Josh Gerben is a nationally recognized trademark attorney. In 15+ years of practice, he has represented a wide variety of clients including bootstrapped entrepreneurs, private equity-backed start-ups, public companies, professional athletes, and even sovereign governments.  

Josh has assisted clients with protecting trademark rights in just about every industry known to mankind. This includes fashion, jewelry, cosmetics, food, chemicals, industrial machines, tools, nutritional supplements, medical equipment, vehicles, furniture, greeting cards, books, toys, business consulting, financial services, construction services, telecommunications, manufacturing, educational services, IT services, software, apps, SaaS products, medical services and more. 

In 2008, Josh opened Gerben IP without a single client and with the goal of providing big-firm-quality legal services at an affordable rate. As he was raised in a family of entrepreneurs, Josh wanted to test his own entrepreneurial skills by starting a business.

Since founding the firm, Josh has overseen the registration of 7,500+ trademarks for clients in the United States and in 30+ countries around the world. In 2021, he was cited as the trademark attorney who filed the most trademark applications for U.S.-based clients with the USPTO.

In addition to his trademark registration practice, Josh assists clients with all of their trademark needs, such as monitoring, change of ownership, portfolio management, registration renewals, infringement, and more. He has helped to enforce and defend over 500 trademarks.

Josh has become a sought-after thought leader in the trademark space over the years. He regularly appears on CNBC to comment on trademark-related matters and is quoted frequently by ESPN, NPR, CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Throughout his career, Josh has been routinely acknowledged for his professional accomplishments. Most recently, in the 2023 WTR 1000, published by the World Trademark Review, he was identified as a “leading trademark attorney” in the United States.

Prior to beginning his law practice, Josh worked in the business world. His extensive experience in that field allows him to understand his clients’ realities of doing business, which helps him to navigate complicated trademark clearance, registration, and enforcement issues with the perspective of how it will help a business in both the short and long term.

Josh currently lives outside Philadelphia with his wife and four children. If he is not working on a client’s trademark protection strategy he is typically changing diapers, at a dance recital, or throwing batting practice in the backyard. 

In his spare time, Josh hosts The Josh Gerben Show podcast, which delves into the business aspects of starting, running, and growing a law practice. The show discusses law firm management, legal marketing, team management, and everything else they didn’t teach you in law school. New episodes are released on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify every other week.

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Experience

• Managed 80+ enforcement actions on behalf of a national salt brand. The enforcement actions included phase-out agreements with infringers, take-down notices that were successful on third-party websites and federal litigation.
• Created litigation strategy which led to settlement of a trademark dispute between two national thrifting companies.
• Obtained 20+ settlement agreements in trademark enforcement efforts on behalf of a wine brand with international distribution.
• Led trademark strategy for hair care company Briogeo which resulted in an international portfolio of trademarks in 20+ countries.
• Successfully enforced trademark and right-to-publicity rights for a retired hall-of-fame NFL player against a company that had misappropriated his name and likeness. Led trademark application strategy which resulted in protection of his name.
• Led domestic and international trademark registration strategy for venture backed legal startup Rocket Lawyer.

• Settled a trademark dispute on behalf of a client with a software application in the aviation industry against a significantly larger company. The large company dropped its trademark application upon learning of our client’s rights.
• Removed unwanted photographs from Google for a high profile client.
• Negotiated and settled a trademark dispute spanning the US, UK and European Union between a venture-backed legal services provider and an international consortium of lawyers.
• Led effort to oppose a trademark application filed in China by a squatter for a US cosmetic company. The opposition effort was successful and it cleared the path for the registration of our client’s trademark in China.
• Completed clearance searches and successfully registered 60+ federal trademarks for SaltWorks, Inc.
• Successfully prosecuted 20+ domain disputes and recovered infringing domain names on behalf of multiple clients.
• Assisted restaurateur with the clearance and registration of 20+ restaurant names.
• Led litigation strategy for a cosmetic brand that resulted in multiple trademarks in China being canceled that were blocking the client’s attempt to register its own trademark in China. The legal action resulted in our client securing multiple trademark registrations for its brand in China.
• Led trademark strategy for Fun Wine which resulted in an international portfolio of trademarks registered in 20+ countries.
• Cleared and registered stage names for several adult film stars with millions of followers on social media.
• Defended a clothing retailer from a lawsuit filed by a public clothing company. The case resulted in our client paying no damages or attorneys fees and provided the client with ample time to change its name.
• Assisted educational software maker in removing an infringing APP from the AppStore across multiple countries.
• Enforced trademark for a paranormal (i.e. ghost) detector in the US and UK resulting in a counterfeit product being removed from the marketplace.
• Maintain and enforce an international trademark portfolio for thredUP, a public company.
• Led domestic trademark clearance and registration strategy for Centers for Breakthrough Medicine, a biotechnology startup.
• Successfully defended a Notice of Opposition for a government contractor’s trademark. Despite the other party’s demands that our client change its name, a strong defense of the claims led to a settlement agreement and trademark registration for the client. 
• Defended claims against a client’s trademark for exam software. The case was settled out of court and our client was able to maintain its trademark registration and continued using the trademark without interruption. 
• Assisted a dietary supplement maker in cancelling a trademark registration that was blocking attempts to register its mark. We obtained a default judgment in favor of the client and successfully secured the client’s trademark registration. 
• Managed 30+ enforcement actions on behalf of a venture-backed legal tech startup. The enforcement actions ensured there was appropriate policing of our client’s brand without ever engaging in unnecessary litigation. The enforcement action resulted in phase-out agreements with infringers and coexistence agreements in situations where appropriate.
• Conducted 20+ enforcement actions for a men’s personal care brand. The enforcement actions resulted in many of the infringers changing their name without even needing to file a lawsuit. 
• Led effort to oppose a trademark application filed in Turkey by a squatter for a client who makes and sells watches internationally. With the help of our local counsel in Turkey, the opposition was decided in favor of our client and the squatter’s attempt to register our client’s trademark was blocked.
• Assisted a frozen yogurt chain in enforcing its trademark rights against an upstart ice cream truck company. 
• Defended a Notice of Opposition on behalf of a cybersecurity company. The defense resulted in a negotiated settlement in which our client was able to register and use its mark without any major interruption.

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Press Mentions

Tiger Woods and TaylorMade confirmed that they are partnering for a new lifestyle brand called Sun Day Red. The new brand’s trademarks are owned by a separate entity, giving Woods an ownership interest. Read more.

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Taco Bell has filed a Petition to Cancel another restaurant’s trademark registration for “TACO TUESDAY.” Read more.

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A Russian decree indicates that the country will possibly allow patent theft against any entity that is affiliated with countries that are “unfriendly” towards Russia. Read more.

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Recent Articles

• How to Get a Trademark Application Expedited
• How the TaylorMade and Tiger Woods Partnership Might Have Teed Off
• Top 16 Myths About Trademarks
• From Aunt Jemima to Pearl Milling Company: Navigating Roadblocks in Trademark Registration
• XFL Files New Trademarks for “United Football League”
• Trademark Filing Suggests Collaboration Between Erin Andrews and Deion Sanders
• Trademark Gridlock: Why the USPTO is Processing Trademarks at a Historically Slow Rate
• Kanye West Files 26 Trademark Applications to Protect “YEWS”

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Education

American University Washington College of Law

Juris Doctor (2003)

The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management

Bachelor of Business Administration (2006)

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Bar Memberships

Admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.