Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has recruited two trademark partners from Cozen O’Connor to its New York arm. 

WBD said the arrival of Gregory Gulia and Vanessa Hew would “round out” the firm’s IP capability in the office, which opened last year.

Gulia negotiates trademark licences, purchases and consent agreements, and has advised major media companies, retailers, fashion and luxury brands. He has also litigated cases in areas including trademark, copyright, anti-counterfeiting and unfair competition. His clients include singer songwriters Janet Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.

Hew, who spent more than 20 years at Duane Morris before joining Cozen O’Connor last year, advises Fortune 500 and other leading companies on IP issues related to the protection and enforcement of trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents, as well as breach of contract and unfair competition matters.

Laura Kees, leader of WBD’s trademarks, copyrights and transactions practice group, said the duo were “strong additions to our team managing global trademark portfolios and guiding brand strategy for clients across multiple industries”. 

WMD launched in New York in April 2022 with the hire of a five-lawyer team from IP boutique Abelman Frayne & Schwab led by partners Julianne Abelman and Marie Anne Mastrovito. Office managing partner Deborah Vernon said the office had been experiencing an “exciting period of growth”.

Arrivals in 2023 include bankruptcy partners Edward Schnitzer, David Banker and Wojciech Jung, who joined in July. Schnitzer and Banker moved across from Montgomery McCracken while Jung joined from Lowenstein Sandler.

Other arrivals include corporate and securities partner Tracy Bacigalupo, who joined in April from McDermott Will & Emery, and business litigation partners Harry Rimm and Joseph Patella. Rimm, a former federal US prosecutor, joined from Sullivan & Worcester in January and Patella moved across from Hunton Andrews Kurth a month later. 

In September, WBD opened in Denver, with an energy and natural resources partner duo from Hogan Lovells – Scot Anderson and Ana Maria Gutiérrez. This was its fifth new US office over the past 18 months, bringing its global tally up to 32. 

WBD absorbed two California boutiques in July that added five partners to its ranks in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Irvine. And in April it hired a team of IP lawyers from Connecticut boutique Moyles IP.