Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

Craig B. Whitney is a partner in the Litigation group, with a focus on intellectual property and false advertising disputes and counseling.

Craig advises emerging, high-growth, and established companies across a diverse range of industries, including media, technology, publishing, video games, apparel, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, finance, art, entertainment and design. He handles copyright, trademark, false advertising, right of publicity, trade secret and patent issues, protecting valuable intellectual property rights from would-be infringers and defending clients against wrongful accusations of infringement. Craig also counsels clients on brand management and licensing. He oversees IP investigations and class action litigation defense. Craig prosecutes domestic and foreign trademark applications and actively assists clients in navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of IP law. He is an experienced arbitrator and a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

Craig’s recent representative work includes serving as lead trial counsel on a high-profile false advertising case between two telecommunication giants; a massive summary judgment victory in a five-year long false advertising battle between dietary supplement manufacturers; multiple victories on behalf of video game developers fighting off copyright infringement claims by would-be competitors; a series of successful outcomes pursuing false advertising claims against product review websites; a landmark victory clarifying copyright fair use and parody on behalf of several well-known musicians; a defense win dismissing copyright infringement claims brought by a putative class of attorneys against the leading legal research websites; a favorable outcome for a high-end beauty products company in a trademark and trade dress action against a manufacturer of knock-off products; a district and appellate court decision dismissing all claims by a proposed class against an international bank for alleged violations of the Federal False Marking Act, RICO and the CAN-SPAM Act; and counseling prominent art museums and galleries on copyright issues.

Craig is the former Chair of the Copyright Law Committee and currently on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Editor in Chief of the firm’s IP & Media Law Updates blog. He is a graduate of Cornell University (B.S.) and Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude). Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Stephen V. Wilson in the United States District Court of the Central District of California. He is admitted to practice in New York and California.