Lisa Pondrom Ramsey
U
niversity of San Diego 
School of Law
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110-2492
619-260-7977

lramsey@sandiego.edu

Twitter: @LPRamsey


Lisa Ramsey is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where she teaches and writes in the areas of trademark law, intellectual property, and international intellectual property. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Melbourne in 2011 and Victoria University of Wellington in 2017. Before joining the USD faculty in 2004, Professor Ramsey was an intellectual property litigation associate for four years at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper) in San Diego. She graduated Order of the Coif from UCLA School of Law and was a judicial law clerk for Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
 
Professor Ramsey’s scholarship focuses on the potential conflict between trademark and free speech rights, and explains how trademark protection of inherently valuable words, symbols, and product features can harm fair competition and freedom of expression. Her publications include "Using Failure to Function Doctrine to Protect Free Speech and Competition in Trademark Law" in the Iowa Law Review Online (2020), "Non-Traditional Trademarks and Inherently Valuable Expression" in The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks (Irene Calboli & Martin Senftleben eds., Oxford University Press 2018); "Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law After Matal v. Tam" in the Houston Law Review (2018); "A Free Speech Right to Trademark Protection?" in The Trademark Reporter (2016); "Reconciling Trademark Rights and Free Expression Locally and Globally" in International Intellectual Property: A Handbook of Contemporary Research (Daniel J. Gervais ed. 2015); "Mechanisms for Limiting Trade Mark Rights to Further Competition and Free Speech" in the International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law (2013) (coauthored with University of Copenhagen Professor Jens Schovsbo); "Free Speech and International Obligations to Protect Trademarks" in the Yale Journal of International Law (2010); "Brandjacking on Social Networks: Trademark Infringement by Impersonation of Markholders" in the Buffalo Law Review (2010); "Increasing First Amendment Scrutiny of Trademark Law" in the Southern Methodist University Law Review (2008); "First Amendment Limitations on Trademark Rights" in Intellectual Property and Information Wealth: Issues and Practices in the Digital Age (Peter K. Yu ed. 2007); and "Intellectual Property Rights in Advertising" in the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review (2006). Her article "Descriptive Trademarks and the First Amendment" in the Tennessee Law Review (2003), was judged by the editor of the Intellectual Property Law Review (Karen B. Tripp ed. 2004) to be one of the best intellectual property law review articles of 2003.

EXPERIENCE

University of San Diego School of Law
Professor of Law, 2009 to present 
Associate Professor of Law, 2006 to 2009
Assistant Professor of Law, 2004 to 2006
Courses: Trademark Law, Trademark Litigation, Intellectual Property Survey, International Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Seminar
Award for teaching and scholarship: Class of 1975 Endowed Professorship, 2017-2018
 
New Zealand Centre of International Economic Law, Faculty of Law, Victoria University of Wellington
Visiting Scholar
Oct. 16-20, 2017
 
Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Visiting Scholar
Feb. & Mar. 2011
 
Law Offices of Lisa P. Ramsey
San Diego, CA
2003 to 2004
 
Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper)
Associate in Intellectual Property Litigation Group
San Diego, CA
1997 to 2002
 
United States District Court
Eastern District of Virginia
Judicial Law Clerk for the 
Hon. Rebecca Beach Smith
Norfolk, VA
1996 to 1997
  
EDUCATION

UCLA School of Law
J.D. 1996
Order of the Coif, UCLA Law Review, Moot Court Honors Program
  
UCLA
B.A. 1993
Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, UCLA Advertising Club
    
PUBLICATIONS 


Protectable Trademark Subject Matter in Common Law Countries and the Problem with Flexibility, in Handbook on International and Comparative Trademark Law (Irene Calboli & Jane Ginsburg eds., forthcoming Cambridge University Press 2020)


Using Failure to Function Doctrine to Protect Free Speech and Competition in Trademark Law, 104 Iowa Law Review Online 70 (2020) 


Non-Traditional Trademarks and Inherently Valuable Expression, in The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks: Critical Perspectives 337 (Irene Calboli & Martin Senftleben eds., Oxford University Press 2018)

   

Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law After Matal v. Tam, 56 Houston Law Review 401 (2018)

    

The First Amendment Protects Offensive Trademarks, The Regulatory Review (July 25, 2017) (published by the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania Law School)

   

A Free Speech Right to Trademark Protection? 106 Trademark Reporter 797 (2016) 

   
   
