Ian works side-by-side with clients to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights, with a particular focus on trademarks and brand protection. As a partner in NGE’s Intellectual Property practice group, he advises high-profile public companies, middle-market businesses, and startups on trademark clearance, prosecution, enforcement, and transactions. Clients value Ian’s ability to immerse himself in their business, understand the commercial realities driving their decisions, and deliver practical, strategic counsel that protects valuable brand assets while supporting long-term growth.
Ian has devised and implemented trademark enforcement campaigns to address infringements involving some of the world’s best-known brands. Clients turn to Ian for his creative and pragmatic approach to navigating trademark challenges and aligning legal strategies with business objectives.
Enforcing intellectual property rights and defending businesses’ interests through litigation makes up a substantial portion of Ian’s practice. He represents clients in intellectual property disputes involving trademarks, trade dress, design patents, utility patents, copyrights, and advertising claims. He litigates in federal courts throughout the United States, before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD). Ian takes a practical approach to litigation, and his experience before multiple courts and administrative bodies provides clients with coordinated guidance across a range of intellectual property matters.
Leading industry publications recognize Ian’s skill and experience in the field. Based on client references, World Trademark Review has selected Ian for an individual ranking in its WTR 1000 directory as a top practitioner in trademark prosecution and strategy every year since 2023. World Trademark Review has described Ian as a “skilled partner,” who “brings his creative and pragmatic approach to major players.” Ian also was recognized for his litigation acumen in The Legal 500 – City Elite for Chicago intellectual property contentious matters.
Ian is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), where he led a task force on best practices for protecting and enforcing non-traditional trademarks, such as trade dress, motion marks, building designs, sounds, and smells.
Before joining NGE, Ian was an intellectual property litigation partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he successfully litigated numerous high-profile disputes through trial and appeal.
