Chris assists clients with patent, trademark, and copyright issues. His litigation experience includes participating on a team that successfully defended a copyright action in Texas, and assisting with the response to a patent litigation appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Chris also helps clients with transactional issues including due diligence, licensing, assignments, and intellectual property acquisitions, and has assisted with appeals at both the state and federal levels.
Chris is an experienced professional with a background in computer and information systems. Before joining Lindquist & Vennum, he served as director of information systems for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, a position in which he regularly wrote and spoke nationally about technology issues affecting charitable organizations, particularly relating to databases and Internet applications such as e-commerce. He edited three editions of the Minnesota Nonprofit Directory, a descriptive compilation of thousands of nonprofit organizations in the state. He also assisted charities with governance, tax, and legal issues, and taught classes on establishing nonprofit agencies in Minnesota. While at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, he was featured in the book 100 Great Jobs and How to Get Them.
In law school, Chris competed in the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the International Trademark Association, and received “Excellence for the Future” awards for top grades in advocacy, immigration law, and tax practice and procedure classes from CALI (Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction—a consortium of law schools).
Chris participated in Lindquist & Vennum’s summer associates program in 2004. In 2006 and 2007, he served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Wilhelmina M. Wright of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Chris is an active participant in several of the firm’s pro bono initiatives; he currently serves as a Rule 114 qualified-neutral volunteer mediator for Ramsey County Harassment Court and for appeals arising from conciliation court judgments in Hennepin County.
Publications
A Guide to Biotechnology Finance (contributing writer, 2005)
Note: Get the Balance Right: Finding an Equilibrium Between Charitable Solicitation, Fraud and the First Amendment in Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Associations, Inc., 538 U.S. 600 (2003) (William Mitchell Law Review, Vol. 31, No.1), 2004
Community Involvement
Hennepin County Bar Association Technology Oversight Committee, chair
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Employer Advisory Board, member
Association of Computing Machinery, member
Minnesota AIDS Project, past board member
Minnesota Deaf-Blind Services, past board member