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Christine Lebron-Dykeman

Christine is the Chair of the Trademark Practice Group and has extensive experience prosecuting trademarks in the United States and internationally, and enforcing/defending trademark rights in the USPTO, and state and federal courts around the country and overseas. Over her career, Christine has prosecuted more than 1000 U.S. trademark applications/registrations, and represented clients (as plaintiffs and defendants) in more than 60 USPTO Oppositions/Cancellations, and more than 40 trademark/trade dress litigations in federal/state courts. Christine has also argued appeals before the Federal, Seventh, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal. Christine has litigated trademarks and trade dress in the fields of agriculture, arts and entertainment, banking, education, electronics and software, food and beverage, industrial products, personal care and nutrition, and medical services.

Christine also regularly counsels clients regarding choosing distinctive marks, conducting national and international trademark clearance searches, managing trademark portfolios, sending and responding to cease and desist letters, and advising on licensing arrangements.

Christine has also served as an adjunct law professor, having taught Trademark Law  and Intellectual Property Litigation at Drake University Law School and the University of Iowa, College of Law.

Christine joined McKee, Voorhees, and Sease after graduating with honors from Iowa Law School in 1996, clerking for a federal court judge and working at Morrison Foerster in San Francisco.

  • Licensing
  • Litigation
  • Trade Secrets
  • Trademarks
  • Consumer Products and Technology
  • Food and Beverage Technologies
  • Pharma and Nutra
  • Plant Breeding and Plant-Related Technology

Professional Associations

International Trademark Association (INTA)

  • INTA “Unreal Campaign” Committee, 2024-2025

Polk County Women’s Bar Association

Iowa State Bar Association

Iowa State Bar, Grievance Committee Member

Downtown Des Moines Chamber, Former LEAP (Leadership Education Advancement Pipeline) Planning Committee Member

Iowa Legal Aid, Former Foundation Board Member and Equal Justice After Hours Planning Committee Member

Education

University of Iowa College of Law, J.D., with honors, 1996

Smith College, A.B., cum laude, 1991

Publications & Presentations

Enforcement of Plant Related IP, AUTM Annual Meeting (February 2023)

Mitigating Fear of IP Infringement Claims & Stopping Infringement of Your IP, ABI Taking Care of Business Conference (June 2021)

Enforcing PVPs and other remedies for Plants and Plant Varieties,  Seed Innovation & Protection Alliance (SIPA) (December 2020)

Recent Developments in Trademark Law—Case Update, Iowa State Bar Association (December 2019)

Best Practices in Drafting Effective Trademark License Agreements, Iowa Licensing Executive Society (November 2019)

Trademarks 101, Iowa Secretary of State (July 2019)

Recent Developments in Trademark Law—Case Update, Iowa State Bar Association (December 2018)

Trademarks Matter, Great Des Moines Partnership-Small Business Success Summit (November 2018)

The Ins and Outs of Comparative Advertising and Other Uses of Another’s Trademark, Iowa Association of Corporate Counsel (October 2018)

Get Your Ducks in a Row: Potential Pitfalls in Enforcing Your Trademarks, Wisconsin Association of Corporate Counsel (May 2018)

Recent Developments in Trademark Law: Case Update, Iowa State Bar Association eCommerce & Intellectual Property Law Seminar (December 2017)

Protecting Your Intellectual Property and the Implications of The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, Iowa Association of Corporate Counsel (June 2017)

Recent Developments in Trademark Law—Case Update, Iowa State Bar Association eCommerce & Intellectual Property Law Seminar (December 2016)

Trademark Searching, Drake Intellectual Property Law Society (October 2011)

Protecting University Logos, University of Iowa (March 2011)

Top Ten Reasons Trademarks Matter, McKee, Voorhees & Sease (May 2010)

International Issues: The Madrid Protocol and Fraud on the USPTO, Iowa Intellectual Property Law Organization (October 2009)

Intellectual Property Law, AIGI Iowa (June 2009)

Unique and Trendy Aspects of Biotechnology Licenses, Licensing Executive Society (May 2008)

Intellectual Property Licensing Today, Negotiation Strategy, A Process Not an Event, ALI-ABA (October 2006)

Business Basics, Understanding Trademark Law, IABC/Iowa, International Association of Business Communicators (July 2006)

What’s in a Name: Protecting and Enforcing Trademark Rights, Iowa State University (May 2006)

Internet Law for The Practical Law, Copyright Issues: File Sharing, Fair Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, ALI-ABA (April 2005)

Seeds of Change: Intellectual Property Protection for Agriculture: Intellectual Property Protection for Biotechnology, University of Illinois College of Law (April 2004)

Bar & Court Admissions

Iowa State Bar, 1998

Massachusetts State Bar, 1996

California State Bar, 2000

Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa

Central and Northern Districts of California

Eastern District of Washington

Eastern District of Wisconsin

Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Federal Circuits

Awards & Recognition

The Best Lawyers in America®, 2021-2024

The Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year, Des Moines, Trademark Law, 2023

Great Plains Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property, 2018 – 2023

Recent Surge in Chinese “Non-Use” Cancellation Proceedings

In the past several years the total number of new trademark filings in China has exploded—with about nine million filings now made per year. An unfortunate consequence of this upsurge in filings is that non-use cancellation actions have become a normal strategy for trademark applicants who have received provisional refusals based on earlier registered marks. […]

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Expedited Examination for Certain COVID-19 Related Trademarks

As a part of the USPTO’s ongoing effort to support innovation of life-saving treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic, the USPTO recently announced a new prioritized trademark examination program for trademark applications covering certain COVID-19 related products and services. The new process will fast track these trademark applications and save two plus months of the standard […]

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Expanded Trademark Rights for Some Hemp-Related Products and Services

Following up on the May 10, 2019, MVS Filewrapper post “Big Changes Ahead for Plant Variety Protection (PVP)”, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has also recently issued some guidance on how the 2018 Farm Bill affect trademark applications for cannabis and CBD products. Per the guidelines issued May 2, 2019, the USPTO […]

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Have You “Got Milk”?

When you hear the term “Milk”, what comes to mind? Do you automatically think of cow’s milk (or perhaps sheep or goat milk) or do you have a broader definition in mind that covers almond, soy, cashew and other nuts, soybeans, or other plant sources? In 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming that […]

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Christine Lebron-Dykeman

Contact Details

Dee Bradshaw

515-288-3667 Ext. 5911


Jaymee Markus

515-288-3667 Ext. 5981

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