EDUCATION
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. (2002)
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, B.A. (1993)
BAR ADMISSIONS
Maryland
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Allison Rapp practices intellectual property law in the areas of litigation, transactions, rights-acquisition and rights-management. She brings to her legal practice a depth and range of experience that enables her to offer sound advice and representation throughout the life cycle of an intellectual property and a creative, outside-the-box approach to implementing new ventures and resolving disputes.
In her litigation and disputes practice, Allison represents clients in federal court and before administrative tribunals in cases involving the infringement of copyrights, trademarks, trade dress and publicity rights; in false advertising, cybersquatting and domain name disputes; and in opposition, cancellation and appeals proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She also represents clients in appellate and rulemaking proceedings before the United States Copyright Office. She has particular expertise in the protection of non-traditional intellectual properties and the interplay between intellectual property rights and the First Amendment.
Allison has extensive experience developing and executing legal strategies to lawfully facilitate her clients’ marketing objectives while mitigating legal and commercial risk. She advises clients on all aspects of copyright, trademark and unfair competition law, including the identification and protection of authorship; strategic branding and trademark portfolio development; due diligence and infringement; the use of open-source software and the protection and exploitation of trade dress, trade secrets, corporate mascots, social media handles, business ideas and commercial aspects of personal identity. She has negotiated numerous licenses, coexistence agreements and other agreements for the acquisition or exploitation of intellectual property. Allison enjoys helping clients evaluate options for structuring new ventures in both for-profit and nonprofit contexts.
Prior to joining Lutzker & Lutzker, Allison worked in media and marketing with Sony Music Entertainment. She credits that experience with enhancing her grasp of clients’ business objectives, which she believes should always inform legal strategy.