SEAN GARRISON brings over 30 years of experience counseling and representing clients in numerous areas of Intellectual Property, in both litigation and in general counseling. Mr. Garrison’s strong reputation in the areas of Trademark Law, Copyright Law, and Intellectual Property Litigation, among others, has earned him repeated selection as a Top Ranked (Band 1) lawyer for Intellectual Property in Chambers and Partners' USA Guide (2024 and 2025), in the WTR 1000 --The World's Leading Trademark Professionals since 2016, and in Best Lawyers in America since 2007. The most recent edition of WTR 1000 explains that he "fills the trusted advisor role perfectly and instills confidence with his broad knowledge of trademark and copyright law and technology, and his sparkling advocacy and negotiation skills."
Having represented individuals, small businesses, colleges, universities and large corporations, Mr. Garrison understands there can be no "one size fits all" approach to legal representation and advice. As a result, Mr. Garrison works hard to first understand his client' businesses and goals and then to develop appropriate and efficient legal strategies to meet their business needs.
His practice focuses in the areas of trademark prosecution and portfolio management (domestic and international), trademark oppositions and cancellations, copyright, IP licensing, and related litigation.
Mr. Garrison has represented plaintiffs and defendants in Intellectual Property litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. Mr. Garrison obtained for one client one of the largest federal civil jury trial judgments awarded in Arizona in 2014. He practices regularly before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the administrative law court of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Utilizing the TTAB's Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR) procedures, Mr. Garrison prevailed for his clients in two of the earliest ACR decisions issued by the TTAB.
A past Chair of the E-Commerce and Technology Law Section of the Arizona State Bar, Mr. Garrison has represented numerous clients in negotiating and drafting a variety of software and technology agreements, including:
He also represents and defends clients who have received allegations of unlicensed installations of computer software from individual software publishers, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA). Mr. Garrison assists these clients in negotiating and designing the scope of any software audit to be performed, communicating the audit results to the relevant software publisher, negotiating reasonable and appropriate settlement agreements and, if necessary, defending the client in litigation brought by any of these organizations.
Mr. Garrison has experience in negotiating and defending claims for alleged copyright infringement arising from the alleged copying and display of photographs online and from the public performance of musical works asserted by the various music performing rights organizations, with a special emphasis in representing the owners and managers of multi-unit residential properties, such as apartment complexes and condominiums.
Mr. Garrison has experience in trade secret disputes, as well as in drafting confidentiality and IP rights agreements to try to preserve the rights of clients in confidential and other business information.
Mr. Garrison has been recognized by his peers and repeatedly listed in Best Lawyers in 6 different categories of Intellectual Property law: Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Technology Law, Trade Secrets Law, Litigation — Intellectual Property, and Litigation — Patent. He has also been honored to be named a Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers numerous times, including most recently as the 2026 Lawyer of the Year - Scottsdale in both Trademark Law and Copyright Law. Martindale Hubbell has rated Mr. Garrison as an "AV Preeminent" attorney for 25 years and it recognized him as one of the Top Rated Lawyers in Intellectual Property since 2015. He is also listed in Southwest SuperLawyers and IP Stars.
Mr. Garrison's representative litigation matters with published opinions/decisions include:
Mr. Garrison is a member of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Arizona State Bar. He has served on a variety of committees for the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (AIPLA) for which he is a former chair of the Trademark Law and Trademark Litigation committees..
Mr. Garrison received his B.A. with Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.
Mr. Garrison is an avid sports fan, golfer and (retired) youth baseball coach. He loves his Carolina Tarheels, hanging out with his family, and grilling and smoking all sorts of food in his backyard.
Having represented individuals, small businesses, colleges, universities and large corporations, Mr. Garrison understands there can be no "one size fits all" approach to legal representation and advice. As a result, Mr. Garrison works hard to first understand his client' businesses and goals and then to develop appropriate and efficient legal strategies to meet their business needs.
