IP STARS trademark rankings to be revealed

IP STARS, Managing IP’s accreditation title, is to reveal its latest rankings for trademark work at the end of this month, including which firms are on the up.

The release will also include the IP Stars list (excluding the Rising Stars and Corporate Stars) and the Top 250 Women in IP list for 2025.

Our research and rankings team has been busy preparing for the latest release, and Managing IP can now reveal some of the key numbers behind this year’s trademark firm rankings.

The release, which will be published on May 30, will be keenly awaited by many firms.

Some of those firms will be meeting current and prospective clients during the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, which is taking place in San Diego this week.

Across all jurisdictions, more than 900 firms have been ranked for their trademark expertise this year. Within that, 59 jurisdictions are covered, including the US and eight individual states.

The figures mark a step up from last year, when around 880 firms in 51 jurisdictions were ranked.

We have ranking categories for both trademark disputes and trademark prosecution, covering 35 jurisdictions. This number also includes three US states and the Benelux region, which comprises Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

We will also publish domestic and foreign firm rankings in China and Japan.

In 13 jurisdictions, including the UK, Germany, and Australia, we will publish rankings for law firms as well as for patent and trademark attorney firms.

For the remaining jurisdictions, IP STARS provides a general trademark ranking table.

With firms eager to see if they have climbed the league tables and how they fared compared to 2024, Managing IP can reveal some key numbers.

In the US, two firms have been upgraded, and there are five new entrants. Five firms have been removed from the rankings, and two have been downgraded.

Across the Americas region (excluding the US), two firms have been upgraded, five downgraded, and two removed. In total, there are 10 new entrants.

In EMEA, 49 firms have been upgraded this time around, with 54 new firms added. In total, 39 firms have been downgraded and 29 removed.

Meanwhile, in China, there have been two upgrades, four new additions, eight removals and eight downgrades.

Firms can partake in the research process by completing submission forms that explain the matters they've worked on and by providing a list of client referees.

The research team implements a thorough process before moving firms up or down.

Firms can give themselves the best chance to climb the rankings by consistently providing good submissions for each practice area they want to be ranked in.

Individual practitioners can still be ranked even if their firms don't make the cut.

Last year, Managing IP provided some tips on how firms can get themselves noticed.

All the rankings will be available on the IP STARS website, where readers can also find this year’s release timeline.

Our rankings are not the only way Managing IP recognises firms and practitioners. As many practitioners will be aware, we also hold our annual awards ceremonies for EMEA, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

Across our EMEA and Americas ceremonies, which took place in April, we handed out more than 60 awards for trademark-related work.

In EMEA, our ceremony on April 10 recognised firms including Fencer (Trademark Disputes) in Belgium, Laine IP for Trademark Prosecution in Finland, and Haseltine Lake Kempner in the UK, which picked up the award for Trademark Disputes (Patent & Trademark Attorney Firms).

Across the Americas, several firms were awarded notable trademark victories. In the US, our Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year was Cowan Liebowitz & Latman.

We also recognised several firms for trademark prosecution at the regional level in the US – with Mayer Brown winning Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year for the Midwest, Arnold & Porter snagging Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year for the Northeast, and Knobbe Martens earning Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year for the West.

In Brazil, Gusmão & Labrunie won Firm of the Year for Trademark.