ATLANTA (August 17, 2015) – Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR) is pleased to announce that J. Rodgers Lunsford III has been named Atlanta’s Trademark Law “Lawyer of the Year” for 2016 by The Best Lawyers in America, the leading peer-review-based directory of legal practitioners.
Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is recognized as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Attorneys who are honored as “Lawyer of the Year” have received particularly high ratings by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.
Previously, Lunsford was named one of the World’s Leading Trademark Professionals in 2013, 2014 and 2015 by World Trademark Review. He’s also been recognized by Chambers, Georgia Super Lawyers and Georgia Trend’s Legal Elite for his achievements in the area of intellectual property (IP) law.
Lunsford, the past chair of SGR’s IP practice, has been practicing IP law for over 40 years. During this time he has litigated many cases that received national attention including a copyright infringement of the novel and film “Gone With the Wind,” registrability of the Honey Baked Ham trademark, and infringement of the Tabasco, Little League and Honey Baked Ham marks, among others. Furthermore, as an IP practitioner he was one of the first attorneys in the United States to rely on the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as a basis for liability in unfair competition litigation.
In addition to litigating domestic intellectual property disputes, he supervises litigation abroad, directs trademark enforcement programs, counsels clients with regard to IP matters, prosecutes applications to register IP and transfers IP rights and technology. Previously, Lunsford served as a member of the editorial board of the Trademark Reporter for the International Trademark Association and he is a past chairman of the IP section of the State Bar of Georgia.
About Best Lawyers
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey. Over 52,000 leading attorneys cast more than 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers, “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”