Kristin H. Hardy

Kristin focuses on trademark and copyright matters, with a particular emphasis on complex brand management, brand strategy, and the development of practical intellectual property strategies that support broader business objectives. She partners with clients to develop, protect, enforce, and monetize their brands at every stage of the brand life cycle, from clearance and filing strategy to portfolio optimization, licensing, enforcement, and risk management across multiple jurisdictions.

Kristin manages domestic and international trademark portfolios, leads extensive enforcement efforts, and regularly advises on U.S. and foreign clearance, filing, prosecution, and registration strategies. She has significant experience prosecuting trademark applications, including counseling on and responding to Office Actions, developing filing and prosecution strategies for core and expanding brands, and representing clients in opposition, cancellation, and other post-registration proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She also advises clients on brand protection, trademark policing, online and marketplace enforcement, coexistence and settlement strategy, and the alignment of trademark rights with marketing, product launch, and expansion goals.

In addition to her trademark work, Kristin counsels clients on copyright protection, enforcement, licensing, and ownership issues, including matters involving creative content, publishing, digital uses, and brand-adjacent content assets. She also advises on advertising and brand use online and on social media, software, technology, and other commercial agreements, and a range of intellectual property issues arising in corporate and commercial transactions. She frequently advises on the intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions and other corporate deals, including IP due diligence, chain-of-title and portfolio review, risk assessment, and the negotiation of licensing, software, technology, and other commercial agreements that leverage and monetize brand and content assets. Kristin also has experience supporting intellectual property disputes and litigation matters, bringing a strategic perspective to enforcement, risk mitigation, and dispute positioning.

• “No Soup for Warhol: Use of Prince Image is Copyright Infringement,” Taft Law Bulletin, May 19, 2023.
• “Intent to Sell Does Not Equate to Intent to Use,” World Trademark Review Weekly, Sept. 29, 2022. (co-author with Salha El-Shwehdi)
• “Lowering the Bar for Genercide from “Clear Evidence” to “Reasonable Basis,” World Trademark Review Weekly, Aug. 25, 2022.
• “Multi-Factor Authentication: The New Norm for Cyber Insurance Coverage,” Taft Privacy & Data Security Insights Blog, Sept. 8, 2022.
• “The Intersection of Data & Intellectual Property: You Want to Share it, but How do You Protect it?” Taft Privacy & Data Security Insights Blog, Aug. 1, 2022.
• “Think Again on Cybersecurity Training – Human Error Continues to Drive Numbers on Cybersecurity Attacks,” Taft Privacy & Data Security Insights Blog, June 21, 2022.
• “Apache Log4j Security Vulnerability Is STILL a Problem – What is it, Who Does it Impact, and Should I do Anything About It?” Taft Privacy & Data Security Insights Blog, May 4, 2022.
• “K-12 Cybersecurity Act: Federal Government Seeks to Improve Security for America’s Educational Institutions,” Taft Privacy & Data Security Insights Blog, Dec. 6, 2021.
• “The Rise of the Metaverse and What Brands Need to do Now,” World Trademark Review Weekly, March 31, 2022,
• “Texas Social Media Bill May Speed Resolution of Trademark Complaints,” World Trademark Review Weekly, Sept. 23, 2021. (co-author with Paul McGrady)
• “Trademark Update,” 2019 Trademark & Copyright Law Year in Review, Indy Bar CLE program, April 22, 2020.
• “Did the Supreme Court Just Give States License to Pirate Copyrights? Protecting Copyrights Post Allen,” Taft Law Bulletin, April 13, 2020.