Melissa Shannon focuses her practice on helping clients strengthen their brands and market positions through comprehensive trademark and copyright prosecution, counseling, and enforcement.
She has broad experience managing domestic and international trademark portfolios; performing clearance searches; counseling clients on likelihood of confusion, infringement, and evidence of use issues; filing trademark applications, renewals, specimens of use, office action responses, notices of opposition, and petitions for cancellation at the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and filing copyright applications, works for submission, and requests for reconsideration at the United States Copyright Office.
Melissa also has experience handling enforcement issues, including conducting legal research and preparing pleadings, motions, discovery requests, and settlement agreements for trademark and copyright issues in federal court and at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; drafting and sending cease-and-desist letters; and filing takedown notices for domain names.
In law school, Melissa served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Patricia Sheahan of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division; was a member of the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal; and competed in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition. She also received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Art Law and Patent Law and was an Intellectual Property Colloquium Fellow.
Prior to her legal career, Melissa worked in the diamond and jewelry industry, as well as in the field of international education. Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her three dogs, hiking, and finding hidden gems in antique stores.
