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ABOUT DUNNER LAW

We are not your typical law firm; we work in a brownstone in historic Georgetown on a pretty cobblestone street with trolley tracks. Our clients don’t pay for fancy marbled walls and expensively leased space. We appreciate our clients’ business needs and demands, and we practice accordingly.

Lisa Dunner

Managing partner

703-776-9951

Lisa is Managing Partner at Dunner Law and a past Chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL). She is recognized as one of the world’s top 250 women in IP and by World Trademark Review 1000 as one of the top 1000 trademark attorneys in the world. She was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in 2016 to serve a 3-year term as a member of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Public Advisory Committee and to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO. Lisa’s practice focus is on strategic counseling related to a wide variety of trademark, unfair competition, false advertising, copyright, e-commerce and transactional matters. Formerly a partner at McDermott Will & Emery, Lisa has extensive experience in protection and enforcement of intellectual property and unfair competition rights for domestic and international issues.

She regularly counsels clients on best practices related to IP asset protection and management, finding efficient and strategic ways to maximize and manage IP assets. She also has significant experience in handling opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, litigation disputes in state and federal court, and contract negotiation and disputes. Lisa has testified before the U.S. Congress House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, regarding the U.S. Copyright Office, Its Function and Resources, and she has spoken and written on numerous other occasions on trademark and copyright issues. Lisa is a Delegate for ABA-IPL, a former Commissioner on the ABA Commission for Women in the Profession and Founding Editor-in-Chief of the ABA IPL’s flagship IP magazine, Landslide. Prior to practicing law, Lisa was a touring professional tennis player and achieved world rankings in both singles and doubles. She enjoys playing tennis, golf, hiking, gardening and rescuing animals.

Adam Sikich

Senior Counsel

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Adam is a Senior Counsel at Dunner Law, and he regularly counsels clients on the selection, clearance, protection, and enforcement of trademarks and copyrights throughout the world. He has extensive experience in managing clients’ portfolios, and he represents clients in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, conducts intellectual property audits, and prepares intellectual property protection protocols for Dunner Law’s clients. Adam also counsels in the areas of false advertising, trade secrets, open source, and enforcement of IP rights on the Internet, including representing clients in domain name disputes, social media IP infringements, domain name monitoring, illegal streaming and downloading, drafting web site legal policies, ensuring compliance with DMCA provisions, and drafting domain name policies.

Adam has extensive transactional experience, including drafting and negotiating work-for-hire, joint development, partnership, hosting and website development, publishing, copyright permissions, IP settlement, licenses, assignments and non-disclosure agreements. Adam is a die-hard Chicago White Sox, a Star Wars aficionado, and the world’s greatest Little League coach.

Riva-Niger Smith

ASSOCIATE

Riva is an Associate at Dunner Law/Raphael Bellum, and her practice focus is on protection and enforcement of matters related to trademarks, false advertising, unfair competition, and copyright. She regularly conducts domestic and international trademark clearance searches, renders use and registrability opinions, and prosecutes trademark and copyright applications throughout the world. Riva also handles trademark and copyright audits and she drafts licensing and assignment agreements.
Prior to joining Dunner Law full time, Riva interned in-house supporting attorneys in various IP-related matters, including trademark, copyright and design patent applications, IP disputes, licensing and assignment issues.  Riva has a Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law, where she was Senior Trademark Editor of the “American University Intellectual Property Brief.”

 

Ngoc K. Fig

Director of Operations

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Ngoc K. Fig is Director of Operations at the merged firm of Dunner Law/Raphael Bellum.  Ngoc manages the operational processes and staff for the combined firm, and she makes decisions relating to process improvements, technology adoption, operational changes and budget allocation.  She has extensive experience providing both domestic and international patent prosecution support, and is responsible for developing, executing, and overseeing intellectual property procedures and portfolio managementPrior to serving in this role at the firm, Ngoc spent 20 years in Big Law as a Senior Paralegal in a fast-paced IP practice.  Ngoc uses this past experience to ensure the firm’s operations and finances are up to date, and she manages client and vendor accounts as well.