Christine Beaman Rankin Image

Christine Beaman Rankin

is of counsel with Womble Bond Dickinson. Her practice focuses on intellectual property matters with a special emphasis in the areas of licensing and trademark prosecution and includes advising large multinational clients in the management and implementation of worldwide licensing programs. Christine has over 15 years of experience negotiating domestic and international license agreements, providing advice on methods of monetizing clients’ IP portfolios and assisting in the expansion of companies’ brands into new categories that complement the client’s core product base. She also provides global strategic branding guidance by identifying, protecting and preserving clients’ intellectual property assets with a particular emphasis in worldwide trademark portfolio management.

For more information of to contact Christine, please visit her Firm Profile Page.

Recent Articles by Christine Beaman Rankin

Trade Secrets: Intellectual Property Considerations and Guidance for Start-Ups

Trade secret holders must take reasonable precautions to maintain the secrecy of their secrets, such as keeping such information on a “need-to-know” basis. Companies should have clear IP, confidentiality, and employment agreements describing which types of information are considered trade secrets. These agreements should also describe an employee’s responsibility for maintaining the secrecy of such information. In spite of reasonable precautions by a trade secret holder, bad actors may maliciously misappropriate trade secrets.

Copyrights: Intellectual Property Considerations for Start-Ups

Copyrights protect original works of authorship.  This gives a copyright holder exclusive rights to modify, distribute, perform, display, and copy the work. However, as with other forms of intellectual property, there are important things copyright holders need to know in order to best protect and utilize their copyrights. You do not need to register a work to be protected by copyright.  However, registration is encouraged as it provides enhanced protection for copyright holders.  For example, a registered copyright is considered prima facie evidence in litigation, meaning the court will accept, on face value, that the copyright is valid unless it can be proven otherwise.