting Committee and Internet Committee