2021 Activities & Affiliations

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• Advisor, AgLaunch

• Advisor, Bethesda Green Hub

• Advisor, First Flight Venture Center

• Advisor, Nashville Entrepreneur Center

• Advisor, Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) Innovation Crossroads

• Advisor, Yale Tsai CITY

• Board of Directors, Green|Spaces

• Board of Directors, Mustard Seed Ranch

• Commissioner, Great Smoky Mountains Park, State of Tennessee

• Commissioner, Putnam County, State of Tennessee

• Executive Council, TBA Intellectual Property Section

• Faculty, National Institutes of Health (NIH) RADx Program

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Evaluator, Center for Biocomposites and Bioplastics

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Admissions

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• District of Columbia

• State of Tennessee

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee

• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

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Practice 

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• Artists, Athletes & Influencers

• Benefit Corporations, ESG & Social Enterprises

• Blockchain & Data Rights

• Branding, Copyrights & Trademarks

• Commercialization & Tech Transfer

• Contract Negotiations

• Corporate Governance & General Counsel

• Forming & Funding: Emerging Companies, Venture Capital & Securities

• Government Contracts

• Investor Due Diligence

• Joint Ventures, Strategic Partnerships & Licensing

• Litigation

• Mergers & Acquisitions

• Patents & Trade Secrets

• Privacy

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Awards

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• 2021, B Corp Best For The World

• 2021, Real Leaders Top 150 Impact Company

• 2021, Thomson Reuters SuperLawyer

• 2020, B Corp Best For The World

• 2020, Leadership Tennessee

• 2020, Thomson Reuters SuperLawyer

• 2019, Federal Lab Consortium Deal of the Year

• 2019, B Corp Best For The World

• 2019, Thomson Reuters SuperLawyer

• 2018, Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Lawyer

• 2018, Top Impact Business Leader, Conscious Company Magazine

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Illustrative Matters

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Corporate & IP Counsel 

• Bite® – Shark Tank Disruptor

• Cambium Carbon – Forbes 30 under 30

• National Science Foundation, Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) Program

• Rich Froning & Mayhem Nation – World Champion Athletes

• Solas BioVentures – Life Science Venture Capital Group

• UC Davis, Venture Catalyst

• UNC Chapel Hill, Eshelman Institute for Innovation

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Trademark TTAB Litigation

• Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Cancellation Proceeding No. 92071980, Godisghl, LLC v. Elevated Faith LLC

• Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Opposition Proceeding No. 91252177, Advance Royalty Company, LLC v. AARP

• Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Opposition Proceeding No. 91238584, Rich Froning Fitness, LLC v. Monster Energy Company

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U.S. Federal Court Litigation

• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, No. 3:21-cv-124, Sicko Inc. v. Ian Connor, Grailed et al. 

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, No. 1:19-cv-00271, Stone Door Group, LLC v. Meade

• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, No. 3:18-cv-01312, Hain Lifescience GmbH v. Seider and Hain Diagnostics, LLC

• U.S. Federal Circuit, No. 19-1808-ZZ, VoIP-Pal.com v. Twitter Inc., et al.

• U.S. Federal Circuit, No. 20-1241, VoIP-Pal.com v. Apple, Inc., et. al.

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Presentations and Publications

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• “The Delaware Public Benefit LLC: Use it to Become a “Benefit Company” in Your State.” Rockridge Briefs. 17 Oct. 2021.

• “Scaling with Impact: Structuring, Operating, and Funding Purpose + Profit Businesses.” UC Davis Venture Catalyst Program. 25 May 2021. Presentation.

• “Intellectual Property for Scientists.” Berkeley Postdoc Entrepreneurial Program. 20 May 2021. Presentation.

• “Great Scott!: Conflicting Local Patent Rules in the Wake of TC Heartland and How They Impact Patent Litigation Strategies.” TBA Intellectual Property Law Annual Forum. 15 April 2021. Presentation.

• “How are Certified B Corps and Public Benefit Corporations Related?” Rockridge Briefs. 10 March 2021.

