Tyce Walters is an associate in Latham & Watkins' Litigation & Trial Department and a member of the firm’s Connectivity, Privacy & Information Practice; Copyright Practice; and Supreme Court and Appellate Practice.

Mr. Walters focuses on complex copyright, data-privacy, and communications matters, as well as federal and state appellate litigation and dispositive motions in the federal district courts. He has significant experience in copyright, trademark, and related intellectual property law, litigating and advising clients on cutting-edge legal developments in those areas, particularly on emerging issues of generative artificial intelligence. He also advocates for clients before the Federal Trade Commission regarding data-privacy issues.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Walters served on the Appellate Staff of the US Department of Justice’s Civil Division. In that role, he argued more than a dozen appeals in federal appellate courts and appeared as lead counsel in more than 20 federal appeals.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Walters clerked for Judge Susan Carney of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Milton Shadur of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Mr. Walters maintains an active pro bono practice. He litigated a major suit on behalf of the National Urban League, NAACP, and others to prevent the Census Bureau from shortening the 2020 Census. Plaintiffs obtained a preliminary injunction requiring the Census Bureau to continue the count, and the Bureau ultimately abandoned attempts to adhere to a truncated data-processing timeline. 

Mr. Walters’ representative experience includes:

  • Roblox Corp. v. WowWee Group Limited, No. 22-cv-4476 (N.D. Cal.). Litigating copyright, Lanham Act, and related claims related to the copying of Roblox’s digital avatars
  • Currently defending a major security software firm in putative class action involving wiretapping and privacy claims
  • Successfully litigated a trademark infringement suit between two major US airlines
  • Booking.com v. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 915 F.3d 171 (4th Cir. 2019) (argued). In a case subsequently taken up by the Supreme Court, argued that asserted trademarks consisting of generic terms and domain name “.com” could generally not be registered*
  • Nicopure Labs, LLC v. FDA, 944 F.3d 267 (D.C. Cir. 2019). Successfully defended FDA rule regulating electronic cigarettes and “vaping” devices, as well as related advertising, from First Amendment and statutory challenge*
  • Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc., No. 15-777 (2016). Drafted brief of the United States in design-patent dispute*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham

Bar Qualification

  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Education

  • JD, Yale Law School, 2013
  • BA in Philosophy, Yale University, 2009
    magna cum laude