   
Book Review: Australian Trade Mark Law by Robert Burrell and Michael Handler, 16 Media & Arts Law Review 218 (2011)     
      
       
     
    
     
  • Reprinted in 36 Intellectual Property Law Review 271 (Karen B. Tripp ed., 2004) and judged by the editor of the Intellectual Property Law Review to be one of the best intellectual property law articles of 2003.  
Predicting the Unpredictable under Rule 11(b)(3): When are Allegations “Likely” to Have Evidentiary Support? 43 UCLA L. Rev. 1393 (1996)
         
PRESENTATIONS AND OTHER SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS    
      
Presentation, Using Trademark Law's Failure to Function Doctrine to Promote Competition and Free Expression, 2020 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, Santa Clara University School of Law (Feb. 8, 2020)

Protectable Trademark Subject Matter in Common Law Countries and the Problem with Flexibility
  • Presentation, Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (Sept. 20, 2019)
  • Presentation, 38th Annual Congress of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN (Aug. 27, 2019)
  • Presentation, Eighth Annual International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Florida State University College of Law (March 8, 2019)
  • Presentation, 2019 Works-In-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, TX (Feb. 9, 2019)
Moderator, Tenth Annual Lindley Law & Comics Panel, San Diego Central Library (July 16, 2019) (with panelists Jonathan Maberry, Stu Rees, and Rob Salkowitz)

Panelist, Understanding Consumer and Brand Owner Reactions to Fan Works, International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA (May 20, 2019)

Invited Participant, Trademark Scholars Roundtable, Harvard Law School, Boston, MA (April 12-13, 2019)

Presentation, And Now For Something Completely Different: What You Need to Know About Non-Traditional Trademarks, California Lawyers Association's "Trademark Offices Comes to California" program, San Francisco, CA (April 2, 2019) & Los Angeles, CA (April 4, 2019)  

Presentation, Resolving Conflicts Between Trademark Laws and Free Expression in the United States and Europe, Annual Guest of Honor Lecture at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies Summer School, University of Strasbourg, France (July 10, 2018)
 
Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law after Matal v. Tam
  • Presentation, University of Houston Law Center's IPIL National Conference on Trademark Law, Santa Fe, NM (June 2, 2018) 
  • Presentation, Law Offices of Procopio, San Diego, CA (May 29, 2018) 
  • Presentation, Trademark Scholars Symposium, International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA (May 22, 2018)
  • Presentation, Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (May 11, 2018)  
  • Presentation, IP Speaker Series, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA (April 9, 2018)
  • Presentation, IP in the Trees Workshop, Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, OR (Feb. 15, 2018)

Commentator, Seventh Annual International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Duke Law School, Durham, NC (April 26-27, 2018) 

Invited Participant, Trademark Scholars Roundtable, Notre Dame Law School (Chicago campus), Chicago, IL (April 12-13, 2018)
 
Non-Traditional Trademarks and Inherently Valuable Expression
  • Presentation, 16th Annual Recent Developments in IP Law and Policy Conference, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA (Feb. 23, 2018)  
  • Presentation, 36th Annual Congress of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (Oct. 24, 2017)
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, University of New Hampshire School of Law, Concord, NH (Oct. 6, 2017)
  • Presentation, Sixth Annual International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, New York University School of Law (April 7, 2017) 
  • Presentation, The Protection of Non-Traditional Marks: Critical Perspectives Roundtable, Singapore Management University (Jan. 27, 2017) 

Presentation, Trademarks and Freedom of Expression, New Zealand Intellectual Property Office, Wellington, New Zealand (Oct. 19, 2017)    

Invited Participant, Trademark Scholars Roundtable, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL (March 23-24, 2017) 

A Free Speech Right to Trademark Protection?
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property Colloquium, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington (Nov. 3, 2016)
  • Presentation, Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (Sept. 2, 2016)
  • Presentation, Sixteenth Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA (Aug. 11, 2016) 
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property in All the New Places Symposium, Texas A&M School of Law, Fort Worth, TX (April 15, 2016)
  • Presentation, Fifth Annual International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (April 9, 2016) 

Moderator, Nontraditional Trademarks, Innovation, and Competition: Friends or Foes? International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (May 23, 2016)

 
Presentation, Trademark Law and Freedom of Expression, Distinguished Speaker Series at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Ottawa, Canada (March 17, 2016) (presentation to trademark examiners working at the Canadian government's trademark office)
 
Commentator, 4th Annual Trademark Works-in-Progress Colloquium, American University, Washington D.C. (Nov. 13, 2015)
 
