Melanie began as a commercial litigator and now concentrates her practice in all aspects of complex commercial, general, and intellectual property litigation. Melanie has 28 years of experience litigating trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets, business and commercial disputes, and contract cases. Melanie currently focuses on trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, trade secret litigation, technology and internet counseling, trademark and copyright enforcement, and IP licensing. She has extensive experience enforcing trademark rights, responding to threats of infringement, and litigating business, commercial, and contract disputes in federal courts across the country or before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Melanie also advises clients on how best to protect and enforce brands whether through policing programs or in court.
Melanie represents both public and private companies, as well as individuals. In addition to her general, business, commercial, and trade secret practice, her cases have included litigation of copyrights, trademarks, and patents relating to apparel, pharmaceuticals, foods, computers, consumer products, and a variety of service sectors, including financial advisory services, hospitality and restaurant services, educational and research services, and medical services. In addition to her trial and appellate experience, Melanie regularly assists clients with trademark and copyright matters, including launching advertising campaigns; advising on branding strategies; managing portfolios; policing efforts to protect trademarks and copyrights, and counseling on domain name disputes and various intellectual property licensing arrangements. She has also guided clients on intellectual property and liability issues related to the Internet.
Melanie earned her Bachelor of Arts at Franklin & Marshall College and her law degree, with honors, at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she was a member and senior editor of the law review. Melanie also serves as an adjunct professor at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law and Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law.