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Eric Ball headshot

Eric Ball

Partner
Litigation
Practice Area Leader
Trademark Litigation

Eric’s collaborative, 360˚-approach and astute business instincts help both startups and established companies protect, control, and build their most important asset—their name, trademark or brand. His national and international successes include decisive victories—often resolved before litigation or trial—for clients such as Cisco, Intuit, Nutrisystem, NVIDIA, Peloton, Snowflake, Uber and multiple gaming industry companies. Eric also represents leaders in the blockchain and crypto space like OpenSea, Coinbase, and Polygon in cutting-edge IP disputes. Eric recently led Yuga Labs to a landmark win in Yuga v. Ripp, where the Ninth Circuit held for the first time that NFTs can qualify as trademarks, setting key precedent for brand owners operating in Web3 and beyond. The case was recognized as an Impact Case of the Year (Managing IP, 2026) and one of Law360’s “Top Trademark Decisions of 2025.”

Eric has a strong track record in all types of trademark, copyright and other commercial disputes and has won multiple precedential decisions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Eric has the most nuanced knowledge of trademark law but also knows how to present compelling stories. He takes the time to understand his clients’ business needs and offers valuable advice on strategy along with candid opinions on issues arising in the course of litigation.”
WTR 1000, Client Quote
2022 Edition
  • Won a landmark Ninth Circuit victory for Yuga Labs, Inc. in Yuga Labs v. Ripps—named an Impact Case of the Year (Managing IP, 2026) and among Law360’s “Top Trademark Decisions of 2025”—establishing for the first time that non-fungible tokens can qualify as trademarks and providing key guidance for brand owners operating in Web3 and other emerging digital markets
  • Obtained a decisive victory for Peloton in a trademark infringement suit brought by Move Press, publisher of a cycling publication called Peloton Magazine, in the Central District of California, winning summary judgment on the grounds that the equitable doctrine of laches barred plaintiff’s claims in their entirety
  • Won multiple precedential decisions in the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board:
    • A summary judgment decision dismissing fraud and false connection claims
    • A summary judgment decision rejecting claim preclusion
  • Represented Google before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, where he won on summary judgment with the Board refusing registration of the “FUNTOOGLE” mark
  • Won a permanent injunction and the transfer of twenty-five domain names against a telecommunications company because of their trademark and ACPA infringement spanning three continents
  • Turned the opposing party’s claims on their head and won a summary judgment and an injunction finding a likelihood of confusion against the other side even though the client was originally accused of being the infringer
  • Won a summary judgment on trade secret claims against a social media company where the plaintiff alleged ownership of the client’s social networking concept
  • Won a motion to dismiss rejecting multiple common law tort claims and a B&P 17200 claim in an ownership dispute over IP rights
  • Successfully defended an e-commerce company’s use of its trademark and trade name against a well-funded plaintiff’s claims of trademark infringement and dilution
  • Represented a gaming company in a widely followed copyright infringement suit against competitor toy company involving cloning of a popular mobile puzzle game, which resulted with the toy company taking down the game
  • Represented two founders against another founder and former executive in a dispute involving defamation claims; the court dismissed the former executive’s claims and issued an order against the former executive prohibiting him from making any defamatory statements
  • Represented an entertainment startup against a well-funded Los Angeles-based entertainment company in a copyright infringement dispute, successfully arguing that our client’s copyright had been infringed
  • Filed a suit in partnership with The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Bay Area Legal Aid seeking to enjoin and declare unlawful San Mateo Superior Court’s civil assessment program. In an early victory and in response to our claims that the California Judicial Council is allowing for an unconstitutional scheme to fund trial courts through the civil assessments, California eliminated all outstanding civil assessment debts—which total at least $500 million.
  • Successfully defended a girl-empowerment company against right of publicity and trademark infringement claims, allowing the company to continue to pursue its mission under the same trademark.
  • Successfully defended the nation’s first gender neutral Frarority against trademark infringement and unfair competition claims
  • Successfully obtained trademark registration for Berkeley Law’s Women in Tech Law, a student-led organization that strives to recruit, support and empower women who are interested in pursuing technology law
  • Amazon.com
  • Atlassian
  • Cisco Systems
  • Coinbase
  • Delphix
  • Facebook Reality Labs
  • Glu Mobile
  • Google
  • GoPro
  • Intuit
  • Magic Eden
  • Nutrisystem
  • NVIDIA
  • OpenSea
  • Peak Games
  • Peloton
  • Polygon
  • Snowflake
  • Tencent Holdings
  • Twitter
  • Uber
  • Yuga Labs