Trademarking Everything? Why Brands Should Care About Limits on Trademark Rights 
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Texas A&M School of Law, Fort Worth, TX (Oct. 10, 2015)
  • Presentation, Trademark Scholarship Symposium, International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA (May 4, 2015)
  • Presentation, Fourth International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Duke Law School, Durham, NC (April 30, 2015)
  • Presentation, Whittier Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law, Costa Mesa, CA (March 24, 2015)
  • Presentation, 2015 Works-In-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, VA (Feb. 6, 2015)
Presentation, Trademark Year in Review, Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Seminar, Laguna Nigel, CA (May 29, 2015)
 
Free Speech, Competition, and the Structure of Trademark Law
  • Presentation, Fourteenth Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, UC Berkeley School of Law (Aug. 8, 2014)
  • Presentation, Third International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL (May 1, 2014) 
Reconciling Trademark Rights and Free Speech Locally and Globally
  • Junior Faculty Workshop, University of San Diego School of Law (Feb. 3, 2014)
  • Presentation, Thirteenth Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, New York, NY (Aug. 9, 2013)
  • Presentation, 32nd Annual Congress of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), University of Oxford, United Kingdom (June 25, 2013)
  • Presentation, Second International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, University of San Diego School of Law (April 19, 2013)
Commentator, UCLA Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Colloquium Workshop, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 10, 2013) (invited commentator on paper Flexible Copyright: Can EU Author’s Right Accommodate Fair Use? by Bernt Hugenholtz and Martin Senftleben) 
 
Presentation, Trademark Defenses in the Internet Domain Name Space, Conference on International Aspects of Intellectual Property Law, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Nov. 30, 2012) 
   
An Impersonation Theory of Trademark Law  
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable on Intellectual Property and the Constitution, University of New Hampshire School of Law, Concord, NH (Sept. 29, 2012) 
  • Presentation, Twelfth Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA (Aug. 9, 2012)
  • Presentation, Second Internet Law Works-in-Progress Symposium, New York Law School (March 23, 2012)
  • Presentation, 2012 Works-In-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, TX (Feb. 20, 2012)
Mechanisms for Limiting Trade Mark Rights to Further Competition and Free Speech  (with coauthor Jens Schovsbo) 
  • Presentation, Trademark Works-in-Progress Colloquium, American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C. (Sept. 7, 2012) 
  • Presentation, First International Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee, WI (April 27, 2012)

Presentation, Trademark Year in Review, Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Seminar, Torrey Pines, CA (June 10, 2012)

   
Commentator, UCLA Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Colloquium Workshop, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 6, 2011) (invited commentator on paper Looking at the Lanham Act: Images in Trademark and Advertising Law by Rebecca Tushnet)
    
Presentation, Hot Topics in Trademark Law for Non-IP Attorneys, California State Bar Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA (Sept. 17, 2011)
   
Presentation, What the United States Can Learn From Australian Trade Mark Law,  Eleventh Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL (Aug. 12, 2011)
     
Panelist, Technology, Social Media, and Liminal IP, Law & Society Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (June 5, 2011)
   
How Trademark Law Harms Free Speech and What To Do About It  
  • Presentation, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, Australia (March 22, 2011)
  • Presentation, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (March 11, 2011)
Brandjacking on Social Networks: Trademark Infringement by Impersonation of Markholders (formerly titled Brandjacking on Social Networks: Confusion About the Source of Information or Advertising)  
  • Presentation, Law Offices of Baker & McKenzie, Sydney, Australia (March 17, 2011)
  • Presentation, Law Offices of Baker & McKenzie, Melbourne, Australia (March 15, 2011) 
  • Presentation, Boston Intellectual Property Colloquium, Boston College Law School (April 26, 2010)
  • Presentation, Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable, Drake University Law School (March 27, 2010)  
  • Guest Speaker, IP Innovations in Science and Technology Seminar, University of Washington School of Law (Nov. 16, 2009)
  • Presentation, Advertising and the Law Conference, co-sponsored by the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy and the University of Buffalo Law School (Nov. 13, 2009) 
  • Presentation, Ninth Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University (Aug. 6, 2009)
  • Presentation, 2009 International Workshop on Copyright Industries and Intellectual Property, South China University of Technology School of Law, Guangzhou, China (June 15, 2009)
  • Presentation, The Age of Digital Convergence: An East-West Dialogue on Law, Media and Technology, The University of Hong Kong (June 13, 2009)  
Presentation, Free Speech and Trademarks, Conference on Fundamental Rights and Private Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (May 31, 2010)
    
