Christopher C. Larkin

Christopher C. Larkin was appointed an Administrative Trademark Judge on the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2016 after 36 years in private practice in New York and Los Angeles, in which he focused on trademark litigation before federal courts and the TTAB, domestic and foreign trademark prosecution, and intellectual property licensing, counseling, and transactional matters.

While in private practice, he was recognized by his peers and in-house counsel worldwide for inclusion in multiple editions of the Guide to the World’s Leading Trade Mark Law Practitioners and the World Trademark Review 1000, and was designated as a “Trademark Experts’ Expert” in surveys of leading US practitioners reported in World Trademark Review. He held several leadership positions with the International Trademark Association, including service as an editor of The Trademark Reporter and on INTA’s Amicus Brief Committee, for which he authored INTA’s amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., 514 U.S. 159 (1995), in which the Court agreed with INTA’s position that single colors are eligible for trademark protection.

Larkin received his BA from Stanford University in 1977 and his JD from Columbia Law School in 1980. He has taught Internet Law, Trademark Law, and Trademark Law in Practice at USC Gould School of Law. 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

The Washington Post
December 2, 2019
Re: Jonathan Handel

Jonathan Handel was quoted on Pete Davidson's nondisclosure agreement for attending his comedy shows, barring the audience from speaking about his shows. Handel mentioned that successfully suing a random fan for $1 million would be nearly impossible. “The optics of going to court and suing one of your fans is really pretty ugly,” Handel said. “It would be foolish to do that.”

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Scott Altman
October, 2019

"Are Boycotts, Shunning, and Shaming Corrupt?” Legal Theory Workshop, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA.

Gregory Keating
October, 2019

Gregory Keating’s paper, “Is Tort Law ‘Private’?” was reviewed by Ellen Bublick as a significant work of scholarship relating to Tort Law in JOTWELL: The Journal of Things We Like (Lots), on October 15, 2019.

Dan Simon
October, 2019

“Confessions True and False,” Korean Society for Criminal Law, Yonsei University Law School, Seoul, South Korea.