Intellectual property litigation has become a much-discussed field of law in recent years and has received much media attention. Elizabeth Alquist is an intellectual property litigation attorney and a partner with Day Pitney LLP—an East Coast law firm with 13 offices from Boston to Miami, including five in Connecticut—as well as a member of the firm’s executive committee. She agreed to answer questions about the practice of intellectual property litigation.
You recently were named Intellectual Property Practitioner of the Year at the Second Annual Connecticut Distinguished IP Practitioners’ Dinner. What did this award mean to you and to the work you do?
This recognition is especially meaningful because it reflects a year of complex, high stakes matters and the trust that clients place in the teams I have been fortunate to lead. I began 2025 as lead trial counsel in a multi-week software licensing case that resulted in a trial victory, and I am now working to defend that outcome on appeal.
Soon after, I turned to a billion-dollar copyright dispute, again as lead trial counsel, and helped resolve it on the eve of trial after intensive mediation. I have also been guiding teams defending a manufacturer of complex scientific instruments in multiple customer lawsuits, including trying one case this fall and preparing for another. I also continue to oversee efforts to protect the house mark, copyrights, and trade dress of a globally recognized toy brand.
This award highlights the scope and intensity of the work and the commitment of my colleagues who help drive these results. It is an honor that reflects both the achievements of the past year and the significant teamwork behind them.
You have been practicing law for more than 30 years now, particularly in intellectual property (IP) litigation. What are the major changes you have seen since you began?
IP litigation has become significantly more global and more immediate. A product launch, a social media post, or a new technology can trigger cross-border disputes in real time, which requires lawyers to respond faster and with a broader strategic lens. At the same time, courts and clients increasingly expect efficiency, creativity, and a deep understanding of both the legal issues and the underlying technology.
What has remained constant is the importance of principles that have always guided IP work: protecting innovation, resolving disputes that matter to a client’s business, and helping clients navigate rapidly shifting competitive landscapes. The tools may have changed, but the purpose has not—striving to understand and meet clients’ objectives.
Obviously, with so much data and information readily available these days over the internet, this is a dynamic and important time for the practice of intellectual property litigation. What are the key things businesses need to know to enforce their IP rights?
It starts with appropriately protecting proprietary rights, with a strategy for trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret protections. Understanding the differences in the protections you are able to prosecute, and what rights will be important for your business in your industry, is very important.
The next step is policing those rights: businesses should monitor trade shows for products that infringe utility or design patents, and trademark protection carries a duty to stop others from using your mark or confusingly similar ones in the marketplace. Searching for potential infringement of your trademarks becomes imperative, and given the pace of the spread of information on the Internet—good and bad—it is prudent to stay on top of what others are doing. Despite technological advances in this area, an effective enforcement program still requires a human touch to analyze and prioritize, consistent with business objectives.
What are the biggest mistakes businesses make that could wind them up in IP litigation?
The biggest mistake is perhaps an obvious one to avoid—don’t infringe a patent, trademark or copyright. This could save your company from going down the wrong path, resulting in protracted and expensive litigation, which could result in rulings against your company with damages awards and an injunction from selling the product. Similarly, making sure you conduct a trademark clearance on the name of your company or new product can save you money—do this before you fall in love with a name that someone else used first!
Another common mistake is assuming that because you can copy an image or download a song from the Internet it must mean it’s free to use. Typically, that just isn’t the case, and you should ensure you have the rights to use creative works for a commercial purpose, or that a fair use exception applies.
How is artificial intelligence reshaping IP litigation? Are you seeing trends in cases you have litigated or are watching in the industry?
One AI settlement drew media attention this fall, when a generative AI company agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve a class action copyright lawsuit by authors. While headlines suggested that training AI on copyrighted works is not fair use, the court ruled that using lawfully purchased and scanned books is permissible. Only the use of online libraries containing millions of pirated books to train the AI model would have proceeded to trial, leaving the law unsettled.
What impact do you see as the use of artificial intelligence grows?
Speaking of AI, it is changing how companies innovate, how they create value, and how they compete. That shift will influence every part of the IP ecosystem, from how rights are secured to how risks are assessed. We will see new categories of inventions and creative works, new questions about ownership of those rights, and new pressures on legal frameworks that were built for a different technological era.
For lawyers, AI also changes how we practice. It will allow for more efficient analysis and better insight into complex technical issues, but it will also require judgment about when these tools are appropriate and how their outputs should be evaluated. Clients will increasingly look for advisers who can bridge the gap between rapidly advancing technology and long-standing legal principles.
What is something you have done in your career that you perhaps never expected to do as an intellectual property litigator?
One experience I never imagined when I started my career was being sent to New Zealand to help with a trial on behalf of a Connecticut-based client. I grew up in Connecticut, went to school here, and spent much of my high school and college years on the basketball court. At the time, my world felt firmly rooted in this community, and I certainly did not picture myself in a much different court, in an intellectual property dispute on the other side of the globe.
That opportunity reminded me how far this work can take you. IP litigation and the support of my colleagues at Day Pitney have opened doors I never expected and have allowed me the great privilege of representing clients whose innovations carry them into global markets.
Are there any particular benefits about practicing this kind of law in Connecticut, as you do?
Practicing IP litigation in Connecticut offers a unique combination of sophisticated work and a highly collaborative legal community. We are trusted with complex, high-value matters that rival those handled in major litigation hubs, and we can staff them in a way that delivers both efficiency and exceptional client service. Our region is home to innovative companies in technology, manufacturing, life sciences, and consumer products, which creates a broad and interesting range of IP disputes.
Elizabeth Alquist is an intellectual property litigation attorney and a partner with Day Pitney LLP.