Free Speech and International Obligations to Protect Trademarks
  • Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (April 17, 2009)
  • Presentation, Seventh Annual Chicago Intellectual Property Colloquium, co-sponsored by Chicago-Kent College of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law (April 7, 2009)
  • Presentation, 2008 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, Tulane Law School (Oct. 4, 2008) 
  • Presentation, Eighth Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School (Aug. 8, 2008)  
Commentator, User-Generated Content, Social Networking, and Virtual Worlds, Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN (Nov. 14-15, 2008) (invited commentator on two papers)
   
Panelist, Intellectual Property vs. the First Amendment, Annual Intellectual Property Institute, State Bar of California Intellectual Property Law Section, Palm Desert, CA (Nov. 8, 2008)
     
Increasing First Amendment Scrutiny of Trademark Law
  • Faculty Colloquium, Hofstra Law School (April 14, 2008)
  • Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (Feb. 8, 2008)
  • Presentation, Trademark Dilution: Theoretical and Empirical Inquiries Symposium, Santa Clara University School of Law (Oct. 5, 2007)
  • Presentation, 2007 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, Washington College of Law at American University (Sept. 28, 2007)
Presentation, What If There Were No First Amendment Distinction Between Commercial and Noncommercial Speech: Would Trademark Law Be Constitutional?, Fourth Annual Intellectual Property and Communications Law Program Symposium "What Ifs and Other Alternative Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw Stories," Michigan State University College of Law (Mar. 31, 2007)
  
Intellectual Property Rights in Advertising
  • Presentation, 2005 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium, co-sponsored by Washington University School of Law and St. Louis University School of Law (Oct. 7, 2005)
  • Faculty Colloquium, University of San Diego School of Law (Sept. 23, 2005)
  • Presentation, Fifth Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University (Aug. 12, 2005)
  • Presentation, Second Annual Intellectual Property and Communications Law and Policy Scholars Roundtable, Michigan State University College of Law (Feb. 18, 2005)

WEBINARS, PODCASTS, BLOG POSTS, AND OTHER MEDIA APPEARANCES

Podcast interview by Audrey Dauvet, When Freedom of Expression Takes on Trademark Laws: What's the Impact for Business and Intellectual Property Rights Holders? International Trademark Association's Brand & New Podcast (Feb. 11, 2020)


Trademarks, the First Amendment, and the Implications of the Supreme Court's Brunetti Decision, Webinar for the California Lawyers Association (Aug. 6, 2019)


Podcast Interview by Brian Frye, Lisa Ramsey on Trademark Law and the First Amendment, Ipse Dixit, Season 1, Episode 298 (July 1, 2019) 

  

Symposium: Increasing First Amendment scrutiny of trademark law after Matal v. Tam, SCOTUSblog (June 20, 2017)


Tim Ryan, Battle on Offensive Trademarks Hits High Court, Courthouse News (Jan. 17, 2017)

 

Shay Castle, Fight brewing over political ads in Colorado, Daily Camera (April 25, 2016)

 

Podcast Interview by Denise Howell, This Week in Law, Episode 329 (Dec. 4, 2015) (discussing current issues in trademark, right of publicity, and free speech law)

 

Trevor Hughes and William M. Welch, Feds fight over who owns national park trademark, USA Today (Jan. 8, 2015) 

 

Radio Interview by Scott Shafter, Controversy Erupts Over Yosemite Naming Rights, Forum KQED Radio (Dec. 31, 2014)

 

M.L. Nestel, Big Tobacco Tries to Snuff Out T-Shirt Artist, Vocativ (June 26, 2014)

 

Lydia DePillis, The color purple: Not just for Cadbury anymore, Washington Post Wonkblog (Oct. 4, 2013)

   

Jeff John Roberts, Rupert Murdoch's Wife Won't Get Twitter Handle Back Any Time Soon, paidContent: The Economics of Digital Content (Jan. 4, 2012) 

    

Social Work: How Can Brands Get The Most Out of Twitter, World Intellectual Property Review 12 (Sept/Oct 2011)

   

Jeff Roberts, Insurer sues Twitter imposter who cheers death, mayhem, Reuters (June 9, 2011)

 

Radio Interview by Damien Carrick, Brandjacking on Social Networks, The Law Report, ABC Radio National, Melbourne, Australia (March 29, 2011)