Susan J. Latham
Shareholder · Trademark, False Advertising and Copyright Litigator
Trademark, False Advertising and Copyright Litigator
Susan J. Latham is a shareholder at Allen Dyer Doppelt + Gilchrist, P.A. Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for Intellectual Property Litigation with a special focus in False Advertising, she has spent more than 20 years litigating trademark, trade dress, dilution, cybersquatting, false advertising and copyright disputes in federal and state courts across the country.
Admitted in Florida, New York and New Jersey, Susan has appeared as counsel of record in more than 30 federal intellectual property cases in eight federal districts, along with proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, WIPO and the American Arbitration Association. Clients in health and beauty, luxury goods, fashion, hospitality, beverages and e-commerce rely on her to protect their brands and to challenge, or defend against, competitors’ advertising claims.
Susan J. Latham at a glance
Shareholder, Allen Dyer Doppelt + Gilchrist — Trademark, False Advertising and Copyright Litigation
Best Lawyers and National Recognition
Susan is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation – Intellectual Property, with a designated special focus in False Advertising, in both the 2026 and 2027 editions. Best Lawyers selections rest entirely on confidential peer review: lawyers practicing in the same field and region evaluate one another, and no one can pay to be included. The False Advertising focus reflects how other trial lawyers view her command of Lanham Act Section 43(a)(1)(B) and state consumer protection claims.
Her national standing extends well beyond Florida:
- Nationwide litigation docket. Susan has appeared as counsel in Lanham Act and copyright cases in federal courts in Florida, New York, Virginia, California, Arizona and South Carolina, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and in WIPO domain name and American Arbitration Association proceedings.
- International Trademark Association. Appointed member of INTA’s Bulletins Committee (2020–2021) and moderator of INTA’s U.S. Case Law in Review roundtable.
- American Bar Association. Guest speaker to the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section’s Advertising & Marketing Law Committee on the right of publicity (2023).
- Scholarship cited by a federal appeals court. Her law review article on unauthorized music sampling, published in the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, was cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films.
- National publications. Author in Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw Journal of Intellectual Property, Corporate Counsel and Aspatore’s Inside the Minds: Recent Trends in Trademark Protection.
Practice Overview
Susan litigates brand, advertising and content disputes for companies whose reputations are their most valuable asset:
- Trademark, trade dress and dilution, including infringement, counterfeiting, cybersquatting and false designation of origin claims under the Lanham Act and Florida law.
- False advertising under Section 43(a)(1)(B) of the Lanham Act and state consumer protection laws, including Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, New York General Business Law Sections 349 and 350 and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
- Copyright infringement and licensing disputes, from architectural works to music and online content.
- Right of publicity and name, image and likeness claims under Section 540.08, Florida Statutes, and related invasion of privacy claims.
- AI-generated content and deepfakes, under Florida’s statutes governing AI-generated and digitally altered content.
- Schedule A and class action defense for online sellers and brands facing Lanham Act claims, and defense of session replay and website accessibility suits.
- Brand protection programs, including trademark, trade dress and copyright registration, TTAB oppositions and cancellations, WIPO domain name complaints, and recordation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop counterfeit imports.
Key industries
Key industries served
Trademark, false advertising and copyright work by sector
Business perspective
Susan came to the law from business, and her clients benefit from an advocate who understands how brands make money.
- Finance and trading. She began her career as a stockbroker in New York City, working in the securities markets with individual investors. That grounding in finance and trading carries into her work for financial services, fintech and digital asset clients, where brand trust and accurate marketing claims are tightly regulated and quickly tested.
- Business operations. She managed the accounting and finances of a New York graphic design firm, seeing firsthand how creative businesses build, price and protect their work.
- Luxury retail and advertising. At Barneys New York, she worked on the business side of advertising for one of the world’s best-known luxury retailers.
- High fashion brand protection. While earning her LL.M. in intellectual property, Susan joined the legal department of Kate Spade, the New York fashion house. There she enforced the brand’s trademarks and copyrights and recorded its marks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to stop counterfeit imports at the border.
- Entrepreneur. She later co-founded and managed her own IP litigation boutique in Miami, giving her an owner’s view of the cost, risk and return of every dispute.
That combination of finance, luxury retail and in-house fashion experience shapes how she advises clients today: practical, commercially minded and focused on protecting the value of the brand.
