Kevin Christopher

Kevin Christopher is the principal of Ridgeline Venture Law, Tennessee's first B Corp® law firm and a 2018 Best for the World Honoree. Prior to founding Ridgeline, Kevin spent 10 years in the San Francisco Bay Area working within startups, and in the commercialization of biotech and energy technologies from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Labs. Kevin is a registered patent attorney, elected official, mountaineer, published poet, regularly smitten husband and father, and board member to various environmental and social impact nonprofits. Kevin is also co-founder of Turdcules, a men’s toilet elixir company, and National Science Foundation advisor for the research center Center for Green Solid-State Electric Power Generation and Storage (CEPS). Kevin has served as a foundational team member or key advisor for startups with algal production, biomass conversion, microbiome editing, and hepatocellular carcinoma diagnostic technologies. As a student, Kevin was a teaching assistant to former State of Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm at Berkeley Law, outstanding scholar in the UC Hastings Law and Bioscience program, judicial extern for U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer, law clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and regularly featured poet in To An Unknown God – A Journal of Christian Thought at Berkeley.

• Intellectual Property
• Business Law
• Trademarks
• Patents
• Energy, Oil & Gas Law
• Communications & Internet Law
• Gov & Administrative Law
• Appeals & Appellate

• Biotech
• Music Law
• Art Law

• Free Consultation
  I offer a free, scheduled assessment of how I can help you.
• Credit Cards Accepted

District of Columbia

District of Columbia Bar

Since 2017

Patent and Trademark Office

Since 2016

Tennessee

Since 2016

Principal

Christopher Intellectual Property Law, PLLC

2016 - Current

With offices in Cookeville and Chattanooga, Christopher Intellectual Property proudly represents pioneering individuals and companies throughout the Upper Cumberland and Eastern Ridge, and beyond. Christopher specializes in all corporate and intellectual property matters, from the genesis and incubation of an idea to its final commercialization. Christopher Intellectual Property Law recognizes the importance of triple bottom line business practices, even at the small office level of a boutique law firm. In 2017, Christopher became a pending B-Corp member and active participant in One Percent for the Planet. Through these associations, Christopher has pledged to donate 10% of its proceeds to environmental and social impact nonprofits, and to prioritize employment, operating, and supply chain practices that model industry wide best practices.

Industrial Partnerships Office

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

2014 - 2016

Led business development and strategic partnership activities within Industrial Partnerships Office for bioscience and biotech programs involving big data, biosecurity, drug discovery, human-on-a-chip, microbiome, microfluidics, neural interface, synthetic biology, and other specialized research and development. Created master agreements and organizational plans for life science consortia. Crafted and optimized commercialization strategies for over 400 technologies including: microelectrode array for neural recording and stimulation; nanolipoproteins for vaccine development and drug delivery; pharmaceuticals, including biologics and small molecules; and diagnostics. Negotiated license agreements, establishing valuation metrics based upon commercialization plans, comparables, market data, and intellectual property attributes. Established, negotiated, and finalized cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), inter-institutional agreements (IIAs), inter-agency agreements (IAAs), and intellectual property management plans.

Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances

University of California, Berkeley

2011 - 2014

Judicial Extern

Chambers of Judge Charles R. Breyer

2009 - 2009

Law Clerk

U.S. Attorney's Office, Civil Division, San Francisco

2009 - 2009

University of California - Davis

other | Biomedical Engineering Graduate Group

2014 - 2015

University of California - Berkeley

other | Energy, Law

2012 - 2013

Activities: Tutor, Governor Jennifer Granholm, Renewable Energy Law & Policy; Computer Law, Berkeley School of Law; Research Member, Berkeley Rural Energy Group / Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab

University of San Francisco School of Law

J.D. (2010)

2007 - 2010

Honors: Arthur Zief, Jr., Scholar

Activities: Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, Survey Editor; Student Bar Association, 2L Representative; Advanced Advocacy Program, National Moot Court Competition; Public Interest Law Foundation grantee & Pro Bono Publico recipient for community service

University of California Hastings College of the Law

Visiting Student

2010 - 2010

Honors: Outstanding Scholarship Award, Law and Bioscience (LAB) Project

Lipscomb University

2005

Honors: Presenter, Tennessee Honors Conference, "Technology and God: Effects of Invention upon Spiritual Communication."

