Katie Clemmons

KATIE CLEMMONS focuses her practice on litigating and counseling on copyright, trademark, and false advertising matters. She has represented clients in both state and federal court throughout the litigation process, including drafting dispositive motions and class certification oppositions, managing fact and expert discovery, arguing motions, taking and defending depositions, negotiating settlements, and preparing for trial, TRO, preliminary injunction, and class certification hearings.

She represents and counsels clients in both state and federal court on a variety of copyright and trademark matters across the industry spectrum, including e-commerce, technology, social media, video games, sports, television, and pharmaceuticals. She has experience handling a broad scope of intellectual property issues, including ownership, fair use, licensing, secondary liability, right of publicity, artificial intelligence, online advertising, and privacy. She frequently presents on a variety of intellectual property topics, including Section 230, secondary copyright liability, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), artificial intelligence, and sport-related IP issues.

In her advertising practice, Katie has extensive experience litigating and counseling on matters involving a broad range of products and services, including over-the-counter drugs, beverages, dietary supplements, medical devices, and home appliances. She has experience litigating both competitor cases and consumer class actions.

Katie also advises and represents clients in the sports industry in litigation, investigations, and transactions involving a broad range of issues, including including intellectual property matters, such as name, image, and likeness (“NIL”); breach of contract; and labor and employment claims.

Prior to joining Sidley, Katie served as a law clerk for The Honorable David A. Ezra of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Katie received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she was the senior notes editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Washington and Lee University, where she was a captain of the women’s soccer team and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Intellectual Property

• Representing a major social media platform in a putative class action involving copyright infringement and Lanham Act claims in the Northern District of California.
• Representing a prominent technology company in litigation in the Southern District of New York involving direct and contributory trademark infringement claims.
• Advising major social media and e-commerce platforms on matters relating to copyright and trademark infringement and issues concerning the DMCA, the Communications Decency Act (CDA), and artificial intelligence.
• Represented a multinational broadcasting company in a copyright case involving a television series.
• Represented an international e-commerce platform in litigation in the Southern District of New York involving direct and contributory trademark infringement claims.
• Represented a major e-commerce platform in a litigation involving direct and secondary liability trademark and copyright infringement claims.

Advertising

• Represented a major pharmaceutical company in false advertising consumer class action and competitor litigations in the Northern District of California.
• Represented a company in a consumer class action alleging false advertising of cosmetic products in the Southern District of New York.
• Represented a company in false advertising class action in the Northern District of California.

Sports

• Represented an academic institution in breach of contract litigation involving an athletic conference realignment.
• Represented a players’ association in investigation into alleged abuse, harassment, and misconduct.
• Advised a private equity firm on NIL and right of publicity issues in potential acquisition.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.

• Member of Sports Business Journal’s Leaders Club and the Sports Lawyers Association.
• Member of the Entertainment Law Committee (Litigation Subcommittee) and the Trademarks & Unfair Competition Committee of the NYC Bar Association.
• Member of the Copyright Litigation Committee of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law.