USPTO Trademark Practice
Since 2016, Susan has been attorney of record on 54 federal trademark and service mark applications, and 43 have matured to registration. That is 84% of the 51 applications the USPTO has finished deciding.
Her filings lean toward services, with 28 service marks, 21 trademarks for goods and 5 covering both. The most-filed classes are business and retail services, clothing, legal and personal services, spirits and wine, financial services, and entertainment and education. Clients range from Florida hospitality, apparel, fitness, software and professional services companies to brand owners in Ireland, Colombia, Panama and Thailand, including a portfolio of Irish whiskey and gin marks.
USPTO trademark record, 2016–2026
Applications with Susan J. Latham as attorney of record, by filing year and current outcome
Mark type
Most-filed classes
Class counts tally each application once per class it covers.
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
Susan has handled oppositions, cancellations and pre-opposition disputes before the TTAB for brand owners in beverages, cosmetics, medical devices and consumer products, often against national and multinational companies and their counsel. In each of the contested proceedings below, her client’s registration survived or the opposing party’s application was abandoned.
| Proceeding | Susan’s client | Opposing party | Claims at issue | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA Sports Nutrition, LLC v. Edge Energy Drink, LLC, Cancellation No. 92073035 (2019–2021) | Edge Energy Drink, registrant of EDGE for beverages | BA Sports Nutrition, maker of BODYARMOR sports drinks | Petition to cancel the EDGE registration, pleading the petitioner’s own EDGE application | Win. After more than a year of motion practice, the petitioner withdrew its petition in March 2021. EDGE remains registered and renewed, and the petitioner’s own EDGE application was abandoned. |
| Maba Kozmetik A.S. v. Sunrise Investment AG, Opposition No. 91273065 (2021–2022) | Maba Kozmetik, Turkish cosmetics maker of CELESTY BEAUTY CARE | Sunrise Investment AG, represented by Morrison & Foerster | Opposition to the CELESTY application, pleading the client’s CELESTY BEAUTY CARE application | Win. Susan filed the opposition and secured her client’s CELESTY BEAUTY CARE registration in July 2022 despite Sunrise’s extension of time to oppose it. Sunrise withdrew its CELESTY application, and the opposition ended in October 2022. |
| Quantum Medical Therapy, LLC v. Empowered Medical Solutions, Inc., Opposition No. 91241037 (2018–2019) | Quantum Medical Therapy, medical device company | Empowered Medical Solutions, represented by Greenberg Traurig | Opposition to the QRS application, pleading the client’s own QRS application | Win. The applicant abandoned its QRS application, and the opposition was dismissed in August 2019. |
| Ecolab Inc. v. Ecocare, Inc., Cancellation No. 92042336 (2003–2007) | Supernatural Synthesis (successor to Ecocare), registrant of ECOCARE | Ecolab, a global cleaning and sanitation company | Petition to cancel the ECOCARE registration | Win. Ecolab’s petition was dismissed with prejudice in November 2007. ECOCARE remains registered and renewed nearly two decades later. |
| WILD ATLANTIC, Serial No. 90661799 (2022) | Tomahawk Liberty, Irish spirits company | A third party who sought time to oppose | Threatened opposition to the WILD ATLANTIC application | Registered. No opposition was filed, and WILD ATLANTIC registered in June 2022. |
| MAC’S GREEN TEA SHOT, Serial No. 99754926 (2026) | Irish spirits brand owner | The Scotch Whisky Association | Extension of time to oppose | Pending. |
Representative Matters and Coverage
Recent Matters at Allen Dyer
- GR Opco d/b/a E11EVEN v. Eleven IP Holdings (S.D. Fla.): part of the team representing the E11EVEN Miami nightlife and hospitality brand in a dispute over competing ELEVEN marks. The team defeated a motion to dismiss E11EVEN’s claims challenging the defendants’ registrations, including for fraud on the USPTO, won dismissal of the defendants’ Florida trademark counterclaim, and resolved the case by settlement in 2025.
- FUME false advertising litigation (S.D. Fla.): counsel to BFL Metal Products, owner of the FUME vape brand, in a Lanham Act false advertising suit challenging a competitor’s nicotine-strength labeling. Law360 covered the case in October 2025.
