Polsinelli advises luxury, fashion and lifestyle brands, food and beverage companies, and consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and business owners on the legal and business issues that shape their success.

Ranked #3 by PitchBook among the most active U.S. law firms in consumer goods and services for venture capital deals, we work with companies at every stage — from early growth through expansion and exit — helping them protect brand equity, manage regulatory and workforce risk, and scale in competitive markets.

Integrated Legal Counsel for Consumer and Luxury Brands

  • Corporate & Venture: We manage the transactions and strategic corporate matters that shape a company’s trajectory, including venture financings from early-stage through growth equity, platform and add-on acquisitions, strategic sales, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and licensing and brand commercialization arrangements. As outside general counsel, we stay close to our clients as practical advisors — providing clear, accessible guidance on both day-to-day needs and major inflection points for founders and emerging companies at every stage.
  • Labor & Employment: Our attorneys advise luxury, fashion and beauty retailers and manufacturers on workforce matters, including hiring, classification, wage and hour compliance, employee policies, workplace investigations and multistate employment strategies, and represent clients in single-plaintiff and class actions in California and other state and federal courts.
  • FDA & Regulatory: Our attorneys advise on product classification and labeling, health and wellness claims, recall preparedness and enforcement response, plus counsel on FTC advertising standards to ensure that marketing and brand communications are both legally sound and commercially effective. When challenged, whether by competitors, regulators, or plaintiffs’ lawyers, we assist our clients with defense of their claims and seek to resolve these challenges expeditiously.
  • Intellectual Property: We develop and execute comprehensive IP strategies for consumer products companies that protect both product innovation and the brand identity built around it. Our approach spans the full IP lifecycle, from strategic counseling and rights procurement, including trademark and patent prosecution, to ongoing portfolio management and maintenance, and through enforcement and anti-counterfeiting efforts across domestic and international markets.
  • Real Estate: We advise retailers, franchisors, and global manufacturers on the real estate transactions that support their physical footprint, including retail leasing, flagship store acquisitions, site selection for manufacturing and distribution facilities and related zoning and land-use matters.
Publications
USPTO Reports Faster Design Patent Examinations: What It Means for Seasonal Consumer Products
Key Takeaways Design patents are powerful tools for protecting the visual appearance of products, packaging, surface ornamentation and other consumer-facing features, particularly in the consumer products and luxury goods space. But that power has been throttled the last few years by long application pendency and a large backlog of unexamined applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO’s reported progress on design patent pendency is encouraging for consumer product companies, with first-action pendency now at 14 months. The backlog of unexamined design applications has also fallen more than 28% since January 2025. While the shorter 14 month first action timeline does not match the expediency of the suspended Rocket Docket program necessary for seasonal product, it can be highly relevant
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Shelf Space: Should You Rebrand? What Startup Founders Need to Know About Trademark Risk and Goodwill
You secured the perfect domain name. It cost a little more than you envisioned, but you have the coveted .com of your dreams. It’s available and all social handles are clean. The name feels right and conveys just the right amount of information to the consumer while still being unique. Just in case, you reach out to a trademark attorney — and it’s not quite the green light you wanted. The trademark attorney has advised that there is some risk to using the name. Now you’re in naming limbo, trying to decide if the risk is worth the story you’ve already started telling. Here’s how to make the call with your brand, budget and investors in mind. What Startup Founders Should Weigh
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