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Shontavia Johnson

Shontavia Johnson

Shontavia Johnson joined the Drake University Law School faculty in 2010 and was named the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law and Director of the Intellectual Property Law Center in 2016. She teaches Introduction to Intellectual Property, Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, Internet Law, Entertainment Law, and Property Law. Named one of the Top 40 Young Lawyers in the US by the American Bar Association, Shontavia was recently placed on the prestigious Fulbright Specialist roster and named a 2016 A. Leon Higginbotham Fellow by the American Arbitration Association.

Shontavia’s research focuses on intellectual property law, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and includes such topics as the protectability and reach of unregistered trademarks used on the Internet, the impact of the America Invents Act on startups and entrepreneurs, the role of the Thirteenth Amendment when permanent tattoos embody commercial trademarks, and viral meme trademarks. Her publications have appeared in the Berkeley Technology Law Review, the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, the John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, and the Arkansas Law Review. Shontavia has taught intellectual property law to students in the U.S. and abroad and served as a consultant to both startups and large corporations.

In 2014, Shontavia’s article, Trademark Territoriality in Cyberspace: An Internet Framework for Common Law Trademarks, was awarded the International Trademark Association Ladas Memorial Award, a competition that identifies the best article in the world on a trademark law topic. That same year, her article, Memetic Theory, Trademarks & the Viral Meme Mark, won third place in the competition. Shontavia has received the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys Gertrude Rush Award, the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics Outstanding Alumnus Award, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation 42 Under 40 Alumni Award. In 2013, Shontavia was also named one of 40 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Bar Association and IMPACT.

Shontavia is also the founder and managing attorney of Jackson Johnson LLC, a boutique law firm serving entrepreneurs and entertainers. She frequently counsels clients in all areas of intellectual property law and consults with clients on entrepreneurial growth and development. She is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and a licensed mediator and arbitrator.

Shontavia received a B.S. in Biosystems Engineering from Clemson University, where she was a Palmetto Fellows Scholar, Coca-Cola Clemson Scholar, and a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar. She received her J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law, where she was associate editor of the Arkansas Law Review and a member of the National Criminal Procedure Moot Court team. While in law school, she was named a Vincent W. Foster Scholar, Jim G. Ferguson Scholar, and Harold Flowers Law Society Scholar, and she also served as a judicial extern to Judge Jimm Larry Hendren of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Shontavia also studied international law and comparative constitutional law at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa.

Can the world ever really keep terrorists off the internet?

Jun 09, 2017 18:28 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology

After Londons most recent terror attacks, British Prime Minister Theresa May called on countries to collaborate on internet regulation to prevent terrorism planning online. May criticized online spaces that allow such...

America's always had black inventors – even when the patent system explicitly excluded them

Feb 15, 2017 06:38 am UTC| Insights & Views Law Politics

America has long been the land of innovation. More than 13,000 years ago, the Clovis people created what many call the first American invention a stone tool used primarily to hunt large game. This spirit of American...

Celebrity voices are powerful, but does the First Amendment let them say anything they want?

Dec 12, 2016 09:57 am UTC| Law

When NFL player Colin Kaepernick refuses to stand for the national anthem, or the cast of the Broadway musical Hamilton confronts the vice president-elect, or the Dixie Chicks speak out against war, talk quickly turns to...

US Election Series

Donald Trump tweeted himself into the White House

Nov 10, 2016 22:14 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Donald Trumps presidential election victory has been described as stunning, shocking and having elicited a primal scream from the media. The president-elect resonated enough with more than 59 million Americans that they...

How the IOC effectively maintains a gag order on nonsponsors of the Olympics

Aug 13, 2016 11:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Law Sports

If youre one of the billions of people around the world following the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in any form, youre probably aware of its most talked-about sports moments. Simone Biles of the United States (with dual Belizean...

Who owns your tattoo? Maybe not you

Aug 08, 2016 05:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Law

More than 20 percent of all Americans have at least one tattoo, and for millennials that number jumps to almost 40 percent. What could be more intimately a part of you than a work of body art permanently inked into your...

Can you sue if someone posts an unflattering photo of you on social media?

Mar 08, 2016 23:46 pm UTC| Law

Open your Twitter or Instagram account and chances are good somewhere in there you may see an unflattering photo of a stranger. Its become increasingly common to share pictures of people we dont know online. And it...

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Economy

Central Banks Eye Gold, Reduce Dollar Exposure as AI Adoption Accelerates: OMFIF Survey

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Science

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Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

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Australia Sues Amazon Over Prime Video Ads and Subscription Terms

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Baige Online Shares Soar 333% in Hong Kong IPO Debut as AI Insurance Demand Lifts Chinese Listings

Chinese insurtech firm Baige Online Digital Technology Co. (HK:2672) delivered an impressive debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, with its shares surging as much as 333% in early trading. The strong performance...
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