Irene Lee is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where she focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, and right of publicity. She helps clients navigate the issues surrounding creating, acquiring, securing, protecting, defending, enforcing, licensing, and monetizing their rights in various forms of intellectual property worldwide and counsels them on risk management.
Mrs. Lee has been featured in WTR 1000 – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals and selected by peers and clients in Managing Intellectual Property’s Top 500 IP Stars and Top 250 Women in IP.
Mrs. Lee was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer since 2013, as one of Southern California’s Top 50 Women since 2016, and one of Southern California’s Top 100 Super Lawyers since 2017. She was named to The Best Lawyers in America (2024 – 2026 Editions) for Litigation – Intellectual Property.
Billboard recognized her in its 2023 – 2025 ‘Top Music Lawyers’ list. Variety recognized her in its 2025 Music Legal Elite list. The Los Angeles Business Journal has named her one of the Most Influential Women Lawyers in Los Angeles, one of the Most Influential Minority Lawyers in Los Angeles, and one of the Leading Intellectual Property Lawyers in California. Mrs. Lee is also a sought-after speaker. She was a panelist for the 2022 IPO Annual Conference.
As a registered patent attorney, Mrs. Lee employs her patent prosecution experience in strategizing patent litigation and licensing issues. She represents clients in a wide range of industries, including recreational vehicle, beauty, biotechnology, information technology, housewares, household products, baby products, food and beverages, jewelry, apparel, and CBD-based goods.
In addition to patent litigation and licensing, she has extensive experience in trademark prosecution, litigation, and licensing with an emphasis on global brand expansion and management through strategic trademark and copyright protection and enforcement programs.
Mrs. Lee is fluent in Korean.
Recent Matters
- “Kanye West found liable for copyright infringement over Grammy-winning song ‘Hurricane’” Daily Journal (May 12, 2026)
- “Kanye West Loses at Trial Over Uncleared Sample on ‘Hurricane’” Rolling Stone (May 12, 2026)
- “Ye Loses Copyright Trial Over Uncleared ‘Donda’ Demo Sample” Billboard (May 12, 2026)
- “Ye loses copyright infringement trial over one-time use of instrumental track” Courthouse News (May 18, 2026)
Articles/Publications
- “Issues High Court Will Explore in Copyright Registration Case,” IP Law360 (October 18, 2018).
- “The Two Culture Edge – Irene Y. Lee’s motto is ‘avoid drama’; opposing attorneys don’t always help.” Super Lawyers Magazine (January 20, 2022)
- “Intellectual Property & Licensing Law: A Roundtable Discussion,” Los Angeles Business Journal (November 18, 2019).
- “Intellectual Property & Licensing Law Roundtable: What Businesses Need to Know,” Los Angeles Business Journal (November 26, 2018).
