Justin Maio is of counsel at Russ August & Kabat, where he serves as a member of the firm’s intellectual property group, corporate and finance group, and mergers and acquisitions group. His primary practice is focused on trademark protection and enforcement and brand development. He provides all services related to trademark prosecution, including clearance searches, filing applications, preparing Office action responses, filing maintenance documents, handling all aspects of opposition and cancellation proceedings, and filing Board appeals. He also advises on a variety of intellectual property matters and drafts and negotiates various types of IP-related agreements, such as license agreements, influencer agreements, distribution agreements, manufacturing agreements, services agreements, software development agreements, privacy policies and terms of use, data processing agreements, and assignment agreements. His clients range from startups and small businesses to high net-worth individuals, world famous celebrities, and multinational corporations.
Justin has been involved in litigating all stages of intellectual property disputes, including drafting and responding to cease & desist letters, filing takedown notices, preparing UDPR complaints, preparing pleadings, taking discovery, mediation and arbitration, negotiating settlements, trial preparation, and trial. Justin has experience litigating contract disputes, complex commercial disputes, and business torts as well.
With the mergers and acquisitions group, Justin has extensive experience conducting and managing IP due diligence and advising as an IP specialist for complex M&A deals. His experience touches each stage of deal development, including conducting initial IP searches, drafting and negotiating purchase agreements and supporting documents, schedule preparation, portfolio analysis and verification, and handling post-closing IP-related filings and recordations.
Justin graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law with a Dean’s Merit Scholarship (Full Tuition) and was awarded CALI Certificates in Contracts and Mediation Theory & Practice. He also earned a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, the top program of its kind in the nation. He previously worked at Keegan & Baker, LLP in real-estate litigation and for Associated Production Music, LLC, where he focused on preparing royalty agreements for artists.
Justin received a Bachelor of Business Administration with Honors in Finance and a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa honors society, Beta Gamma Sigma business honors society, and the Texas Cowboys service organization, the oldest society at the University of Texas. Justin is an active and good standing member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Florida and is registered as a patent attorney before the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Justin has been consistently recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyers “Rising Star” by Los Angeles Magazine since 2020. He has also been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2022 – 2025 Editions) for Entertainment and Sports Law.
Irene Lee is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where she focuses her practice on all aspects of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and right of publicity. Irene helps clients navigate through 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.
Irene 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. Irene was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer since 2013, as one of Southern California 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 – 2025 Editions) for Litigation – Intellectual Property. Billboard recognized Irene in its 2023 and 2024 ‘Top Music Lawyers’ 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. Irene is also a sought-after speaker. She was a panelist for the 2022 IPO Annual Conference.
As a registered patent attorney, Irene employs her patent prosecution experience in strategizing patent litigation and licensing issues. Irene 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, Irene 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.
Irene is fluent in Korean.
Recent Matters
- Britney Spears v. Oil de Lamor Ltd., et al. – protecting the artist Ms. Spears’ rights against infringers in Israel.
- The University of Utah v. 21 Savage – defended the artist 21 Savage’s rights in contract dispute.
- Thor Industries v. Thor Trucks – obtained a final judgment in favor of the world’s largest RV company, Thor Industries, permanently enjoining Thor Trucks from using THOR.
- Galatea Jewelry v. Swarovski – represents the world–renowned jewelry designer and his companies in protecting and enforcing copyrights.
- The Honest Company v. Redmon d/b/a Honest Herbal – obtained a final judgment in favor of Honest Co., permanently enjoining the defendants from using HONEST.
- The Honest Company v. Jakks Pacific – obtained a confidential settlement agreement in three months of filing the lawsuit against Jakks Pacific asserting infringement of Honest Co.’s copyright and trademark rights.
- VIA Technologies v. ASUSTek Computer – secured a significant settlement for VIA in a patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation action.
- Meowingtons, LLC v. deadmau5 – secured a significant settlement for deadmau5 in a trademark infringement action.
- Google v. VIA Technologies – secured a significant settlement for VIA Technologies in trademark proceedings over the CHROME trademark portfolio.
- deadmau5 v. West Coast Vape Supply, Inc. – successfully enforced deadmau5’s trademark rights.
- The Redbean House v. Colonnade Wilshire Corp. – obtained a verdict in favor of The Redbean House, along with full recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs, in a five-year real estate dispute.
- Disney v. deadmau5 – represented deadmau5 in trademark proceedings over deadmau5’s intellectual property rights.
- Honest Tea, Inc. v. The Honest Company, Inc.– defended Honest Co. in trademark proceedings.
- com v. Brenwell Media – obtained a final judgment for LegalZoom permanently enjoining the defendants from using ZOOM.
- travisMathew v. Leisure Society Unlimited – obtained a preliminary injunction for travisMathew in a contract dispute and trademark action.
- Java Equities v. Newheart Limited Partnership – obtained a complete and total defense decision in favor of Newheart in arbitration on breach of contract and fraud, including award of attorneys’ fees.
- Absolute Software v. Stealth Signal – obtained a final judgment and permanent injunction in favor of Absolute Software in a seven-year patent infringement action.
Articles/Publications
Brian Ledahl is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, specializing in intellectual property and litigation with an emphasis on high-technology patent litigation and entertainment litigation. Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Ledahl was a lawyer at Irell & Manella LLP from 1996-2013, where he was a member of the Intellectual Property and Litigation workgroups.
