About Kristin J. Achterhof

Kristin Achterhof is the national co-chair of Katten's Intellectual Property Litigation practice and serves as Katten's national hiring partner. Kristin has represented some of the world's most recognizable companies and is often the first phone call that leading technology, manufacturing, consumer goods, entertainment and fashion-industry clients make on difficult trademark, copyright and other intellectual property issues. As a first-chair trial attorney, she handles intellectual property and all manner of complex business disputes in court. As an adviser on transactions, she maximizes her clients' rights and revenues. Both in and out of the courtroom, she is an advocate and adviser, with an eye to helping clients optimize and protect their tangible and intangible property rights and assets.

Litigator and counselor on the frontier of IP law and commercial business disputes

Household names in the technology and entertainment sectors and famous brands in all areas of consumer products and services rely on Kristin as an advocate and trusted advisor on IP, general advertising and competition issues. She has counseled multinational clients in multiple high-profile disputes involving novel ecommerce issues. She also gives strategic advice to clients on exploiting their copyrights and trademarks over social media, and on how to best protect their IP rights in software and emerging technologies.

Kristin acts as a first-chair trial attorney in disputes in federal court, state court and before the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In addition to her extensive litigation experience, she represents clients in IP-related transactions that range from licenses to distribution agreements to vendor contracts.

For many clients, Kristin is something more than an experienced first chair litigator. For them, she is a strategic counselor and partner, who takes the time to truly understand their business and what matters most when their brands are under attack, their IP is being exploited or when they simply need an effective advocate in their corner. Clients also benefit from her extensive knowledge and experience as a counselor and advocate in disputes involving their advertising, marketing and promotions practices. All of her abilities combine to make her a trusted advisor, a passionate and practical advocate, and, for her clients, the first phone call.

Kristin is a frequent speaker and panel member for business, legal practice and educational groups across the country, and she is frequently quoted in national and international publications. She also is a skilled mediator and a member of the Panel of Neutrals for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program, sponsored jointly by the International Trademark Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

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"She listens carefully, she's practical and a great lawyer." "If we have sticky issues we go to her; she is very creative and easy to work with."

Chambers USA 2022
(Illinois, Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets) survey response

Practice Focus

  • Intellectual property and unfair competition counseling and litigation
  • Complex business disputes in federal and state courts, mediations and arbitrations
  • False advertising, defamation, libel, entertainment and First Amendment litigation
  • Global counseling and trademark portfolio management and strategy
  • Proceedings before the USPTO
  • Advertising, marketing and promotions counseling and litigation
  • Confidentiality and non-compete agreements

News

Publications

Quick Reads

Presentations and Events

Practices
Industries
Education
  • Northwestern University School of Law, JD, with honors
  • Macalester College, BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
  • Illinois
Court Admissions
  • US District Court, District of Colorado
  • US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
  • US District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
  • US District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Community Involvements
  • American Bar Association
  • International Trademark Association
  • Northwestern University School of Law Alumni Board of Directors
  • The Chicago Bar Association
  • Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Board of Directors
Recognitions
Recognized or listed in the following:
  • Best Lawyers in America
    Trademark Law, 2019–2025
    Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2023–2025
    Lawyer of the Year
    Trademark Law, Chicago, 2020
  • Chambers USA
    Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, 2021–2024
  • Global IP Star
    2018
  • Managing Intellectual Property
    IP Star – Trademark, 2013–2024
    Top 250 Women in IP, 2013–2014, 2023
  • Super Lawyers
    Illinois, 2009, 2012–2024
  • The Legal 500 United States
    Recommended Attorney, 2014, 2016–2022, 2024
  • World Trademark Review 1000
    Illinois, 2015–2023
Award Methodologies