Kimberly A. Eckhart, Senior Attorney

Kimberly Eckhart is a senior attorney in the firm’s San Francisco office who focuses her practice on intellectual property and technology transactions counseling to assist clients in commercializing and protecting their intellectual property assets.

Ms. Eckhart provides domestic and international trademark counseling, including trademark portfolio management and analysis and resolution of foreign and domestic clearance, prosecution, and enforcement issues. She is experienced with conducting due diligence investigations with regard to corporate mergers, acquisitions and financings, and drafting and negotiating technology and commercial services contracts.

Ms. Eckhart’s representations include emerging and established companies in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, entertainment, food and beverage, cosmetics, energy, consumer products, e-commerce, health care, restaurant and hotel services, insurance, and computer technology services.

Representative Transactions:

• Representation of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., world leader in product safety testing and certification services, in its acquisition of Taiwanese corporation Compliance Engineering Services, Inc., an electromagnetic compliance and wireless testing organization.
• Representation of Treehouse Foods Inc., producer of pickles, non-dairy creamer, soups, sauces, and condiments, in its $660 million acquisition of Sturm Foods, Inc., private label manufacturer of hot cereal and powdered soft drink mixes.
• Representation of Tops Markets, LLC, leading grocery retailer, in connection with its U.S. Bankruptcy Court-approved acquisition of a majority of the assets of The Penn Traffic Company.
• Representation of Kehe Food Distributors, a leading distributor of specialty, gourmet, and ethnic food products to retail grocery stores, in connection with its $190 million acquisition of Tree of Life, Inc.

Activities

Education

Ms. Eckhart received an A.B. in English, magna cum laude, in 1991 from Bowdoin College. She received a J.D. in 1996 from the University of Hawaii, where she was an author and case note editor for the University of Hawaii Law Review.

Speeches and Publications

• Clearance and Protection of Slogan Marks. American Bar Association 24th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference. April 2, 2009. Speaker.
• Overview of Intellectual Property Issues for Businesses Wanting to Do Business in the United States. UK Digital Mission at South by Southwest Interactive Conference. March 13, 2009. Speaker.
• Trademark Protection and Internet Marketing. Strafford Publications Teleconference. Oct. 2, 2008. Speaker.
• “Discovery In International Arbitration — Conflict And Choice.”  International Chamber of Commerce Members Handbook, Vol. IX (2006). Co-author.