Our Firm
We founded District Trademark because we wanted to create a different kind of law firm. Our focused practice allows us to dedicate all our firm’s talent, experience, and resources to help clients achieve trademark registration and ensure brand protection.
Our firm’s mission is to make effective trademark counsel accessible to a wide range of businesses, from startups to established companies. We aim to be the legal team of choice for entrepreneurs.
At District Trademark, we provide our clients with sophisticated counsel, unparalleled responsiveness, and creative solutions for their brand protection needs, all at an excellent value. We have committed to providing our legal services on a flat fee basis, with clear parameters to all of our flat fee packages.
Our seamless trademark process is designed to minimize firm overhead so we can offer custom flat fee trademark packages with no surprise fees or other unknowns. We want you to walk away knowing we heard your concerns, addressed your needs, and took care of both you and your brand – in short, that we delivered excellent service at an excellent value.
Our favorite answer is “yes”. Our attorneys genuinely enjoy finding creative legal solutions to protect your creative ideas. We provide effective strategies to help you develop and protect the brand you are most proud to stand by.
As your trademark legal team, we prepare your trademark application and represent you before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the trademark registration process. We provide guidance and counsel throughout the process, and advocate for you each step of the way.
We are a non-traditional, modern law firm partnering with like-minded clients. When you partner with us as your trademark legal team, we collaborate with you to design strategies and solutions for your business’s specific branding concerns. We take a business-forward, holistic approach to brand protection and its impact on the entirety of your business.
We are committed to excellence in every aspect of the legal services we provide to our clients. Our standards are high because we know that our clients’ trust must be earned. When you engage District Trademark, you can be sure that our attorneys will put the full weight of their knowledge, skill, and attention to meeting your needs.
Clients We Serve
While our home is in the nation’s capital, we serve regional, national, and global clients doing business in the U.S. across the spectrum of commerce.
Our attorneys work with individuals and businesses at all stages of growth, from individuals just beginning their brand development, to established businesses, to growing enterprises looking for trademark portfolio management. Over the course of our representation, we provide our clients with legal guidance and strategy on all things trademark, including alternatives to USPTO registration, social media branding, and industry-specific concerns.
Artists, Designers & Creatives
If you work in graphic arts, fashion design, music production, visual media, or another creative space, you already know that creating a unique piece is only the first step in putting your work out into the world. Our attorneys understand that competition is fierce and copycats abound. We work with both individuals and businesses to determine if trademark protection would be appropriate for your intellectual property, and if so, our seamless process ensures that you can focus on your creative efforts and not the legal details.
Startups
Whether you plan on bringing goods or services to the market, it’s a savvy move to develop your branding alongside your product. We assist companies in the startup stage with both initial branding strategy and securing federal trademark protections as soon as possible, so you can launch and grow your business with confidence.Cannabis
Although the cannabis industry has grown and matured in the last decade, navigating legal protection for your cannabis brand remains a challenge. District Trademark’s attorneys stay current with the latest developments in cannabis law. Our clients can rely on our knowledge and experience to find creative solutions to protecting cannabis brands and securing trademark protection to the extent legally possible.
Professional Services
Professional services firms often face unique branding challenges, especially as they grow their goodwill and reputation beyond their founding members. We work with professional services firms when they are incorporating new partners, expanding to new markets, or launching complementary products and services. Our goal is to help you minimize risk and protect your brand as your firm grows.
Expanding Portfolios and Rebranding
For companies who are expanding their portfolios of registered trademarks or for those who are undergoing a rebranding process, District Trademark offers effective counsel to ensure that your branding is strategic and each individual trademark is protected. We also offer maintenance packages, so you can be sure that your registered trademarks remain protected.
Collaboration
Our focus on trademarks and brand protection does not leave our clients out of luck if they need legal services beyond our scope. Our wide network of trusted referral partners, including specialists in litigation, licensing, and other areas of business law, are always on standby to provide our clients with the same level of exceptional service that they have come to expect from District Trademark.
Who We Are
Angela G. Shin
Managing Partner | VCardAngela is the co-founder of District Trademark. She is an experienced intellectual property and transactional business attorney who focuses her practice on trademark law and brand protection. Before founding District Trademark, Angela served as in-house counsel for a major U.S. media corporation. She also worked as an attorney for several top regional and global law firms, where she advised clients on complex matters in connection with the prosecution, licensing, and transfer of trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property. She was honored to be named a Rising Star in Intellectual Property by Colorado SuperLawyers during her years in private practice.
Angela has also been fortunate to serve as in-house counsel for one of the most respected and well-known charitable trusts in the United States. Her clients praise her genuine curiosity and warmth in addition to her exceptional legal skills.
Outside of her legal practice, Angela is a jewelry artist and entrepreneur. She is also an avid hiker, skier, and tequila taster.
Professional licensure: Angela was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2007 and the Virginia Bar (as Registered Corporate Counsel) in 2012. Her admission to the District of Columbia Bar is pending.
Education: Angela earned her JD from the University of Colorado School of Law in 2007. While in law school, she spent a semester in Japan studying international law. Angela also completed her undergraduate work at the University of Colorado, where she earned a BA in English Literature and a BS in journalism.
Paulina G. Proper
Managing Partner | VCardPaulina Proper is the co-founder of District Trademark. Her practice is focused on domestic brand protection strategies, including trademark selection, clearance searching, trademark prosecution and enforcement. Her passion for trademark law comes from years of experience advising clients on all aspects of business transactions, including the licensing and transfer of intellectual property. She has developed a reputation for sound legal judgment and unflappable demeanor. Before founding District Trademark, Paulina was in-house counsel for one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the country, and prior to that, she worked as an attorney for top regional and boutique law firms.
Before law school, Paulina founded, developed, and sold a test-prep and tutoring company. She has practiced yoga since law school and is a level-one Baptiste instructor.
Professional licensure: Paulina was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2007, the Arizona Bar in 2012 and the District of Columbia Bar in 2013.
Education: Paulina earned her JD from the University of Colorado School of Law. As a law student, Paulina participated in the law school’s Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, where she provided legal advice to startups in Colorado’s growing business market. Paulina earned her BA from Yale University with a major in the History of Art.