Kevin M. Bovard

Partner

Philadelphia
T +1.215.564.2727
F +1.215.568.3439

"Kevin Bovard is a true expert in the field...Very easy to work with and always provides options."

— The Legal 500 2021

Overview

Kevin Bovard is an accomplished intellectual property practitioner, with a focus on copyright and trademark matters. His areas of concentration include trademark clearance, worldwide portfolio management, copyright protection, unfair competition, domain name disputes, IP due diligence and litigation in federal court and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Kevin applies his intellectual property knowledge in many and varied industries, from small start-up firms to large multinational corporations. In addition to his copyright and trademark background, he is also experienced in IP licensing and patent litigation matters. Kevin previously taught Temple Law School’s Introduction to Intellectual Property course as an adjunct professor.

Select Experience

Trademark/Trade Dress
  • Serves as lead trademark counsel and manages the global trademark portfolios of multiple Fortune 500 and 1000 companies, as well as smaller entities.
  • Provides comprehensive trademark services, including clearance and trademark prosecution services, as well as enforcement strategies, to consumer products companies, medical device manufacturers, software companies, apparel retailers and other brand owners.
Copyright
  • Represented, as lead counsel, an author's heir in a suit for declaratory judgment of joint authorship and for an accounting.
  • Represented a telephone directory publisher in defending claims of copyright infringement based on the plaintiff's collection of stock photographs.
Patent
  • Defended a large technology company in a patent infringement case involving contact-voltage detection along streets. District court litigation was stayed following successful institution of inter partes review at the USPTO, after which all asserted claims were found to be invalid. 
  • Defended an LED manufacturer against claims of design patent infringement. Virtually all damages were eliminated on summary judgment.
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Experience

Trademark/Trade Dress
  • Serves as lead trademark counsel and manages the global trademark portfolios of multiple Fortune 500 and 1000 companies, as well as smaller entities.
  • Provides comprehensive trademark services, including clearance and trademark prosecution services, as well as enforcement strategies, to consumer products companies, medical device manufacturers, software companies, apparel retailers and other brand owners.
  • Lead counsel in cancellation and opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO.  
  • Lead counsel in district court proceeding defending a light emitting diode (LED) retailer against trademark infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims.
  • Represented a playground equipment manufacturer in asserting trade dress infringement claims against a competitor.
  • Represented a clothing and home goods retailer in asserting trademark infringement and related Lanham Act claims.
  • Obtained transfer of cyber-squatted web domains through a UDRP proceeding. 
Copyright
  • Represented, as lead counsel, an author's heir in a suit for declaratory judgment of joint authorship and for an accounting.
  • Represented a telephone directory publisher in defending claims of copyright infringement based on the plaintiff's collection of stock photographs.
  • Represented a software company in asserting copyright and related breach of contract claims against a former customer.
  • Represented an enterprise applications software company in a case against its direct competitor, alleging violations of the U.S. Copyright Act, Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, California Unfair Competition Law, and related business torts.
  • Represented a visual artist in asserting claims under the Visual Artists Rights Act, the U.S. Copyright Act and state law.
Patent
  • Defended a large technology company in a patent infringement case involving contact-voltage detection along streets. District court litigation was stayed following successful institution of inter partes review at the USPTO, after which all asserted claims were found to be invalid. 
  • Defended an LED manufacturer against claims of design patent infringement. Virtually all damages were eliminated on summary judgment.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • WTR 1000 – The World's Leading Trademark Professionals (2023)
  • Pennsylvania "Super Lawyer"
    • "Rising Star" (2021)
  • The Legal 500 USA 
    • Recommended for Intellectual Property: Trademarks - Non-Contentious (including Prosecution, Portfolio Management and Licensing) (2022 to 2023)
    • Recommended for Copyright (2021 to 2023)
  • The Legal Intelligencer: "Lawyers on the Fast Track" (2017)

Prior Positions

  • San Francisco Barristers' Club IP/Internet Law Section: Co-Chair, Bar Associate

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • California

Education

  • J.D., Stanford Law School, 2006
  • B.A., Swarthmore College, 2003

Blog

In The Blogs

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IP Intelligence: Insight on Intellectual Property
What Goldsmith Means to AI Trainers
June 7, 2023
The House IP Subcommittee’s “Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Part I—Interoperability of AI and Copyright Law” hearing has two former General Counsels of the US Copyright Office squaring off over whether using copyrighted...
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IP Intelligence: Insight on Intellectual Property
Licensing vs. Franchising: Are You Accidentally Creating a Franchise?
June 6, 2023
A trademark license may seem straightforward. It is an arrangement that gives a licensee the right to use the licensor’s mark in some manner for some amount of time, with the licensor exercising quality control over the goods offered and...
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IP Intelligence: Insight on Intellectual Property
Will the Supreme Court Reevaluate the Subject Matter Eligibility of Diagnostic Claims?
June 1, 2023
Since the Supreme Court’s decisions in Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Lab’ys, Inc., 566 U.S. 66 (2012), and Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208 (2014), “diagnostic” patent claims have repeatedly been held to be...
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IP Intelligence: Insight on Intellectual Property
USPTO Pilot Program: Trademark Registrations May Now Be Broadened To Account For Evolving Technology
By Kevin M. Bovard
September 9, 2015
Trademark Office rules generally prohibit the broadening of goods and services identified in existing trademark registrations. But on September 1, the USPTO announced a new pilot program that will create a limited exception to this rule...
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IP Intelligence: Insight on Intellectual Property
Federal Circuit affirms PTAB in first IPR final written decision appeal
By Kevin M. Bovard
February 16, 2015
The Federal Circuit recently issued its first ruling on an appeal from an inter partes review (IPR) final written decision, In re Cuozzo Speed Technologies. In doing so, the court affirmed the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)...
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