Bridging the gap between her clients’ legal risks and business goals, Ann has served as a trademark and copyright attorney in private practice and in-house for more than 20 years.
As the chair of Fredrikson & Byron’s Trademark Group, Ann is uniquely familiar with business challenges in-house counsel face in terms of the pressures on money, people and time. She has a comprehensive approach to brand development and management through strategic clearance, prosecution, use and enforcement of trademarks.
Prior to joining Fredrikson, Ann served as chief trademark counsel to the second largest discount retailer in the United States. She advised on clearance, use, prosecution, maintenance, related agreements and enforcement of its trademarks, copyrights and domain names. Ann managed a global trademark portfolio of more than 5, 800 applications and registrations and she directed the search and review of up to 15,000 trademarks per year.
Prior to working in-house, Ann was a partner at one of the largest Twin Cities general practice firms. She provided comprehensive brand management and counseling regarding trademark and copyright clearance, use, prosecution, maintenance and related agreements. She managed large domestic and international trademark portfolios, including enforcing and defending trademarks, copyrights and domain names through cease-and-desist letters, UDRP proceedings, and proceedings before the TTAB and federal district court. She has conducted due diligence evaluations for acquisitions and divestitures, reviewed and cleared advertising and provided in-house trademark and copyright training for clients.
Ann is also a frequent speaker on trademark and copyright issues for the International Trademark Association (INTA) and Minnesota CLE.
