Our People
Sally M. Abel

Sally M. Abel

Retired Partner
Office

Silicon Valley

Sally M.
Abel

Sally M.
Abel

Sally M.
Abel

Retired Partner
Office

Silicon Valley

Education & Admissions

J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

B.A., summa cum laude, History
University of California, Davis

A nationally recognized top lawyer for startup and emerging companies, Sally built long-term relationships with clients that supported their goals throughout their lifecycle.

Sally focused on international trademark and trade name counseling, including the development and management of international trademark portfolios and trademark rights online.

Sally was recognized as a global leader in trademark law by World Trademark Review. She was ranked among the top 5 trademark lawyers in the United States in Who’s Who Legal: Trademarks as a Thought Leader for her “super reputation…as one of the ‘top’ names in trademark law.” She repeatedly won other international, national, state and Silicon Valley accolades including:

  • Managing Intellectual Property: IP STAR and The Top 250 Women in IP (2014 – 2022)
  • The National Law Journal: Intellectual Property Trailblazers & Pioneers (2014)
  • World Trademark Review 1000: One of the top 12 trademark practitioners in the U.S. (Gold ranking 2012 – 2023)
  • Chambers USA and Chambers Global: Intellectual Property –​ Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (2009 – 2022)
  • Best Lawyers: The Best Lawyers in America for Trademark Law (2010 – 2021)
  • Euromoney’s Best of the Best Expert Guide (2019)
  • The Legal 500: Trademark Litigation (2018 – 2019) and Trademark Non-Contentious (2021)

Sally was a pioneer in the international debate over trademark rights on the internet, including serving as the International Trademark Association’s representative on the 11-member International Ad Hoc Committee, the international body organized by the Internet Society, to restructure the domain name system. At the invitation of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Sally also participated in WIPO’s First Meeting of Consultants on Trademarks and Internet Domain Names held in Geneva in February 1997. Through WIPO and the National Arbitration Forum, she served as a neutral panelist in over 60 domain name disputes brought under ICANN’s UDRP system.

Sally was a member of the INTA Board of Directors from 1998 to 2000. She chaired INTA’s Internet Subcommittee for two years and developed and chaired INTA’s Enforcement Committee. For the last 20 years of her legal career, she annually taught trademark law to federal court judges and taught the international trademark law course at Berkeley Law.

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“There’s nothing she hasn’t seen or done in the practice – she’s a total rock star,” commentators told WTR 1000, also noting that Abel is a “leading intellectual in the field,” who “comes up with creative ideas to resolve difficult disputes.”

World Trademark Review 1000

2020 Edition

  • Cisco Systems
  • Facebook
  • Fitbit
  • NVIDIA
  • Salesforce.com
  • Symantec
  • Uber

  • Cisco Systems
  • Facebook
  • Fitbit
  • NVIDIA
  • Salesforce.com
  • Symantec
  • Uber