Zoë Vikstrom

• Conducting tailored trademark clearance analyses that evaluate both registrability and marketplace risk, helping clients make informed brand selection decisions at early stages of product and campaign development. Using a strategic trademark filing approach has helped clients avoid costly missteps, such as unknowingly adopting a brand name that conflicts with prior users and triggering cease-and-desist demands, launching a name that could have created significant reputational and PR challenges, or losing valuable brand rights in foreign markets.
• Drafting and arguing substantive responses to trademark office actions, addressing refusals such as likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, and failure to function to advance applications toward registration. Securing trademark registrations for clients across industries, including an energy drink client, tech clients, fashion brand clients, medical device clients, and more.
• Developing enforcement strategies for brand owners, including preparing cease-and-desist correspondence and advising on escalation pathways in advance of formal proceedings. Helping one of the largest global manufacturers of building materials develop a tiered trademark enforcement strategy depending on the type of trademark infringement and who was infringing, and preparing corresponding cease and desist letter templates in line with the tiered approach.
• Handling matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, including ex parte appeals, oppositions, and cancellation proceedings, to protect and challenge trademark rights, including successfully cancelling registrations based on prior use or fraud, and favorably opposing applications that conflict with a client’s prior rights.
• Advising on copyright clearance and fair use considerations for creative assets used in marketing, film, and digital content, with a focus on reducing legal exposure prior to release. Reviewed advertising content, content that consists of collaborations with influencers and brand representatives, and reviewing musical soundtracks before launch.
• Supporting commercial transactions through intellectual property due diligence, including reviewing licensing structures and identifying risks associated with ownership and use of IP assets, such as helping an energy drink company acquire a competing brand in a foreign country.
• Coordinating with foreign counsel on international trademark filings and enforcement efforts to maintain consistent protection across jurisdictions as clients expand globally, and managing trademark portfolios consisting of thousands of filings worldwide.

Zoë Vikstrom counsels clients across a range of industries, from established global companies to emerging brands, on protecting and commercializing intellectual property in fast-moving markets. Her practice spans trademark clearance, prosecution, and enforcement, as well as false advertising and unfair competition matters, and copyright counseling for content used in advertising, digital media, and entertainment. She regularly advises clients during the early stages of launching new brands and product lines.

Zoë’s work also includes conducting trademark clearance searches covering both registered and common law rights, developing filing strategies that minimize risk and maximize trademark protection, and managing trademark applications through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office process, including responding to Office Actions and handling proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

Zoë supports clients in disputes and risk management strategies, including intellectual property litigation, oppositions, cancellations, cease-and-desist efforts, and online enforcement. Her experience extends to drafting and negotiating intellectual property and commercial agreements and assisting with due diligence for transactions involving licensing and related rights. Working closely with business, marketing, and product teams, she provides practical guidance that aligns legal strategy with brand development, product launches, and global growth initiatives.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• University of California, Irvine (J.D., 2023)
• University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., 2020)

Memberships