Candice J. Kwark

Candice J. Kwark is an intellectual property litigator with a focus on patent litigation. She represents leading companies and executives across a range of technical and consumer-facing industries. She appears before US federal district courts, courts of appeals, and the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her experience covers the full lifecycle of disputes—from strategic counseling and due diligence through fact and expert discovery, depositions, motion practice, claim construction, and trial preparation. Among her recent accomplishments, she represented a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in a jury trial where she handled the technical aspects of the case. She also served as the sole associate on the trial team that secured a $170 million jury verdict against GoDaddy in a landmark patent infringement case involving foundational web design technology, where the jury returned a unanimous verdict awarding the full amount of damages sought.

Candice is equally experienced in trademark and copyright prosecution, counseling, enforcement, and litigation, as well as counseling clients in trade secret litigation. She has built a practice encompassing both high-stakes disputes and large-scale global portfolio stewardship, including landmark damages recoveries, complex multi-jurisdictional enforcement campaigns, and the management of extensive international trademark portfolios. On the enforcement and litigation side, she contributed to securing a tentative $584 million statutory damages judgment on behalf of Louis Vuitton against a flea market found to have knowingly facilitated the sale of counterfeit goods—among the largest awards of its kind. She also successfully argued a summary judgment motion for a national retail chain in a trademark dispute with a footwear designer brand, resulting in a favorable settlement.

Her portfolio management practice is equally substantial. Candice manages more than 2,000 active trademark applications and registrations worldwide, advising clients on both offensive and defensive strategies across diverse industries and jurisdictions. Her clients include a women's professional sports organization, a French luxury fashion brand, an American food retail brand, and an Asian media conglomerate. She has also developed global trademark strategies for companies in highly technical sectors, including a therapeutics company operating an epigenetic discovery platform, and she has led multi-jurisdictional enforcement and opposition campaigns for an Asian tire manufacturer.

Candice brings a strong scientific foundation to her practice, with experience spanning pharmaceuticals, biochemistry, immunology, cardiovascular medicine, and interactive health technologies. During law school, she served as a patent fellow with the Office of Technology Management, where she focused on patent prosecution, technology evaluation, and commercialization strategy. Prior to joining Steptoe, she worked in the intellectual property department at Cummins Inc., a Fortune 500 global power technology company and leading manufacturer of engines and energy solutions, and in Seoul at South Korea's largest law firm.

Candice is a registered US Patent Agent and is admitted to practice in Illinois, California, New York, the District of Columbia, and Texas, as well as before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She has been recognized as a 2025 Super Lawyers Rising Star in Intellectual Property and as a 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinder. She is active in Chicago's legal community, including the Richard Linn American Inn of Court, and has served at Steptoe as co-chair of the Associate Committee and as a member of the Professional Training Committee.