Stephen R Baird

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property & Technology

Trademark & Brand Management

Education

American Indian Law

Domain Name Portfolio Management, Internet & Mobile-Related Website Issues

Emerging Technology

Food, Beverage & Agribusiness

Restaurant Industry

Career

Steve Baird works with clients to address their most difficult trademark problems. Steve provides strategic guidance on trademark usage and clearance, branding strategies, domestic and worldwide portfolio management, litigation and enforcement, internet domain name and trademark disputes, licensing, and prosecution. Clients turn to him for his deep experience in trademark and branding matters for startups; design and creative firms; colleges and universities; apparel; jewelry; consumer products; sporting, hunting, and other outdoor goods; food products and ingredients; building materials; medical devices and pharmaceuticals; chemicals, insecticides, and adhesive brands; all kinds of manufacturers; accounting, architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate development firms; restaurants; casinos; software companies; banks; and financial institutions.

Steve’s trademark and brand protection work has gained notoriety for the protection and registration of nontraditional trademarks such as single color marks, product configuration trademarks, and trade dress and product packaging trademarks. He also has helped American Indian tribes build their intellectual property rights and address their legal issues involving intellectual property. His trademark and branding experience in the outdoor sporting, archery, hunting, and shooting industry is extensive and long-lasting.

Steve protects companies’ most important brands and other intellectual property assets by designing efficient, creative, tailored legal strategies to advance their most important business objectives.

Steve is relentless in seeking to understand his clients, their business, industry, goals, objectives, challenges, and limitations. He combines his decades of legal IP experience with his background working as a registered pharmacist, which he has employed to serve a variety of life science, pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, and medical device brands and companies.

A prolific blogger and recognized thought leader, for two years in a row Steve has been named the number one author on trademark matters according to JD Supra’s “Readers’ Choice Awards”.

Concentrations:

Trademark usage and clearance

Trademark portfolio management

Nontraditional trademarks

Trademark litigation

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) practice and procedures

Domain name and internet disputes

Trademark counterfeiting

Professional Memberships

Member, International Trademark Association, 1992-Present; Member, Editorial Board, 1992-1994, 1998-1999; Member, Brief Amicus Committee, 1995-1997

Member, Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association, 1995-Present

Member, Stafford Publications, Intellectual Property Law Advisory Board, 2012-Present

Member, The University of Iowa, The College of Pharmacy, Executive Leadership Board, 2016-Present

Member, Minnesota Bar Association, 1991-Present

Editorial Board, The Trademark Reporter, 1992-1994, 1998-1999

William Mitchell College of Law, 1997; Intellectual Property Development Advisory Board, 1997; Adjunct Professor, Summer 1997 Institute

Publications

Listed, Chambers USA Guide, Intellectual Property - Minnesota, 2019-2022

Personal

Education

J.D., with high distinction, University of Iowa College of Law, 1990

B.S., with distinction, University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, 1986

Clerkships

Hon. Wilson Cowen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1990-1991