With significant experience as an intellectual property attorney in both corporate and law firm settings, Kim brings a unique, combined business and legal perspective to the issues her clients face. Her experience in all areas of intellectual property—i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets—provides her with a broad knowledge base from which to draw.
As senior counsel at Merchant & Gould, Kim practices patent law with a focus on patent prosecution in the electrical, software and mechanical arts. She has experience drafting patent applications in numerous technical areas including control systems, wireless communication systems, medical devices, lasers, optics, business methods, database management systems, and machine mechanics. Patent licensing and trademark prosecution are also areas in which she enjoys working.
Kim strives to gain a clear understanding of a client's business, including the marketing, sales, licensing, and intellectual property strategies, so that she can work together with the client to obtain patents and trademarks that will add value to the business goals. She enjoys working with small to mid-size companies that are just starting to build an IP portfolio, as she can help them realize the benefits made attainable with a clearly-defined IP strategy. With significant experience as an in-house patent attorney, Kim has a personal familiarity with business issues that her clients face and knows strategies that can be employed to address those challenges.
Prior to practicing law, Kim worked as a control systems engineer in the pulp and paper industry where she implemented electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic control systems. She also has experience as a computer programmer.
In her free time Kim enjoys spending time with her son and husband, walking her two Glen of Imaal Terriers, and trying to improve her French language skills.