Jennifer Van Kirk, Lewis Roca Photo

Jennifer A. Van Kirk

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Jennifer Van Kirk counsels clients on a wide variety of intellectual property matters, including all aspects of ‎trademark and brand protection: trademark clearance, prosecution, licensing, portfolio ‎management, and litigation guidance. Her experience includes traditional marks as well as three-‎dimensional marks, motion marks, service trade dress, and packaging trade dress. She also assists clients with identifying, protecting, and licensing copyrights and rights of publicity for use in products and advertising and protecting and licensing clients' copyrights and rights of publicity.

Trademark Prosecution and Brand Protection

With a network of trademark agents in nearly every country, Jennifer has particular experience ‎helping clients secure and protect trademark rights around the world. She assists in securing ‎worldwide portfolios for new brands and streamlining portfolios for long-established brands. Additionally, her ‎international trademark experience includes advising clients on what global registrations to pursue, ‎filing strategies to maximize coverage, what form the mark should take, cost-containment options, and ‎which trademarks to secure.

Copyrights and Rights of Publicity

Jennifer has extensive multimedia clearance experience, which includes tracing the chain of title (including probate analyses) to works of art, photographs, and rights of publicity and then securing licenses to use those third party rights on products and in advertising. She helps clients protect their copyrights through formal ‎registrations, licensing agreements, and enforcement actions. She has negotiated licenses between her ‎clients and major motion picture studios, merchandising firms, and rights organizations, including BMI, ‎MPLC, and the CCC. When necessary, she represents clients whose copyrights have been infringed by ‎third parties.‎

Trademark Enforcement

On the trademark enforcement side, Jennifer has experience managing the policing ‎programs of several prominent clients, including one of the world’s top spas, a federal government ‎agency, a multibillion-dollar tool manufacturer, the leading e-cigarette company, and an international ‎bakery and restaurant franchise with over 200 stores globally.

Jennifer has also coordinated anti-counterfeiting programs in the Far East and has extensive experience ‎litigating before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. When necessary, she defends her clients ‎against infringement allegations made by other companies. ‎

Internet IP

Jennifer regularly counsels clients on Internet-related intellectual ‎property issues. She has considerable experience with domain name disputes, having represented ‎clients in dozens of successful arbitration proceedings under the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution ‎Policy (UDRP). She also counsels clients about recording with ‎ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse and other rights protection mechanisms.

Industry Recognition

Jennifer is frequently recognized by top legal organizations and publications, including the International Bar Association’s Who’s Who Legal – Trademarks, "AV/Preeminent Attorney" rating from Martindale-Hubbell, The Best Lawyers in America® in the categories of copyright and trademark law, and "IP Stars" by Managing IP magazine, which described her as "a highly regarded trademark lawyer, focused on counseling clients in a host of matters related to brand protection and licensing."

Additionally, Jennifer and her colleagues are honored to be continually recognized by World Trademark Review "WTR 1000 - The World's Leading Trademark Professional Ranking":

Few have Van Kirk’s exceptional facility for global brand protection; attentive to the needs of clients and in tune with market developments, she deploys deep industry insight to strengthen portfolios and enforce them robustly when necessary. "Jennifer provides an exemplary service and representation, being a responsive, thorough, and accurate lawyer. When there are time-sensitive matters to be dealt with, she can be counted on."

"Jennifer puts clients’ commercial considerations first and is brilliant at managing overseas firms and giving global advice that is consistent."

"The practitioners at Lewis Roca are exceptional – with outstanding trademark knowledge. They really take ownership of matters and provide rock-solid support in a clear, organised way. It’s always very easy communicating with them." Jennifer Van Kirk is one of these "top-notch" individuals. "She has the contacts and experience needed to effectively manage clients’ matters globally, giving them a single point of contact for everything. Extremely knowledgeable about all their businesses, she prioritises things appropriately and gets things off her desk efficiently."

More About Jennifer A. Van Kirk

Education

  • J.D., magna cum laude, University of Illinois College of Law, 1996
  • B.A., cum laude, University of Illinois, Phi Beta Kappa, 1993

Bar Admissions

  • Arizona, 1999

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Arizona
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Community

  • Arizona State Bar Committee for State Trademark Law Reform, Former Co-chair
  • Childsplay Inc., Board of Trustees Member
  • International Trademark Association, Former Subcommittee Chair for the Bulletin

Representative Matters

  • Represented the U.S. Postal Service in United States Postal Service v. Lost Key Rewards, Inc., wherein the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of the client’s opposition to the Lost Key mark on the grounds that there was a likelihood of confusion and a false association with an institution.
  • Co-authored the motion for summary judgment in Zipee v. United States Postal Service, wherein the court ruled that “Postal Service” is a protectable trademark and the unauthorized registration of postal-service.com constituted infringement and cybersquatting.
  • Secured international trademark portfolio for a leading e-cigarette company by filing trademark applications in 100+ countries.
  • Created and implemented an international trademark enforcement and policing program for the spa ranked #1 in the world 11 times by Conde Nast Traveler.
  • Coordinated anti-counterfeiting efforts for an electronics manufacturer. 
  • Drafted and assisted in the implementation of intellectual property policies for a software company.

Honors & Recognitions

  • Southwest Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property, 2023
  • Top Lawyers, Phoenix Magazine, 2022
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Aiken, S.C., Copyright and Trademark Law, 2013-2024; "Lawyer of The Year", 2024
  • The Best Lawyers in America - Lawyer of the Year, Copyright Law, 2017, Trademark Law, 2022
  • World Trademark Review, WTR 1000, The World's Leading Trademark Professionals, 2018-2024
  • Managing Intellectual Property, IP Star (Arizona), Trademark, 2018-2022
  • AZ Business Magazine, AZ Business Leaders, Intellectual Property, 2019
  • AZ Business Magazine, Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona, 2018
  • 2014 IP Handbook, IP Star, Managing Intellectual Property, 2014
  • AZ Business Magazine, Top Lawyers, Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law, 2010

News

Publications

Blog Posts

Events

  • Co-presenter, "Trademarks and Copyrights in the Time of COVID: How our 'New Normal' has Impacted Enforcement and Compliance Strategies - Sports Edition," Sports Lawyers Association, Webinar, October 1, 2020

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