Brand & New Podcast
Stealth Trademark Filings: Strategy, Risk, and Reality
Published: July 22, 2026
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Guest
Matthew Asbell Lippes Mathias LLP USA
In a world where brand launches can leak in seconds, competitive intelligence is a reality, and social media amplifies everything, many companies are asking a simple question: How do we protect a brand before the world knows it exists?
That’s where stealth trademark filings come in. This is about using entities, strategic drafting, or filing approaches to obscure a company’s identity or future plans. Some see this as a smart, even necessary tactic. Others raise concerns about transparency, enforceability, and unintended legal consequences.
So where is the line between smart brand strategy and avoidable risk? When does stealth help, and when might it backfire?
To unpack this, we’re joined by Matthew Asbell, a partner at Lippes Mathias LLP and a widely respected intellectual property attorney with deep experience advising brands in diverse industries on global trademark strategy, enforcement, and policy‑level issues. He’s also an adjunct professor of law and frequent guest lecturer at Fordham University and The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
Mr. Asbell is a longtime leader within the INTA community, contributing to how we think about trademarks not just as registrations, but as business assets.
This episode of Brand & New is sponsored by Lippes Mathias LLP.
Related Resources
Stealth trademarks explained: Protecting brands while staying under the radar (Lexology, July 2025)
About Brand & New
Our hosts discuss compelling business and legal topics relating to intellectual property, innovation, technology, and change with an international roster of influential experts and industry visionaries.
Brand & New guests contribute to this podcast in their personal capacity, and the opinions expressed (or experiences shared) are their own. They do not purport to reflect the views or opinions of INTA or our members.
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