February 20, 2020 / Press Release

Mescher receives prestigious legal writing award

Porter Wright is proud to announce partner Rick Mescher earned a  Distinguished Legal Writing Award from the Burton Awards for his blog, “Kawhi Leonard v. Nike Inc.: How copyrights can trump trademarks.” Mescher is among 30 winners chosen from nominations submitted by the United States’ largest and most prestigious law firms.

The Burton Awards is a national non-profit organization run in association with the Library of Congress. An academic board of distinguished leaders reviewed hundreds of submissions and chose winners who demonstrated “clarity, cogency, and persuasive legal writing.”

Mescher published the blog on June 26, 2019 to discuss NBA player Kawhi Leonard’s lawsuit against Nike Inc. regarding the so-called “KL2” or “Klaw” logo. It immediately gained national attention and Mescher was interviewed for articles in Bloomberg Big Law Business and San Antonio Express-News and was mentioned in the Forbes. Mescher also followed up with the blog, “Kawhi Leonard v. Nike, Inc.: Copy, derivative work or distinct work?” on July 25, 2019 after Nike filed a countersuit.

Mescher is a member of Porter Wright’s Corporate Department and his practice focuses on all aspects of intellectual property law.  He also serves on the faculty of the Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law teaching patent preparation and prosecution.

Winners of the Burton Awards will be presented their awards at an event sponsored by Law360 and the American Bar Association on June 14, 2021, at a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The awards ceremony will be followed by a pre-dinner reception, gala and musical performance.