Selecting Who Sues: Picking The Proper Party For Offensive Trademark Litigation

When a brand has identified a threat to its trademark rights — whether from a competitor or counterfeiter — the goal is almost always to resolve the dispute without the expense and distraction of a lawsuit. But when those letters have gone unanswered or are contested without success, filing a complaint in federal court alleging trademark infringement under the Lanham Act may be necessary.

Determining which entity should be identified as the plaintiff in a suit may be easy for some organizations. The task will be trickier for brands with corporate parent complexity or entities spread across different jurisdictions, or those spawned from an inpidual designer. A recently published Second Circuit case, Ripple Analytics Inc. v. People Ctr., Inc., 153 F.4th 263, 2025 WL 2446314 (2d Cir. Aug. 26, 2025), discusses which party should sue for trademark infringement in a federal case. It also provides lessons on what to do (and avoid doing) if the initial complaint does not