Kevin Christopher

Kevin Christopher is the founder and principal of Rockridge Venture Law®, Tennessee’s only B Corp Best For The World law firm. Kevin is a registered patent attorney, entrepreneur, county and state commissioner, National Institutes of Health (NIH) RadX faculty member, and National Science Foundation (NSF) program evaluator. He is a Leadership Lawyer and Leadership Tennessee alumnus, and board member to several environmental and social impact nonprofits. Kevin has been recognized as a SuperLawyer by Thomson Reuters and Top Business Leader by Conscious Company Magazine.

Attorney Kevin Christopher is a corporate attorney, patent attorney, and trademark attorney. Specifically, his practice areas include: patent and trademark prosecution, licensing and litigation; corporate law, with an emphasis on benefit corporations, socially responsible businesses and high-growth emergent companies; government contracts, with an emphasis on innovation funding; corporate and investor financing; and, technology commercialization. In addition to his corporate practice Kevin helps many entrepreneurs as program advisor with AgLaunch, Bethesda Green Hub, CoLab, Nashville Entrepreneur Center, and Singularity University Ventures.

Prior to founding RVL®, Attorney Kevin Christopher led bioscience and biotech development activities with top secret security clearance at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. His copyright and patent licensing portfolio included anti-infectives, drug delivery systems, neural interface devices, sequencing software, and other state of the art technologies. Kevin’s commercialization of a microbiome analysis chip resulted in in a Federal Licensing Consortium deal of the year award. Kevin managed a 40+ patent neural interface portfolio that was licensed as the groundbreaking Argus II artificial retina, and additionally directed to multi-region neuron mapping and as a tool for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Intellectual Property

Business Law

Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Finance, Business Formation, Business Litigation, Franchising, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes

Trademarks

Trademark Litigation, Trademark Registration

Patents

Patent Appeals, Patent Litigation, Patent Prosecution

Energy, Oil & Gas Law

Utilities

Communications & Internet Law

Internet Law, Media & Advertising, Telecommunications Law

Gov & Administrative Law

Administrative Law, Election Law, Government Contracts, Government Finance, Legislative & Government Affairs

Appeals & Appellate

Civil Appeals, Federal Appeals

• 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

Rockridge Venture Law

2016 - Current

Rockridge Venture Law® was launched in 2017 to become the preeminent intellectual property and technology firm across the Appalachian Innovation Corridor. We now have offices in Chattanooga, Durham, and Nashville, and represent clients and interests globally. Our services include all aspects of intellectual property, litigation, M&A, privacy, technology transactions, and ventures. In 2018 and 2019, we were recognized as B Corp Best for the World for our commitment to triple bottom line business practices. Our pioneering environmental and social impact programs attract top-notch legal talent and assure our clients of missional alignment with their corporate values. Rockridge uniquely addresses two modern profit drivers: innovation (uptake and development), and corporate social responsibility. We're Building Today's Company for Tomorrow's Economy® by leading clients through the dizzying array of information controls, by helping them to develop and monetize proprietary assets, and by enabling their impactful products, programs, and principles.

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."

Class of 2020

Leadership Tennessee

2019

Mid-South Rising Star

Super Lawyers

2019

Business Leader of the Year

Conscious Company Magazine

2019

Attorney for Justice

Tennessee Bar Association

2018

Pro Bono Certificate

Patent and Trademark Office

2018

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

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/

Certified Licensing Professional

Licensing Executive Society

Q. Can my logo that is a registered trademark change the background color while still keeping its tradmark

March 2, 2020

A: See our article here: https://rockridgelaw.com/2018/11/08/if-you-mess-with-your-trademarked-logo-say-in-a-rebrand-will-you-lose-your-trademark-rights/.

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

March 1, 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???

February 23, 2017

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