Austin Padgett

Austin advises clients on trademark, copyright, and advertising matters, helping businesses and individual creators build, protect, and grow their brands across all types of media. He works closely with clients at throughout every stage of their business cycle — from launching a new brand to managing international portfolios with thousands of trademarks.

Austin handles both transactional and litigation matters, including trademark and copyright prosecution, registration, licensing, and disputes. He has resolved a significant number of UDRP domain name disputes and proceedings before the TTAB, and counsels clients on a diverse range of agreements. Austin advises clients on music and publishing counseling and agreements, endorsement and sponsorship deals, advertising clearance, and compliance for sweepstakes, contests, and promotions. He also handles due diligence in connection with mergers and acquisitions and IP-related agreements.

Austin is experienced in industries such as consumer products, entertainment, social media, financial services, energy, real estate, health care, and pharmaceuticals. A growing part of his practice focuses on advising social media influencers. Drawing on a thorough understanding of the influencer economy, Austin counsels both influencers and brands in connection with talent and sponsorship agreements.

• Global company rebrand — Advised a multinational B2C technology company on a full-scale rebrand, including trademark clearance across 30+ jurisdictions, licensing relationships, and development of brand-usage guidelines for international launch.
• Influencer + talent agreements — Drafted and negotiated multiplatform creator agreements for a national consumer brand, addressing FTC-mandated disclosures, content ownership, usage windows, exclusivity, morality clauses, AI-derivative use, and cross-posting rights.
• Advertising claim review — Led pre-clearance review of health and performance claims for health and wellness providers, aligning claim language with substantiation and managing messaging to reduce liabilities and regulatory exposure.
• AI-generated content risk allocation — Developed contract language for agency to govern use of AI-assisted assets in commercial campaigns, covering training-data representations, output ownership, indemnity carve-outs, and metadata obligations.
• UDRP domain name enforcement — Successfully prosecuted numerous UDRP proceedings involving a confusingly similar domain names and abusive online tactics.
• Sponsorship + co-branding agreements — Negotiated and drafted multiyear sponsorship and co-branding agreements between a national consumer brand and major sports and entertainment partners, addressing brand asset usage, exclusivity, cross-channel activation rights, and charitable commercial co-venture tie-ins.
• Promotions + sweepstakes compliance program — Managed legal review and structuring for hundreds of nationwide promotions and sweepstakes for a consumer brand portfolio, including official rules, regulatory compliance, state registrations and bonds, prize-fulfillment terms, social-platform restrictions, influencer integration, skill-vs-chance analysis, and deceptive-marketing risk mitigation.

• Best Lawyers in America®: Advertising Law (2014-2026), Copyright Law (2022-2026), Trademark Law (2021-2026)
• Best Lawyers in America®: “Lawyer of the Year” in Advertising Law (2022)
• World Trademark Review: WTR 1000 (2020-2021, 2023-2025)