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Sheryl Koval Garko

Partner

Boston

Co-chair of Orrick’s 100-lawyer Intellectual Property litigation practice, Sheryl Koval Garko is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on high-stakes intellectual property litigation. Clients hire Sheryl for her creative, strategic, business-focused advice enriched by her extensive courtroom experience and working knowledge of a wide range of technologies.

Over the course of her career, she has represented clients ranging from Fortune 50 companies to start-ups in trademark, copyright, false advertising, and trade secret litigations and at trial. She has worked with leading technology companies and some of the most recognizable brands in the world, including New Balance, Williams-Sonoma, Carnival, and Microsoft. She has tried cases to both judges and juries in federal courts across the United States and is experienced practicing before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the International Trade Commission. Through her trial work, she has developed deep expertise in litigating novel and complex damages issues in IP cases and leveraging survey work. 

Sheryl most recently earned a complete victory at trial on behalf of client Carnival in a patent and breach of contract matter related to theft of Carnival intellectual property. Following an 8-day trial in the Southern District of Florida, the jury deliberated for three hours and returned a verdict in favor of Carnival on all counts, awarding $21 million in damages.

She honed her skills in high profile, precedent setting cases. Sheryl represented Aereo against the major U.S. television networks in defense of its novel, industry-disrupting system for providing internet access to over-the-air broadcast television. That case ultimately went to the Supreme Court, which addressed copyright law issues of first impression. Sheryl currently represents Microsoft litigating novel issues related to the intersection of generative AI, copyright, and trademark law.

Having prepared countless cases for trial, Sheryl has a clear understanding of the importance of identifying litigation strategy early on to direct the case in a cost- effective and efficient manner. Sheryl also leverages her wealth of experience to counsel clients on strategies to protect intellectual property when avoiding litigation is a strategic business priority.

Having also litigated a number of patent cases throughout her career, she brings to each matter a unique understanding of the intersection of copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent law. A superb communicator, she is able to explain diverse areas of complex technology to a judge or jury.

Sheryl has been consistently named as one of the leading intellectual property litigators in the world by World Trademark Review 1000, a peer and client survey. In its 2017 publication, WTR 1000 described her as “'highly recommended’ for her ‘helpful and creative advice,’ which is ‘always of first-rate quality.’” In the 2018 edition, WTR 1000 stated that Sheryl “offers significant firepower to any contentious mandate.” In the 2021 edition, WTR 1000 said Sheryl ”puts her heart and soul into driving favorable outcomes.” In 2022 Sheryl and her team were lauded for being “tried and tested” in litigation and “emerging victorious in many forums. And in 2023, they were praised for “steering [clients] through complex litigation,” with work that was quick, efficient and “with the highest level of integrity.”

Sheryl is the Global Chair of Orrick's Women's Initiative and is the Co-Chair of Orrick’s Intellectual Property Business Unit.

She was named a 2017 Woman Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal. Sheryl was also singled out for Metropolitan Corporate Counsel’s Women in Business and the Law 2017 edition. In 2015, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly named her one of the Top Women of Law and she received a 2015 Leadership Excellence Award from the National Diversity Council.

  • Sheryl served as a Special Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County from March to September 2008. In that capacity, she prosecuted hundreds of felony and misdemeanor criminal cases and tried over twenty jury and non-jury cases. Sheryl argued dozens of dispositive and evidentiary motions, many of which involved constitutional issues. She also worked for Independent Counsel representing the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in an internal investigation into corruption in the state probation department, resulting in the resignation and criminal conviction of members of the department’s senior leadership.

    • One of the world’s largest retailers in the prosecution and defense of trademark and unfair competition claims in various federal courts.
    • Microsoft in class action and individual plaintiff cases related to generative AI technology.
    • Carnival Corporation in trademark infringement litigation.
    • PegaSystems in litigation concerning trade libel and defamation.
    • Carnival Corporation in patent and breach of contract claims regarding theft of intellectual property.
    • Williams-Sonoma and its brands in trademark, tradedress, design patent, false advertising and trade secret litigations adverse to entities including Wayfair and Nespresso.
    • Loeffler Randall and a national retailer respondent in an ITC investigation concerning trade dress claims related to Crocs footwear.
    • New Balance in purported multi-state class actions concerning “Made in the USA” marketing.
    • New Balance and its affiliates in trademark and trade dress litigations and ITC investigations adverse to numerous entities, including Golden Goose, Karl Lagerfeld, Steve Madden, Converse, LVMH, Vision Streetwear, and Nautica, among others.
    • Polar Beverages in a trademark and licensing litigation against Circle K regarding its use of POLAR POP.
    • Pegasystems in a false advertising and defamation litigation against Appian.
    • Central Pet & Garden regarding alleged misappropriation of ideas.
    • Major office equipment manufacturer in defense of breach of contract and misappropriation claims.
    • Mahindra & Mahindra in an ITC investigation and companion district court action concerning trademark and trade dress claims brought by FCA US LLC related to the Jeep Wrangler.
    • Locast, an over-the-air broadcast platform, in copyright litigation brought by the major television networks.
    • Sazerac, a leading spirits company, in various trademark and trade dress matters.
    • ICONICS, Inc. in prosecution of copyright, trade secret and unfair competition claims against numerous defendants in the District of Massachusetts.
    • Start-up company in arbitration concerning theft of trade secrets concerning suturing devices by global medical device company.
    • Teknor-Apex in trade secret case concerning design of garden hoses.
    • Norriseal-Wellmark in trade dress infringement case concerning design of oil and water treater valves.
    • SpareFoot, Inc. in trademark infringement matter concerning storage facility rentals.
    • Advice Interactive Group against Web Group, Inc. in copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation case concerning online visibility reporting.
    • New Balance at trial in successful defense of trade dress claims brought by Nike and Converse at the International Trade Commission.
    • Energy Materials Corporation in theft of trade secrets case involving solar cell technology.
    • MorphoTrust (nka IDEMIA) in bringing trademark infringement against competitor for background check services.
    • RTIC Coolers, Inc. in trade dress infringement claims brought by YETI concerning cooler design.
    • Samsung in successful defense and settlement of trademark and unfair competition claims brought in the Southern District of New York regarding Samsung’s MILK music streaming service.
    • Microsoft in successful defense and settlement of copyright claims filed in the Southern District of New York by Getty Images, Inc. related to the operation of Bing search engine.
    • Aereo, a provider of remote antenna and RS-DVR technology platform, in multi-district copyright litigation brought by the major television networks alleging violation of their “public performance” rights.
    • New Balance in successful defense and summary judgment of trademark claims brought by Denimafia, Inc.
    • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in successful prosecution and settlement of trademark claims against Zynga regarding OREGON TRAIL trademark.
    • Warrior Lacrosse in successful defense of trade dress claims regarding lacrosse helmet designs.
    • New Balance Athletic Shoe in successful litigation and settlement against Louis Vuitton regarding the use of New Balance’s iconic 574 shoe designs.
    • Warrior Lacrosse in successful defense of trade dress claims regarding lacrosse helmet designs.