His practice focuses in the areas of trademark prosecution and portfolio management (domestic and international), trademark oppositions and cancellations, copyright, IP licensing, and related litigation.
Mr. Garrison has represented plaintiffs and defendants in Intellectual Property litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country. Mr. Garrison obtained for one client one of the largest federal civil jury trial judgments awarded in Arizona in 2014. He practices regularly before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the administrative law court of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Utilizing the TTAB's Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR) procedures, Mr. Garrison prevailed for his clients in two of the earliest ACR decisions issued by the TTAB.
A past Chair of the E-Commerce and Technology Law Section of the Arizona State Bar, Mr. Garrison has represented numerous clients in negotiating and drafting a variety of software and technology agreements, including:
- Software license agreements
- Software and platform development agreements
- Software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements
- Joint Development Agreements
- Mobile app development and license agreements
- Content license agreements for websites, mobile apps and other applications
- Website and Mobile App terms of use and privacy policies
He also represents and defends clients who have received allegations of unlicensed installations of computer software from individual software publishers, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA). Mr. Garrison assists these clients in negotiating and designing the scope of any software audit to be performed, communicating the audit results to the relevant software publisher, negotiating reasonable and appropriate settlement agreements and, if necessary, defending the client in litigation brought by any of these organizations.
Mr. Garrison has experience in negotiating and defending claims for alleged copyright infringement arising from the alleged copying and display of photographs online and from the public performance of musical works asserted by the various music performing rights organizations, with a special emphasis in representing the owners and managers of multi-unit residential properties, such as apartment complexes and condominiums.
Mr. Garrison has experience in trade secret disputes, as well as in drafting confidentiality and IP rights agreements to try to preserve the rights of clients in confidential and other business information.
Mr. Garrison has been recognized by his peers and repeatedly listed in Best Lawyers in 6 different categories of Intellectual Property law: Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Technology Law, Trade Secrets Law, Litigation — Intellectual Property, and Litigation — Patent. He has also been honored to be named a Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers numerous times, including most recently as the 2026 Lawyer of the Year - Scottsdale in both Trademark Law and Copyright Law. Martindale Hubbell has rated Mr. Garrison as an "AV Preeminent" attorney for 25 years and it recognized him as one of the Top Rated Lawyers in Intellectual Property since 2015. He is also listed in Southwest SuperLawyers and IP Stars.
Mr. Garrison's representative litigation matters with published opinions/decisions include:
- H-D Michigan, Inc. and Harley Davidson Motor Company v. Bikers Dream, Inc. et al., 48 U.S.P.Q.2d 1108 (C.D. Cal. 1998)
- Syntek Semiconductor Co. Ltd v. Microchip Technology, Inc., 307 F.3d 775 (9th Cir. 2002)
- Superior Edge, Inc. v. Maricopa County Community College Dist., 2007 WL 1101185 (D. Minn. 2007)
- Life Enhancement Center v. CR License, LLC, 2014 WL 3976455 (TTAB 2014)
- United States Postal Service v. RPost International Limited, 2013 WL 5407282 (TTAB 2013)
- IOW, LLC v. Breus, 425 F. Supp. 3d 1175, 1183 (D. Ariz. 2019)
- Flowerchild Holding Co., LLC v. Flour Power LLC, 2024 WL 4133075 (TTAB Aug. 29, 2024)
- Med. Sec. Card Co., LLC v Scriptwell, Inc., 2024 WL 5697438 (D. Del, Oct. 29, 2024)
Mr. Garrison is a member of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Arizona State Bar. He has served on a variety of committees for the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (AIPLA) for which he is a former chair of the Trademark Law and Trademark Litigation committees..
Mr. Garrison received his B.A. with Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.
Mr. Garrison is an avid sports fan, golfer and (retired) youth baseball coach. He loves his Carolina Tarheels, hanging out with his family, and grilling and smoking all sorts of food in his backyard.
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SEAN GARRISON: Direct Dial 480-719-8501 E-mail [email protected]
