Michelle A. Cooke

Whether it means making sure legal solutions in one country do not weaken those in another or accounting for the internet, Cooke’s clients can count on comprehensive excellence in intellectual property disputes.

The “international chess match,” as she calls it, is one of the most interesting parts of the job.

“It’s trying to figure out a universal solution under different market factors and legal scenarios. They demand different legal solutions because you can’t just treat it in isolation,” she said. “If you use an argument in China, competitors can use it against you in India, and we try to be mindful of that when we approach a case.”

During the past year, Cooke has worked with business and entertainment clients ranging from AT&T Inc. and Credit One Bank NA to Alanis Morrissette and Miles Davis’ estate to maintain or rebuild trademark rights.

When it comes to the internet and digital assets, Cooke said it requires even further considerations – sometimes even the client is catching up.

“[In one settlement], our client acquired all of the trademark assets associated with the dispute from the other party and the client had not considered as part of the deal all the digital real estate,” she said.

Digital real estate can mean photos, videos, or social media accounts like Flickr or Instagram associated with the brand. Making sure clients stay mindful of those components is a fresh challenge of intellectual property work in the internet age.

“We tell them, ‘This is how your customer might primarily engage with you and you need to take this asset very seriously,’” Cooke said.

Part of taking it seriously, she added, means encouraging clients to take a proactive approach.

“Especially with startup companies, it can be this push and pull that I totally understand. They have limited budgets, people have a creative concept of their business or what they’re putting out, and their primary focus is what they’re putting out,” she said. “A challenge is trying to get them to understand if you’re not paying attention to the underpinnings from the very beginning, everything is a house of cards.”

To solve that problem, Cooke helps her clients build a model for their future in three or five years. She also tells them that protecting themselves now is better than clawing back property later.

“It is exponentially less expensive to protect your trademarks than to try and get your rights back,” she said.

In another case, Cooke confronted a new wrinkle in a case of identity theft. A salesperson for a client was being replicated online with their profitable content stolen and posted.

“It became a technical argument,” she said, “on how it was adversely affecting the person’s reputation and arguing that because of her history she had a common law trademark in her own name and treating her almost like a product that was being devalued.”

Fresh challenges make for a fresh practice, Cooke said, which keeps things interesting.

“The digital age has really revolutionized my career over the past 25 years,” she said. “I think that’s really kept the practice fresh for me, trying to take the law and fit this marketplace.”

— Andy Serbe