Kathryn E. Smith

“Client relationships are a central part of my practice. Getting to know my clients, fully understanding what they want and need, determining how (and if) a particular outcome can be achieved, is vital – and is key to my ability to achieve the best result for my clients.”

Kathryn E. Smith (Kate) is a Partner with Wood Herron & Evans in the firm’s Branding & Content Practice Group. Kate joined Wood Herron & Evans in 1996, and recently celebrated her twenty-fifth (25th) anniversary with the firm. Kate handles all areas of trademark prosecution and litigation, copyright registration and enforcement, and unfair competition matters. She is admitted to the Ohio bar and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio.

Kate manages a docket of approximately 2000 U.S. trademark applications and registrations and 1500 foreign trademark applications and registrations throughout the world. Kate assists clients with selecting and clearing trademarks, obtaining trademark protection through federal and foreign registration procedures, and enforcing or defending clients’ trademark rights, including managing adversarial disputes before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Kate routinely negotiates settlements and works with clients to achieve alternative, practical outcomes to avoid disputes, where possible. 

Kate is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), where she serves on the Trademark Law Committee, Copyright Law Committee, and the Trademark Relations with the USPTO Committee, for which she previously served as Committee Chair. She is also active in the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Cincinnati Bar Association, and the Northern Kentucky Bar Association. In 2017, 2021, and again in 2023 Kate was named the Trademark Lawyer of the Year in the Cincinnati, OH market by Best Lawyers®.

Kate resides in Northern Kentucky where she is an avid tennis player and gardener.