Womble Carlyle Trademark Team Takes Part in INTA Annual Meeting in Spain

BARCELONA—Serving intellectual property needs for clients is an increasingly international challenge. So with that in mind, Womble Carlyle attorneys Julie Hopkins, Sarah Keefe and Laura Kees and Director of Client Service Rudy Gaines headed for Barcelona, Spain to attend the International Trademark Association’s 139^th Annual Meeting.

More than 10,000 trademark attorneys and professionals from across the globe attended the five-day conference and Barcelona was a perfect host city.

Bond Dickinson attorneys Patrick Cantrell and Rachel Hearson were in attendance as well and Keefe and Hopkins took the opportunity to have dinner with them to help deepen transatlantic trademark ties. Womble Carlyle also hosted a dinner for trademark attorneys from Adobe, Google, Hilton, Microsoft and Turner, among others.

Finally, Kees and Gaines were invited to participate in a sailing regatta off the coast of Spain. Their crew consisted of in-house trademark attorneys from Louis Vuitton, Kenneth Cole, Johnson & Johnson, Citrix, and Mars, Inc.

The International Trademark Association (INTA) is the global association of trademark owners and professionals dedicated to supporting trademarks and related intellectual property in order to protect consumers and to promote fair and effective commerce. INTA’s members represent more than 7,000 organizations from 190 countries.

Julie Hopkins practices trademark prosecution, registration and enforcement in the United States and worldwide, including searching and clearance of brand names, logos, slogans, and trade dress. She also represents clients in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Sarah Keefe is the Chair of Womble Carlyle’s Trademarks, Copyrights and Transactions Practice Group. She has more than 20 years experience in developing, clearing, registering and protecting trademarks and service marks. A significant portion of her practice involves the handling of intellectual property disputes.

Laura Kees concentrates her practice on trademark and copyright portfolio management, counseling clients on the risk associated with adoption of proposed names and marks, evaluating when applications for domestic and/or international registration should be filed and advising how and when to maintain those registrations. She works with a variety of large portfolio clients and utilizes an international network of IP attorneys to ensure that those clients’ trademark and copyright assets are adequately protected.

Rudy Gaines is the Director of Client Service for the Triangle offices. He works with attorneys to help grow and build great and lasting relationships with clients and the Triangle community. Gaines is the current Chair of the INTA’s Public and Media Relations Committee, and is the former Chair of the organization’s Leadership Development Committee.