A Fresh Batch of Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs

Shout out to a team at Mayer Brown that got a win allowing client Nespresso USA to pursue trade dress claims against rival Peet’s Coffee and got a big compliment from the judge in doing so. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan last week found that Nespresso had plausibly alleged that it has a protectable trade dress in its distinctive capsules. The judge further wrote that she had “seen quite a few trade dress cases,” but she “has seldom seen a better crafted pleading” than Mayer Brown’s. The legal drafters who now have bragging rights include IP partners John Mancini, Jonathan Thomas and Kristine Young, litigation partner Gina Parlovecchio and IP associates Dan Rosales and Madelaine Thomas.