Clients hire Charles Burke for his tenacity in the courtroom, his keen insights and sage advice, and his wealth of experience handling complex intellectual property disputes. For over two decades, Charles has litigated for clients to effectively protect their brands and enforce their intellectual property rights involving patent, trademark, trade dress and copyright infringement; domain name infringement and cybersquatting; trade secret misappropriation; unfair competition; false advertising; and intellectual property licensing.
Charles regularly handles cases in state and federal courts throughout the United States, and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office. He has extensive experience in stopping the importation and sale of counterfeit merchandise, and handles proceedings to enforce intellectual property rights before the International Trade Commission and ICANN.
Charles’ clients are a diverse group of large multinational businesses as well as smaller companies. He represents clients in a variety of industries, including textiles, dietary supplements, furniture, food products, pharmaceuticals, computers, construction, automotive, medical devices, and many other areas. He has successfully prosecuted and defended intellectual property cases with tens of millions of dollars at stake, as well as claims for injunctive relief involving a wide variety of intellectual property rights.
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Lead trial attorney representing Sara Lee Corp. in a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit in Utah federal court. Charles obtained a $7 million jury verdict for his client which was thereafter affirmed by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Represented the owner of The North Face brand in proceedings against importers of counterfeit merchandise. In one of these actions, a federal court in California granted summary judgment of liability in favor of Charles’ client and entered a permanent injunction and a $6 million verdict against the counterfeiter.
- Represented Bank of America in a cybersquatting lawsuit which resulted in a grant of summary judgment and permanent injunctive relief by a New York federal court which was thereafter affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Lead trial attorney representing Bimbo Bakeries USA in a two-week false advertising and trade secret misappropriation trial in federal district court. Charles obtained a 10 million jury verdict for his client.
- Represented a Swiss pharmaceutical company in a lawsuit brought by an American University seeking several tens of millions of dollars in royalty fees. Charles obtained summary judgment for his client which successfully resolved the dispute.
- Lead trial attorney representing Nutrition & Fitness, Inc. in a trademark dispute in Alabama federal court. Charles obtained a complete defense verdict for his client.
Professional & Civic Engagement
- American Bar Association, Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections
- North Carolina Bar Association, Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections
- American Intellectual Property Law Association; Forsyth County Bar Association
Honors and Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Litigation – Intellectual Property, 2015 – Present
- Received the Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" Award in the field of Litigation – Intellectual Property (Raleigh), 2022