- General Tools & Instruments Co. v. Dong Tang Hinh (S.D. Fla. 2025): counsel to the plaintiff, a tool and instrument manufacturer, in a trademark infringement action against online sellers of infringing products.
Earlier Practice
Before joining Allen Dyer, Susan practiced at Feldman Gale, P.A. and Cozen O’Connor in Miami and co-founded the IP litigation boutique Feldman & Latham. Matters from that period include the defense of an individual defendant in Luxottica’s Ray-Ban trademark action (Luxottica Group S.p.A. v. SIE L.L.C., S.D. Fla.) and the defense of consumer product claims against Universal Handicraft in California and Florida.
A Nationwide Docket
Susan has significant experience litigating in not only Florida and New York Federal courts, but also the District of South Carolina, the District of Arizona, the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of Virginia:
| Case | Court | Year | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booze Pops LLC v. Real Estate Flipz LLC | D.S.C. | 2020 | Trademark |
| Scanz Technologies, Inc. v. Jewmon Enterprises, LLC | S.D. Fla. | 2020 | Trademark |
| Cummings v. Mervis Diamond Corp. | D. Ariz. | 2016 | Trademark |
| Rubenstein Law, P.A. v. Friedman Law Associates, P.L. | M.D. Fla. / S.D. Fla. | 2016 | Trademark |
| For Life Products, LLC v. The Sherwin-Williams Co. | S.D. Fla. | 2016 | Copyright and trademark |
| Zeltiq Aesthetics, Inc. v. Hyperbarics of South Florida, Inc. | S.D. Fla. | 2014 | Trademark |
| Greenlight Capital, L.L.C. v. Green Light Equity Partners LLC | S.D. Fla. | 2013 | Trademark |
| Sieger Suarez Architectural Partnership v. Arquitectonica International | S.D. Fla. | 2013 | Copyright |
| Universal Handicraft, Inc. v. Parfums Christian Dior, S.A. | S.D. Fla. | 2013 | Trademark |
| Match.com, L.L.C. v. Fiesta Catering International, Inc. | E.D. Va. | 2012 | Trademark |
| Mothers Against Drunk Driving v. Maddsexy, LLC | S.D. Fla. | 2012 | Trademark |
| IO Group, Inc. v. Fiesta Catering Inc. | N.D. Cal. | 2011 | Trademark |
| Coty Inc. v. C Lenu, Inc. | S.D. Fla. | 2010 | Trademark |
| Luv N’ Care, Ltd. v. Walgreen Co. | S.D.N.Y. | 2008 | Trademark |
Credentials
Education
- LL.M., Intellectual Property Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. Recipient of the Distinguished Performance Award and the Charles Ballon Writing Award.
- J.D., cum laude, Florida State University College of Law
- B.S., Business Administration, University of Delaware
Admissions
- The Florida Bar
- State of New York
- State of New Jersey
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Intellectual Property, special focus in False Advertising (2026, 2027)
Memberships and Leadership
- International Trademark Association; Bulletins Committee, appointed member (2020–2021)
- Association of Intellectual Property Firms
- The Florida Bar, Intellectual Property Law Committee
- Dade County Bar Association
- Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trustees
- South Florida Irish-American Chamber of Commerce
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “Trademark Licensing and the ‘Buddy System,’” Westlaw Journal of Intellectual Property (2018)
- “Best Practices for Evaluating Trademark Applications,” Inside the Minds: Recent Trends in Trademark Protection (Aspatore, 2016)
- “On the Radar: Notorious Counterfeiting and Piracy Markets of 2015,” Corporate Counsel (2016)
- “How Recognition of Geographical Areas of Viticultural Significance Affects U.S. Trademarks for Wine,” Practical Winery & Vineyard (2011)
- “Newton v. Diamond: Measuring the Legitimacy of Unauthorized Compositional Sampling,” 26 Hastings Comm. & Ent. L.J. 119 (2004), cited by the Sixth Circuit
- Guest speaker, ABA IP Law Section, Advertising & Marketing Law Committee, right of publicity (2023)
- Panelist, “Protecting Brands from Theft and Counterfeiting in 2016 and Beyond” (2016)
- Moderator, INTA Roundtable: U.S. Case Law in Review (2016)
Community
Susan supports the Dranoff International Two Piano Foundation and Bound By Beauty.
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