Kristen Mollnow Walsh focuses her practice on helping clients protect, enforce and monetize their trademarks and copyrights. Kristen advises clients in a wide range of industries including beverage alcohol, food, consumer goods, fashion, higher education, imaging, medical equipment, health care, software, technology and financial services.

I focus on helping clients to develop, protect and manage distinctive brands to drive their businesses forward. I counsel clients on the selection of new marks, create and implement filing strategies to protect marks both within the United States and abroad and strategically manage worldwide trademark portfolios. I also assist clients with obtaining copyright registrations and advise routinely on Internet and social media-related IP issues.

I help clients strategically enforce their trademark and copyright rights including, for example, through direct contact with infringers, by implementing brand-specific Internet enforcement programs and by invoking the DMCA take-down provisions. I have extensive experience with domain name enforcement proceedings under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and represent clients in contested proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

I do a significant amount of trademark clearance, prosecution and enforcement work for clients in the beverage alcohol and food industries. I actively work with other members of the firm’s Food, Beverage and Agriculture industry team to provide comprehensive legal services to businesses in these industry sectors.

With the increasing globalization of our economy and the increasing connectedness of consumers around the world, having a strong, distinctive, well-protected brand will become essential for any company wanting to effectively compete on the global stage.

Recognition

• World Trademark Review 1000—Recommended as a leading NY lawyer for trademark prosecution and strategy (2014-2022)

Education

• Albany Law School of Union University, J.D., summa cum laude
• Vanderbilt University, B.S., Mathematics, magna cum laude

Admissions

• New York
• Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court, Western District of New York
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

Nixon Peabody

We see 21st century law as a tool to help shape our clients’ futures.

Our focus is on knowing what is important to our clients now and next so we can foresee obstacles and opportunities in their space and smooth the way. We ensure they are equipped with winning legal strategies as they navigate the exciting and challenging times we live in.

Our ability to do this comes from these working principles:

• We’re curious and extremely focused on understanding our clients’ businesses and industries.
• We tap the collective intelligence of Nixon Peabody to deliver the best thinking and create value for our clients throughout the world.
• We lean forward into the future, together with our clients, to see and prepare for what’s ahead.

Working together, we handle complex challenges in litigation, real estate, corporate law and intellectual property anywhere in the world.