Kate’s practice encompasses a broad range of intellectual property and advertising matters. She counsels clients on trademark clearance and strategy, including assisting them with filing new trademark applications and maintaining their trademark portfolios worldwide. She also manages intellectual property policing and enforcement matters for numerous clients at all stages of such disputes. Her litigation experience includes both federal court and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings. Kate has extensive experience with internet-related issues, such as social media account disputes, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims, and domain name disputes, including Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution (UDRP) actions.
Additionally, she provides legal and business assistance to clients regarding their branding and marketing needs. Kate regularly works with clients to review and vet marketing and promotional material, including clearing promotional taglines and ensuring compliance with the rules, regulations, and best practices governing advertisements. She also helps clients appropriately structure promotions, such as sales, coupons, rebates, sweepstakes, and contest campaigns. Kate has also assisted clients in responding to inquiries from the Federal Trade Commission regarding advertisements and in assessing competitor claims of false advertising under the Lanham Act. She additionally negotiates and drafts agreements relating to client promotional needs, including agency agreements, product placement agreements, talent appearance agreements, and trademark, copyright, and right of publicity licenses.
For a number of years, Kate spent approximately half her time in the offices of a client, embedded with its marketing and intellectual property legal team. In that role, she reviewed countless pieces of marketing collateral and counseled business clients and vendor partners regarding specific promotions. Kate continues to work closely with the client team in her capacity as outside counsel.
Kate is currently chair of the Programming Subcommittee of the International Trademark Association (INTA) Young Practitioner’s Committee. She has served on that Committee since 2016, previously serving as a member of the INTA Internet Committee from 2012–2016. She also served as Co-Chair of the Women in IP Committee for the Intellectual Property Association of Chicago (IPLAC) from 2013–2018, and as a member of the IPLAC Board of Managers from 2016–2018. She remains active with IPLAC and its Women in IP Committee.
While in law school, Kate represented children, parents, and foster parents in juvenile court child protection proceedings through her participation in the Child Advocacy Legal Clinic. She continues to represent children in contested guardianship proceedings as a pro bono guardian ad litem, and serves on the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Board of Directors.