Our Firm

San Francisco’s Owen, Wickersham & Erickson (“OW&E”) has a long, well-respected history as one of the oldest independent intellectual property specialty law firms in the western US. Each of our five senior attorneys has more than 25 years of substantive experience with trademark, copyright, anti-counterfeiting, and intellectual property transactional and litigation matters. For more than 85 years, we have helped our clients acquire, protect, and profit from their IP.

The San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journal named OW&E one of the top 50 boutique law firms in California.  OW&E was the only firm statewide singled out for its expertise in trademark and copyright. (See OW&E is a DJ Top Boutique)

Our Experience

With more than 150 years of combined intellectual property experience, we bring a unique perspective to the art and practice of law.  Our long experience and exceptional focus on trademark and copyright law allow us to provide clients with clear, straightforward, and seasoned legal advice that supports and furthers their business goals.  We understand the creative process and we know how critical it is to protect the products of creativity and innovation.

Drawing upon both our professional experience as skilled attorneys and personal passions as creative individuals, we look for practical and innovative approaches to helping our clients achieve their goals quickly and economically. We take a common sense approach to staffing by working with clients to identify the right combination of personnel to effectively handle each matter.  We are skilled and experienced litigators and we aggressively litigate when appropriate.  When it serves our clients best, however, we try to resolve disputes through thoughtful negotiation, mediation or arbitration.

Clients get friendly, personal service, while benefiting from one of the deepest benches in the trademark/copyright field. A recent review of the World’s Leading Trademark Professionals in the World Trademark Review highlighted the OW&E team for “its cost-effective, personalized approach and keen awareness of individual business needs,” and noted that “this acclaimed IP boutique provides ‘nimble and efficient’ prosecution services.”

Our Clients

Our clients personify creativity and innovation and represent a broad array of entities, from individuals to tech start-ups to multinational consumer products companies.  We are proud to represent iconic consumer brands like Hello Kitty, major tech companies like Salesforce, some of the best known wine makers in Napa Valley, and many of San Francisco’s great restaurants.

We represent Bay Area artists and designers of all disciplines, including reknowned illustrators Craig Frazier and Michael Schwab, award-winning lighting designer Pablo Pardo, musicians The Doobie Brothers and Moby Grape, and TV chef Martin Yan. We also have a strong tradition of representing Bay Area non-profits, for example, Sierra Club, San Francisco Symphony, and Tony La Russa’s ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation).

Other current and former clients include BART, Blue Shield, Charles Schultz and his Peanuts comic strip, Clorox, Delta Dental, Design Within Reach, Il Fornaio, Rolling Stone Magazine, Sunset Magazine, University of California, V-me TV, and Williams-Sonoma.

Our Commitment

We promise to provide: creative, practical solutions to clients’ real-world business needs; personal, prompt service; attorneys who know the law and how to apply it to the special needs of each client; fair rates that provide clients with the best value for their money; and litigation experience that ensures our clients’ interests are fully served and protected in all adversarial proceedings.