Attorney for Justice

Tennessee Bar Association

2018

Pro Bono Certificate

Patent and Trademark Office

2018

Leadership Lawyer

Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law

2017

Outstanding Scholar

UC Hastings School of Law

2010

Outstanding Scholar, Law and Bioscience Program

State Bar of Tennessee

Member

Current

Tennessee Bar Association Intellectual Property Section

Member, Executive Council

2017 - Current

Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law

Member, Class of 2017

2017 - Current

Biz Foundry

Advisory Board Member

2016 - Current

Tennessee Bar Association Legal Assistance Volunteer Patent Attorneys (LAVPA)

Advisory Board Member

2016 - Current

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Member, Tech Transfer Committee

2016 - Current

Tennessee Energy Mentors Network

Entrepreneur in Residence

2016 - Current

The Hip Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World

Paul Herman; Wiley

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

Freeing the Grid: Best Practices in State Net Metering and Interconnection Procedures

Interstate Renewable Energy Council

2010

Startups and Venture Capital, Industry Contract Officers Network Annual Meeting, Caltech University

October 16, 2012

Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing, University of California Office of Intellectual Property Managers Meeting

October 30, 2012

Commercialization Panel, UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Symposium, Nashville, TN

January 1, 2014

UC Berkeley

http://www.2014entrepreneurshipsymposium.com/speakers

Country Music Industry Fights Website Allegedly Selling Bootlegged Merchandise, Fox News Channel 17, Nashville, TN

August 3, 2016

http://fox17.com/news/local/country-music-industry-fighting-website-allegedly-selling-bootleg-merchandise

Panel: Entrepreneurship in Advanced Energy, Opportunities in Energy, Knoxville, Tennessee

December 6, 2016

Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council

http://www.tnadvancedenergy.com/event/opportunities-in-energy-annual-membership-meeting/

Preparing Your Patent Application for Commercial Success, TTU Renaissance Engineer Professional Development Series, Cookeville, Tennessee

August 25, 2016

Tennessee Technological University

https://www.tntech.edu/engineering/cnh-ssc/programs/professional-development-series

Certified Licensing Professional

Licensing Executive Society

Q. Can you put a lean on mineral rights in Tennessee? If so, what are the implications, procedures, and requirements?

1 March 2017

A: There's no straightforward answer without more of the story. For instance, a recent Tennessee case involved a dispute as to whether sandstone qualified as a mineral. Also, in order to qualify you would likely need to have provided some sort of services in connection with the mineral in order to attach to proceeds from its exploitation.

Q. Trademark ownership... implied ownership???

23 February 2017

A: Part of this depends upon how they gave you permission. Was it a written permission to use?

Q. How long do you have to move if you are evicted.

20 February 2017

A: This depends upon local laws of your jurisdiction. In some cases, you may be able to hold over for some time. Contact your regional Legal Aid Society for more info. Legal Aid publishes a helpful booklet for East Tennessee tenants: http://www.laet.org/getattachment/89531e25-93b9-4f2c-b3b8-f79b83886bcf/Renter-s_Rights_Combined.aspx.

Q. In Tn. do you have to be a lawyer to open a law firm

20 February 2017

A: You cannot practice law in Tennessee without admission to the bar or in limited circumstances being supervised by someone who is admitted. Is your question about entering into a business partnership with a lawyer?

Q. Can a non-profit organizations name and logo be owned by an individual and not the organization.

20 February 2017

A: There are common law (i.e. state law) protections available when a name or logo has been used in conjunction with a business activity before it is officially registered or an application made for registration. These rights would in most cases supersede a new application. Also, the individual could have difficulty establishing support for the trademark if not actually engaging in whatever services or sales of goods that trademark application indicates.

Q. If someone has trademarked a name for a good, can I use a similar name for a service?

20 February 2017

A: Possibly, so long as the good and service are not confusingly similar to the average Joe. You might also be able to vary the mark by stylizing the name of the good in the creation of your logo, providing more grounds for a successful application.

Q. Copyright/trademark infringement by a third-party who isn't stopping.

20 February 2017

A: Will refers to the fact that under copyright law the infringed party may be able to collect statutory damages, which do not require a finding of actual harm / damages. You very well may be able to prove damages under a different theory of infringement, but a lawyer would be more likely to take your case on a contingency basis via the copyright claim.