Hayes, Brian W.

Kristin is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. She is a member of the Trade Regulation Section and Intellectual Property Practice Group. With more than 10 years of experience, Kristin practices principally in the areas of:

• Intellectual property litigation
• Trademark policing and enforcement
• Trademark litigation
• TTAB proceedings

Kristin’s intellectual property practice is devoted to policing and enforcing client trademarks throughout the U.S. and across the Internet. She assists corporate clients with identifying potential infringers, drafting cease and desist letters, negotiating settlement terms, commencing and pursuing litigation in federal court, and ensuring all use of a client’s trademarks have ceased through monitoring and contempt proceedings. She has handled several opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). In addition to her work with trademarks, Kristin has also litigated trade secret cases.

Kristin has represented one of the firm’s largest clients since 2003, where she has been instrumental in the development of the company’s now comprehensive trademark policing and enforcement strategy. She has managed more than 250 matters on behalf of this client, one of the country's leading real estate developers. Most recently, Kristin was successful in obtaining a contempt judgment, which forced compliance by the infringer and led to the client’s largest recovery to date.

Kristin’s approach is to resolve matters quickly and efficiently to prevent irreparable harm to a client’s image and brands. For example, in one unique case, within seven days after learning of an infringer, she was involved in conducting an appropriate investigation, addressing international service and jurisdiction issues, filing suit, and finalizing a favorable settlement.

Kristin is admitted to practice in Minnesota; the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin; U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a member of the Hennepin County, Minnesota State, American, and Federal bar associations as well as Minnesota Women Lawyers. Additionally, Kristin is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA). She serves as co-chair of the Trademarks Subcommittee for the Intellectual Property Committee of the ABA’s Litigation Section. She has co-authored an outline used to facilitate roundtable discussions held in major cities across the country and was also a featured source in “Congress Amends Trademark Dilution Act,” as published by the ABA’s Litigation News (March 2007; Vol. 32, No. 3).

Born in Syracuse, New York, Kristin received her undergraduate degree in psychology with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University. She received her law degree cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she graduated with legal research and writing honors. Kristin joined Briggs in 1997.