Janet A. Marvel

Pattishall partner Janet Marvel protects brands, copyrighted works and domain names throughout the world. She has been charged with protecting the trademarks of many world-famous brands, such as Ford, Pepsi, Harlequin (romance novels) and Mattel. She even protects the famous CHEESEHEAD hat, on view every Sunday of the NFL season when the Packers play.

As part of her practice, Janet represents plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of disputes involving trademark, copyright, rights of publicity, breach of contract, unfair competition, and false advertising. She has successfully tried cases and litigated around the country, in state and federal courts and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In a notable case, she successfully defended a small company’s ownership of the BRAWNY mark for plastic bags against an all-out attack in two federal courts and the TTAB. She also developed expert testimony for the Internal Revenue Service in a $262 million case involving evaluation of assets of the Carnation Company. She handled the acquisition of the famous CURAD mark.

Janet writes the comprehensive treatise Hilliard, Welch & Marvel, Trademarks and Unfair Competition (11th edition, 2023, Lexis Nexis); on-line edition (2023, Lexis Nexis). She has been an adjunct professor at Northwestern School of Law and teaches classes at Chicago Kent College of Law and the University of Chicago Law School. Janet has served for many years alongside federal district court judges as a Judge of the International Trademark Association Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition.

Janet has developed comprehensive five-year brand plans for all of the major divisions of Ford Motor Company and for Mattel. She’s handled all the brand needs for Medline Industries, Inc., an over $8 billion a year medical products company. She has developed and runs worldwide anti-counterfeiting programs for large clients. In the U.S. she has worked closely with police to raid defendants’ warehouses and obtain felony convictions for sellers of counterfeit Ford parts. She has in-depth knowledge of the use of Chinese copyright law and Chinese Customs enforcement.

When she is not working, you will probably find Janet hiking — often north of the Arctic Circle. Janet’s travel has included backpacking trips to Canada’s Ellesmere Island (at 80 degrees north latitude, accessible just 3 weeks a year), Gates of the Arctic National Park and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Janet also serves on the Textile Committee of the Art Institute of Chicago, which she says has given her fascinating insights into the art world.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University in 1983, Janet took three years off before entering law school. During that time, she went to work in advertising. She earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1989.