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Paul W. Kruse
Partner
Overview
Paul Kruse assists individuals, small businesses and large companies with their trademarks and associated legal issues, helping to protect the value of their brands and the goodwill symbolized thereby in a proactive manner. In today’s competitive environment where the quality and price playing fields are increasingly level, trademarks are often the only way consumers differentiate one company from another. Consequently, trademarks play a critical role in driving new and repeat business. He helps clients of all kinds protect their trademarks with high-quality, creative, and comprehensive services, including trademark clearance, registration, and policing — all at a predictable cost.
In addition to trademark prosecution, enforcement and litigation support, Paul handles copyright, right of publicity, franchising, and domain name matters that touch on trademark law. Paul is regularly invited to present on trademark law. He is a supporter of trademark education at Vanderbilt Law School and Belmont University College of Law, having made a number of trademark-related presentations at both schools.
Early in his legal career, Paul practiced law in Washington, D.C., including several years as a Trademark Attorney – Advisor at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he examined more than 4,400 trademark applications for compliance with the Lanham Act, the Trademark Rules of Procedure, and the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure.
Paul is a charter member of the advisory board of the Battle Ground Academy Entrepreneurial Leadership Program. The program equips students with skills and mindsets to creatively solve real-world problems through hands-on active learning. Entrepreneurial Leadership is about creating a critical thinking toolbox that empowers students in the classroom, the college lecture hall, and in their future careers.
Credentials
Education
- Vanderbilt University Law School, 1989 (J.D.)
- Vanderbilt University, 1986 (B.A.)
- Best Lawyers in America, Copyright Law; Trademark Law, 2006-2024
- Best Lawyers in America, Trademark Lawyer of the Year in Nashville, 2012
- Managing Intellectual Property, IP Stars, 2016
- Nashville Bar Association
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- Tennessee Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- International Trademark Association
- International Association of Defense Counsel
- “Is Profiting from the Online Use of Another’s Property Unjust? The Use of Brand Names as Paid Search Keywords,” IDEA: The IP Law Review, Vol. 53, p.131