Senior Counsel - Trademarks

Sazerac; Louisville (KY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

Sazerac seeks a Senior Trademark Counsel to lead intellectual property strategy for a large spirits portfolio. You will advise Marketing, Innovation, and leadership on leveraging IP to drive growth and protect long-term brand value.

The role focuses on shaping global trademark strategy, identifying protection gaps, and directing internal resources, outside counsel, and a dedicated trademark paralegal.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree and bar admission.
• 5+ years of substantive trademark law experience.
• Experience in global portfolio strategies, preferably in consumer brands.
• Hybrid work readiness in Louisville.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute IP strategies aligned with global growth priorities and brand strategies.
• Advise Marketing, Innovation, and New Business Development from early brand development stages.
• Oversee domestic and international trademark portfolio filing and maintenance.
• Develop global enforcement strategies to protect distinctiveness and value of brands.
• Design and build internal IP capabilities, processes, and technology.
• Lead and develop the trademark paralegal and external service providers.

Skills

Global brand strategy

Cross-functional collaboration

Commercial IP judgment

Communication skills

IP enforcement knowledge

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

WebTMS

Anaqua

CPi

Corsearch

Equinox

Job description

Sazerac Company Overview

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

Job Description/Responsibilities

Sazerac is seeking an experienced and commercially minded Senior Trademark Counsel to help shape and lead intellectual property strategy for one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing portfolios of spirits brands.

This newly created role will go beyond traditional trademark portfolio management. The Senior Trademark Counsel will serve as a strategic advisor to Legal, Marketing, Innovation, New Business Development, and senior business leaders on how Sazerac can use intellectual property to create competitive advantage, enable growth, and maximize the long-term value of its brands.

You will help develop and execute Sazerac’s global trademark and brand-protection strategy, identifying opportunities to strengthen the company's intellectual property positions as brands expand into new products, categories, channels, and markets. The role will bring a commercial and portfolio perspective to decisions about where Sazerac invests in IP, how it structures protection around its most important brands and innovations, and how aggressively it protects and deploys those assets.

The Senior Trademark Counsel will also help build a best-in-class internal IP capability by developing scalable processes and technology, improving portfolio intelligence, directing outside counsel and service providers, and developing the capabilities of Sazerac’s dedicated trademark paralegal.

Success in the role will be measured not simply by effective trademark administration, but by the attorney’s ability to anticipate business needs, identify opportunities and risks, influence brand strategy, and translate Sazerac’s intellectual property into durable commercial value.

What You’ll Do:

• Develop and execute intellectual property strategies aligned with Sazerac’s global growth priorities, brand strategies, innovation pipeline, and geographic expansion. Advise business leaders on how trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, designs, and other IP rights can be used to create competitive differentiation and protect long-term brand value.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Marketing, Innovation, New Business Development, and other business teams from the earliest stages of brand and product development.
• Provide strategic oversight of Sazerac’s domestic and international trademark portfolio, ensuring filing and maintenance strategies reflect business priorities and anticipated growth and regularly assess the portfolio to identify protection gaps, unnecessary spend, consolidation opportunities, and opportunities to create stronger or broader rights.
• Develop and lead risk-based global enforcement strategies focused on protecting the distinctiveness, reputation, and commercial value of Sazerac’s brands and advise on significant infringement, counterfeit, trade dress, domain name, social media, and unfair competition matters.
• Help design and build Sazerac’s internal IP function, including governance, processes, technology, reporting, and decision frameworks.
• Lead and develop Sazerac’s dedicated trademark paralegal, expanding the role’s capabilities and ownership over time.

Qualifications/Requirements

Required:

• Juris Doctor degree.
• At least five years of substantive trademark law experience, preferably in a corporate legal department as a trademark lawyer with experience in partnering to develop global portfolio strategies.
• Ability to work from Sazerac's Louisville office in accordance with the company's hybrid work expectations.
• Strong knowledge of US trademark law and US PTO practice, with working knowledge of international filing and prosecution processes.
• Sophisticated trademark expertise with strong commercial judgment, intellectual curiosity, and the confidence to influence business decisions.
• Thinks beyond individual filings and disputes and understands intellectual property as a business asset and source of competitive advantage.
• Partner with brand and/or concept teams for innovation and business development.
• Ability to provide clear, practical advice directly to business partners and to manage a high volume of matters with sound judgment and appropriate escalation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to work collaboratively across functions and geographies.

Preferred:

• Experience managing outside counsel and balancing legal risk, business priorities, timing, and cost.
• In-house experience supporting a large portfolio of consumer-facing brands, particularly in the consumer products, food and beverage, retail, apparel, entertainment, or hospitality industries.
• Experience working closely with marketing, innovation, product-development, and brand teams in a fast-paced launch environment.
• Experience supervising, developing, or providing day-to-day direction to a trademark paralegal or other legal professional.
• Experience with commercial trademark portfolio management and docketing platforms such as Webtms, Anaqua, CPi, Corsearch, Equinox, or a comparable system.
• Experience with trademark watch services, domain-name matters, social-media enforcement, online marketplace takedowns, anticounterfeiting, or customs programs.

Culture and Benefits:

Sazerac offers a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401K, paid time off, and more. These benefits may vary depending on location and work type. Learn more about how we support our employees here.

Sazerac is committed to equality of opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected status.