Mr. Ledahl has extensive experience litigating complex claims in patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade secrets, and entertainment matters. He has appeared in numerous Federal trial courts around the United States, state courts in California, and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. Ledahl has tried cases before juries in multiple federal and state courts. Mr. Ledahl has also successfully represented clients in multiple appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and California state appellate courts. Over the course of his career, Mr. Ledahl has helped his clients recover more than $1.5 billion in judgments and settlements. Mr. Ledahl also counsels clients on a variety of business and strategic issues involving intellectual property and related issues.
Mr. Ledahl has been honored as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2014-2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine, and in 2021, he was recognized as a Southern California Top 100 Super Lawyer. Mr. Ledahl has been peer-rated as AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubell.
Before beginning his legal practice, Mr. Ledahl earned his J.D. in 1996 from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. During law school, Mr. Ledahl served as a judicial extern to the Hon. Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Ledahl earned his Bachelors Degree in 1993 from Columbia University where he was a member of the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Champion fencing teams and earned the Eisenhower Scholar Athlete Award. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Ledahl is a member of the board of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.
Recent Matters
Patent and Technology Matters
- Realtime Data v. Riverbed Technology – representing Realtime Data in a patent infringement case regarding data compression technology and obtaining a damages verdict from the jury.
- HBAC v. Google – representing HBAC in a patent infringement case regarding targeted advertising technology and obtaining reversal of an unfavorable summary judgment ruling on appeal to the Federal Circuit.
- In the Matter of Certain Dynamic Random Access Memory and NAND Flash Memory Devices – representing patent holder Intellectual Ventures before the U.S. International Trade Commission in a patent infringement matter against manufacturers of computer memory.
- Microprocessor Enhancement Corp. v. Texas Instruments – representing Texas Instruments in a patent infringement dispute regarding microprocessor architecture, obtaining summary judgment for Texas Instruments, and handling successful defense of appeal from that judgment.
- Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems v. Space Exploration Technology – representing Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) in a trade secret dispute relating to rocket propulsion technology and in a separate antitrust claim against Northrop Grumman.
Entertainment and Business Matters
- HLC Properties v. UMG Recordings – representing Universal Music in multiple disputes (including a jury trial) with heirs of recording artist Bing Crosby over music royalties and distribution rights.
- Price Automotive v. Mass Management – representing classic automobile collector in fraud claim against seller of a vehicle.
- UMG Recordings v. Myspace, v. Grouper Networks, and v. Veoh Networks – representing Universal Music in copyright infringement actions addressing issues of first impression under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
- TI Beverage Group v. Home Box Office – representing HBO in a trademark dispute relating to a beverage product connected with the original series True Blood.
Paul A. Kroeger is a litigation partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he is a member of the firm’s litigation and intellectual property litigation groups. Mr. Kroeger’s practice focuses on complex business and intellectual property litigation at both the trial court and appellate court levels.
Mr. Kroeger represents, and has represented, a diverse group of clients including: Fortune 500 companies, aggregate mining companies, exercise equipment manufacturers, film and television producers, professional actors, musical artists and labels, investment bankers, and financial advisors. He has successfully represented clients in numerous forums, including California Superior Courts and Federal District Courts, the California Court of Appeal, and arbitrations, with a specialty in FINRA arbitrations.
Mr. Kroeger’s litigation experience has involved a wide variety of legal issues, including intellectual property matters, contract disputes, securities law issues, eminent domain matters and real property concerns, depending upon the client’s needs. Before joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Kroeger was an associate at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP and Raines Feldman LLP.
Affiliations
Paul is admitted as a member of the State Bar of California, the Supreme Court of California, the U.S. District Court, for the Central, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Paul is also a member of the American Bar Association.
Recognition
- Mr. Kroeger was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2017- 2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine.
- Senior Editor, Southern California Law Review, University of Southern California.
- Law Clerk, Vice Chancellor, John W. Noble, Delaware Court of Chancery, 2003-2004.
Recent Matters
- Represented a major supplier of exercise equipment in a patent and trademark dispute
- Represented a Fortune 500 Company in an environmental clean-up law suit against a tenant
- Represented a major recording artist in a royalty dispute with a record company
- Defended a television producer in a right of publicity action
- Represented several major mining companies in disputes with municipalities and others
- Represented a major restaurant chain in a securities arbitration
- Represented a major investment banking firm in a dispute with a client
- Represented multiple financial advisors in FINRA arbitrations against nationwide broker dealer firms
- Represented several land developers against municipalities including successfully setting aside the City of West Hollywood’s denial of a building permit in the published decision Hoffman Street, LLC v. City of West Hollywood, 179 Cal.App.4th 754, 102 Cal.Rptr.3d 12 (2009)
Jules L. Kabat is a founding partner of Russ August & Kabat.
Mr. Kabat acts as lead trial and appellate counsel for clients in complex business, real property, intellectual property and related matters, in courts and ADR proceedings in and beyond California. He also represents clients in like real property and business transactional matters. His litigation and trial experience informs the effective structuring and drafting of transactions and documentation to protect clients, and his “deal maker” transactional experience informs the strategy and conduct of litigation, trial and appeal to identify and protect important business issues.
Mr. Kabat’s litigation, trial and transactional experience in the real property industry involves office, commercial, retail, shopping center, industrial, residential, mixed-use and hospitality; acquisition, development, redevelopment, construction, leasing and sale; financing and refinancing; restructuring and receiverships; ownership, joint venture, and operations.
Mr. Kabat is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law.
From 2009 to 2025, Mr. Kabat was recognized as a Super Lawyer by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine. From 2013-2017, Mr. Kabat was recognized as a Southern California Top 100 Super Lawyer.
