Law360 selected McGuireWoods partner Lucy Jewett Wheatley as an Intellectual Property MVP for 2025, the second time the legal newswire has honored her for excellence in her practice area.
Law360 profiled Wheatley in a Nov. 21, 2025, story highlighting her significant achievements, including a landmark trademark infringement victory for Pennsylvania State University and other litigation successes. Wheatley, co-leader of the firm’s nationally recognized Intellectual Property Practice Group, also earned Law360’s MVP honor in 2022.
Wheatley co-led a McGuireWoods trial team that proved to a federal jury that an online retailer and manufacturer infringed Penn State’s trademarks by selling unlicensed merchandise bearing historic images of protected university logos and names. The jury returned its verdict Nov. 19, 2024, following a six-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, awarding compensatory damages to the university. The case had significant implications for colleges and universities that license their trademarks to third parties.
“It involved so many interesting legal issues that are rarely litigated, and it was very important to our client and, in my opinion, brand owners generally. So getting a trial victory there was very exciting,” Wheatley told Law360.
Wheatley represented Vans Inc. in a high-profile trademark dispute against Brooklyn-based artist collective MSCHF over its “Wavy Baby” sneaker, which Vans alleged was a copycat of its iconic Old Skool design and infringed on its trademarks and overall trade dress. After two years of litigation, the matter concluded in 2024 with a confidential settlement, consent judgment and permanent injunction barring MSCHF from using Vans’ trademarks or selling the Wavy Baby shoes.
In addition, Wheatley represented Reebok in a trademark infringement suit against Italian shoemaker Autry USA LLC. Reebok alleged that Autry sold sneakers with designs and packaging that closely resembled Reebok’s iconic Window Box, Crosscheck and Stripecheck trademarks. The dispute concluded with a confidential settlement reinforcing Reebok’s commitment to defending its brand identity and intellectual property rights in a competitive marketplace.
Wheatley said she relishes the opportunity as an IP attorney to help companies protect their brands and reputations.
“It is very appealing to me to protect what people have built, particularly when you’re working with very old brands,” she said. “As an IP attorney, you are protecting that. You are protecting that value that all these people have contributed to, and I find that very meaningful.”
McGuireWoods’ intellectual property lawyers help clients develop, protect and leverage commercially valuable inventions, branding, and content, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other creative assets. The firm received a Managing IP Americas Award this year for its pivotal role representing Penn State in its trademark infringement dispute, which was recognized as the “Impact Case of the Year.” McGuireWoods earned a nationwide ranking for intellectual property and trade secrets legislation from the Legal 500 United States.