Overview

Cindy serves as Chair of the Trademarks & Copyrights Group where she actively partners with clients to develop, protect and enforce their trademarks, copyrights and other rights.

She has extensive experience advising clients on issues pertaining to domestic and international trademark registration and enforcement, and routinely handles all aspects of managing trademark portfolios, including clearance, use, prosecution, maintenance and enforcement. Cindy also maintains close relationships with counsel around the world, allowing her to assist clients in their global expansion strategies and protection of their intellectual property worldwide.

On the enforcement side, Cindy regularly appears in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and federal courts around the country. She has been lead counsel in trademark and copyright infringement cases, contract disputes, unfair competition claims and construction arbitration cases. She has argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth and Eighth Circuits, and appeared in federal courts in Arkansas, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Cindy has held a number of leadership positions in the Firm, including previously serving as chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee and the Firm’s Associate Development Committee.

In addition to her practice, Cindy is active in the Twin Cities pro bono community. She has served on the board for the Fund for Legal Aid, the Children’s Law Center Board and is past president of the boards of Volunteer Lawyers Network and the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis.

Services

Experience

Trademark

  • Manage domestic and international trademark portfolios for numerous clients.
  • Assist in the selection, clearance and registration of trademarks for businesses, individuals and non-profits.
  • Obtain trademark protection for trade dress and product configurations.

Intellectual Property Litigation/Business Litigation

  • Multiple representations of trademark owners in litigated and negotiated matters throughout the country.
  • Handled all aspects of trademark opposition proceedings before the TTAB, and supervised similar proceedings in other countries.
  • Won dismissal of copyright infringement case involving development of computer software program (W.D.Pa.).
  • Successfully argued motion obtaining preliminary injunction on claims of copyright infringement and trademark infringement against former officer, director and shareholder of closely-held corporation (D.Minn.).
  • Won multiple settlements for architect/builder client in copyright infringement litigation.
  • Achieved court order to shut down website misdirecting Internet traffic to competitor’s website through “typo-squatting.”
  • Defended international publisher in multiple copyright infringement lawsuits and achieved favorable settlements.
  • Multiple representations of electrical substation contractor in litigated matters in state and federal courts.
  • Multiple representations of pipeline owner in litigated and negotiated matters, including achieving a multi-million dollar settlement after one-week AAA arbitration in pipeline engineering design malpractice case.
  • Defeated motion for TRO (temporary restraining order) brought against shareholders of a closely-held corporation seeking to stop a reverse-triangular merger, resulting in a favorable settlement (D.Minn.).
  • Successfully settled commercial breach of contract case involving allegations of copyright infringement and work-for-hire doctrine (D.S.D.).
  • Successfully represented parent corporation against claims of piercing-the-corporate veil and breach of fiduciary duty brought by trade creditors of subsidiary.
  • Defeated motion for preliminary injunction in federal court, preventing competitor from obtaining valuable client information (D.S.C.).

Credentials

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D.
  • University of Minnesota, B.S., summa cum laude

Admissions

  • Minnesota
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Recognition

  • Ranked as a Leading Trademark Attorney, World Trademark Review 1000, 2019-2024
  • World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) Leaders, 2021-2023
  • North Star Lawyer, Minnesota State Bar Association, 2013, 2015, 2018
  • Minnesota Super Lawyers Rising Star, 1998-1999, 2001-2002

Civic & Professional

Professional Activities

  • International Trademark Association (INTA), Bulletins Committee, Publications Committee
  • American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Intellectual Property Law Section, Litigation Section

Community

  • Fund for the Legal Society of Minneapolis, Past Board Member
  • Hennepin County Volunteer Lawyers Network, Past Board Member and Past Chair
  • Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, Past Board Member and Past President
  • Children’s Law Center of Minnesota, Past Board Member
  • Minnesota E-Discovery Working Group, Founder

News & Insights

Publications & Presentations

Presenter, 2023 Trademark and Copyright Cases - What You Need to Know, MIPLA Stampede, June 2023

Co-Presenter, Tips and Best Practices for Responding to Trademark Office Actions, ABA Landslide CLE, June 16, 2020

Co-Author, “2 Big Recent Changes at the U.S. Patent and Trade Office,” Fargo INC!, October 2019

Author, “TTAB Considers Three SERIAL Applications, Refusing One and Allowing Two to Proceed,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 73 No. 12, July 15, 2018

Author, “Untimely Motion for Summary Judgment Accepted,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 73, No. 7, April 15, 2018

Author, “TTAB Cancels Registration for TAO VODKA,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 73, No. 4, March 1, 2018

Author, “TTAB Rejects Bid to Register the Color Yellow for Cheerios Box,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 72, No. 19, November 1, 2017

Author, “Live Cross-Examination Must Be in Reasonable Location,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 72, No. 19, November 1, 2017

Author, “TTAB Finds TEQUILA Not Generic, Allows Certification Mark to Register,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 72, No. 7, April 15, 2017

Author, “Lessons in Pleading Marks, and Related Entities Can Own a Family of Marks,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 72, No. 1, January 2017

Presenter, Advertising Hot Spots Swirling Around Online Sales, MCLE Webinar, August 2016

Author, “USPTO Issues Guidance on Compliance with Section 2(a) Provisions,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 10, June 2016

Author, “Only Issue in Dismissal Motion Is Sufficiency of the Pleading at Issue,” INTA Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 6, April 2016

Presenter, Advertising Hotspots Swirling Around Online Sales, MCLE Live Seminar, March 2016

Presenter, You Love it, You Hate it. Now you Have to Live With it, William Mitchell College of Law E-Discovery Conference, October 4, 2013

Co-Author, “Spoliation of Electronic Evidence: A Judicial Boiling Point?,” Pretrial Practice & Discovery, Volume 18, Number 4, Summer 2010, American Bar Association

Author, “Off-Label Use and the Medical Negligence Standard Under Minnesota Law,” 31 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 927 (2005)

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