• “Open-Source Software and its Implications for Innovation.” Purdue Policy Research Institute. 4 Dec. 2020. Online.

• “Grading Georgia’s Public Benefit Law.” Rockridge Briefs. 7 Oct. 2020.

• “Scaling Social Enterprise.” Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale. 9 Sept. 2020. Online.

• “How One TTAB Case Reveals Continued Examination Flaws Post- Tam and Brunetti.” IP Watchdog. 27 Aug. 2020. Online.

• “Creating a Sustainable Business in an On-Demand, Make-It-Cheap E-Commerce Culture.” B Academics Global Summit. 5 Aug. 2020. Presentation.

• “How Open Source Software is Invading Proprietary Platforms, for Better or Worse.” Tennessee Bar Association Intellectual Property Law 2020. Presentation.

• “How Being a Benefit Corporation Can Legally Protect a Company’s Mission.” Sustainable Brands Magazine. 27 Jan. 2020. Online.

• “Leading the Growing Global Movement.” One Percent For The Planet Global Summit 2019. 5 May 2019. Presentation.

• “Improving Your Trademark EQ: How to Choose a RAD Trademark.” Rockridge Briefs. 19 Feb. 2019.

• “How to Build a Website to Support Trademark Rights and Registration.” Rockridge Briefs. 5 Jan. 2019.

• “Copyright and Public Art.” Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association. Fall Seminar. Nashville, TN. 2 Nov. 2018. Presentation.

• “Vile and Viral Trademarks.” Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association. Spring Seminar. Nashville, TN. 4 May 2018. Presentation.

• “Intellectual Property.” AgLaunch Bootcamp. Knoxville, TN. 11 July 2018. Presentation.

• “Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs.” Tennessee Tech Rural Innovation Conference. Cookeville, TN. 7 June 2018. Presentation.

• “Advanced Energy Entrepreneurship.” Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. Opportunities in Energy. Knoxville, TN. 6 Dec. 2016. Presentation.

• “Country Music Industry Fights Website Allegedly Selling Bootleg Merchandise.” Fox 17 News Nashville. 3 Aug. 2016. Television Interview.

• “Tech Transfer to Manufacturing.” University of California, Berkeley Entrepreneurship Symposium. Biomedical Entrepreneurship: A Roadmap to the Future. Berkeley, CA. 14 Oct. 2014. Presentation.

• “Startups and Venture Capital.” Industry Contract Officers Network Annual Meeting. Caltech University. Pasadena, CA. 16 Oct. 2012. Presentation.

• “Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing.” University of California Intellectual Property Managers Meeting. Santa Barbara, CA. 2012. Presentation.

• Granholm, Jennifer et al. “Creating Jobs through Investment in Renewable Energy and Clean Technology: A Proposal for Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu.” Washington, DC. 29 May 2012. Presentation.

• “Reclaiming our Technological Posterity at the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Taxation: Uncovering how Patent Pools are Key to Recapturing the Benefits of Charitable IP Contributions,” American University Intellectual Property Brief (April 2011).

• Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Freeing the Grid (2010).

• Paul Herman, The Hip Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World (2009).

• Collected Works. TAUG: To an Unknown God. University of California, Berkeley. Volumes 1-2. Original Poetry.

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Press

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• B The Change, “What’s My Job’s Purpose? The Value of Being a B Corp in the Labor Market”

• Conscious Company Media, “Top 22 Business Leaders of 2019”

• EDGE Magazine, “‘Mission-Oriented Rockridge Venture Law Built on a Foundation of Social Responsibility”

• Forbes, “Networking On Purpose: How B Corps Are Creating Connections And Building Their Community In The Southeast U.S.”

• RealLeaders® Top 150 Impact Companies of 2021

• Taking Care of Business: Kevin Christopher of Rockridge Venture Law

• Times Free Press, “Doing Well by Doing Good: B Corporations Broaden Business Goals to Maximize Shareholder Value”

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