David J. Stewart

• Represented a large health care facility in a three-week jury trial of a trademark, copyright, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act case in federal court in Tampa that resulted in awards of permanent injunctive relief, substantial damages and recovery of attorneys' fees.
• Defended a national beauty retailer in a three-week jury trial involving claims of trademark infringement related to the trade dress and trademark of a private label beauty product.
• Secured summary judgment for a national restaurant chain in a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court in Portland, OR in which the plaintiff sought a nationwide injunction against use of the company's mark.
• Served as lead counsel for a unit of a major international pharmaceutical company in defense of claims of false advertising asserted by its largest competitor. Defeated four motions for preliminary injunction after an extensive evidentiary hearing. The case settled favorably to the client after a successful motion for protective order that significantly limited the scope of the plaintiff's discovery efforts.
• Served as lead counsel for a major manufacturer of insulated bottles in an anticounterfeiting action in Oregon federal court against more than 70 Chinese counterfeiters. The client was award temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctions and more than $1 million in damages.
• Served as trial counsel in federal court in Connecticut in the trial of novel trademark ownership and first use issues involving the mark for a successful self-storage chain.
• Secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction on behalf of one of the world's largest hospitality companies against a former franchisee who refused to de-identify following the expiration of his franchise agreement.
• Defended a major tire manufacturer in defense of false advertising claims asserted by its most significant competitor before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus related to claims of comparative product superiority in national broadcast advertisements.
• Represented a major national automotive parts retailer in the defense of copyright infringement claims filed in federal court in Las Vegas related to Linux, an open source operating system.
• Represented a major international manufacturer of kitchen equipment in a false advertising claim before the NAD against one its largest competitors regarding superiority claims the competitor was making regarding new food storage containers. The NAD and, on appeal, NARB, ruled in the client’s favor on all claims.

David Stewart was a member of Alston & Bird's Intellectual Property Litigation – Trademark & Copyright Team. He concentrated his practice on trademark, copyright, trade secret, and advertising litigation and counseling.

David was ranked Gold in the 2021 edition of the Word Trademark Review 1000. He has been featured in the International Edition of Who’s Who Trademarks and listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America^® since 2009. Best Lawyers^® named David “Lawyer of the Year” for 2018 in the area of Copyright Law. He was also recognized as an "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine and has been recognized by Super Lawyers since 2004.

David received an A.B. degree in English literature from Wabash College in 1985, graduating summa cum laude. He received his law degree in 1990 from Vanderbilt University, where he served as an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Before law school, he worked as a computer systems engineer for the Allison Gas Turbine division of General Motors Corporation in Indianapolis.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia

Education

• Vanderbilt University (J.D., 1990)
• Wabash College (A.B., 1985)

Memberships