Erik Pelton has dedicated his career to making intellectual property protection understandable, accessible, and affordable for businesses and entrepreneurs of all sizes and types. After beginning his career as a trademark examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Erik built his own boutique trademark law practice at Erik M. Pelton & Associates that has helped clients register more than 3,000 a represented clients in hundreds of trademark disputes.
Erik M. Pelton
Founder, Erik M. Pelton & Associates PLLC | Erik M. Pelton & Associates PLLC
Alt Legal has welcomed Erik Pelton as a speaker on two different occasions. Erik is the busy founder of his firm Erik M. Pelton & Associates PLLC, an adjunct professor at both Georgetown University Law Center and Howard University School of Law School, and he is a former USPTO Trademark Examiner.
Erik first spoke in 2021 for Alt Legal Connect at the session, “Spring into (Office) Action: Dealing with and Overcoming OA Refusals.” During the session, Erik and his co-presenters discussed some of the most common types of office actions—including likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, and failure to function—and demonstrated how to effectively respond to them by providing specific examples of successful responses. You can view the recording and download the presentation materials here.
Erik returned as a speaker in 2022 as a speaker for the Alt Legal Webinar, “Upon Further Examination: Trademark Applications from the Examiner’s Perspective.” During this webinar, Erik and his co-presenters (all former USPTO Trademark Examiners) provided their insider perspective on USPTO trademark applications, discussed recent changes to how examiners handle some key issues like specimens and generic refusals, and explained procedures for maximizing success. You can view the recording and download the presentation materials here.
We’re incredibly fortunate to have had Erik present twice for Alt Legal and share his deep knowledge for trademarks with the Alt Legal Community. Erik echoes our enthusiasm and reports a very positive experience presenting with Alt Legal. “Speaking for an Alt Legal event is a terrific experience. Their team makes the details and logistics easy, the audience is always engaged, and other co-panelists or speakers are always well prepared.” Erik also finds that the Alt Legal Community audience is as genuinely passionate about trademarks as he is: “The audience is interested and engaged. They really want to learn about trademark matters.”
To prepare for his speaking engagements at Alt Legal, Erik worked closely with Bri Van Til, Alt Legal’s Director of Education, planning the sessions and coordinating all of the important details, technical arrangements, and logistics to ensure that the presentations were smooth for Erik and the audience. Erik had a great experience working with Bri, “Bri is the best! She is beyond organized, kind, and thoughtful.”
Thanks so much for speaking, Erik! It is a joy and a pleasure to get to work with such an outstanding trademark practitioner, and thank you for being part of the Alt Legal Community!
