Ms. Kline focuses her practice in the areas of trademark, patent and copyright matters. She has extensive experience in the selection, clearance and adoption of domestic and international trademarks, the preparation and prosecution of trademark and copyright applications, and all aspects of the management of trademark portfolios that range in size from a few U.S. trademarks to extensive national and international portfolios containing hundreds of marks. She provides counseling regarding international filing options including country-specific applications and international applications and provides insight on which marks to maintain and which marks to abandon to adapt to clients’ changing business needs.Daily, she advises clients on trademark infringement and enforcement issues, both in the U.S. and foreign countries. She has significant experience in enforcement matters in China. Ms. Kline prepares trademark right-to-register and right-to-use advisory opinions, drafts and addresses cease-and-desist letters and advises clients on domain name issues. She regularly litigates foreign and domestic inter partes proceedings as well as domestic trademark infringement actions.
Ms. Kline also structures and negotiates agreements related to the transfer or sharing of intellectual property assets and services, including strategic alliance agreements, licensing, joint development agreements, confidentiality and non-compete agreements, asset purchase agreements, global co-existence agreements and assignments. She regularly conducts intellectual property due diligence and counsels clients on intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions.
Ms. Kline is also a registered patent attorney who has experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications concerning a wide range of chemical, pharmaceutical and mechanical technologies, including the automotive industry, medical devices, in-mold assembly technology, child safety restraints, inflator chemical compositions, coatings for air bag fabrics, metal plating bath chemical compositions, semiconductor fabrication, thin film resistor technology, semiconductor packaging, disease diagnosis and methods of drug manufacturing.
Prior to entering the legal field, Ms. Kline worked as an analytical chemist in the metal plating industry.
Education
• Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 2000, J.D.
Managing Editor, Cleveland State University Law Review
• John Carroll University, 1996, B.S., Chemistry
Admissions
• State of Ohio
• Registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio
Professional Affiliations
• Member, International Trademark Association’s Design Rights Subcommittee of
the Emerging Issues Committee, 2008-2009
• Member, Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association
• Member, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Representative Matters
Trademarks
• Successfully concluded, while avoiding protracted litigation and expense, a
complex international trademark opposition matter against an International
Registration which designated 22 countries
Trademarks
• Assisted client with extensive international trademark portfolio in recording several
trademark registrations with several foreign customs offices to combat import/export
of counterfeit products
Trademarks
• Successfully concluded investigation and raids of several trademark counterfeiting
operations in Thailand
Trademarks
• Successfully procured trade name and related intellectual property of U.S. company
necessary for establishing Mexican operations
Recent Articles and Speaking Engagements
• “Polymers Help Deliver Medicine”
• “Get Your European Community Trademark For Less!”
• “Launch of European Domain Name Suffix “.eu” Begins Dec. 7, 2005: The First to
File Receive Priority”
• “Record Your Trademark Registration With Customs to Effectively Combat Counterfeiting”
• “Use Caution When Considering the Use of Disclaimer Notices”
• “First Case Applying Trademark Dilution Revision Act Finds No Dilution, Does Find Parody”
• Speaker, Going Global Today, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, International Law Section
• Speaker, Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Student Mentoring Day
