Jennifer Choe Groves has joined the Washington, DC office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC as a Member and Vice Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group for Enforcement and Entertainment. Her practice is focused on trademark and copyright matters, international trade policy, IP rights protection and enforcement, as well as anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy work. She advocates for clients from a wide array of business sectors, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, media, high technology, retail, and luxury and household goods, among others.
Groves arrives at Eckert Seamans after one and a half years with the Washington office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, where she served as chair of that firm’s international intellectual property rights and entertainment practice groups. She has over 17 years of legal experience, including five years with the White House Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as Senior Director of Intellectual Property and Innovation and Chair of the Special 301 Committee. In that role, Groves led the Administration’s annual Special 301 review of worldwide international intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, including chairing the government’s interagency Special 301 committee and writing the Special 301 Reports published in 2005-2009. She served under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, helping negotiate and enforce intellectual property rights chapters of several international trade agreements, including those with Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Jordan, Israel, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.
“The addition of Jennifer as Vice Chair of our Enforcement and Entertainment practice is the most recent step in our strategic growth plan to expand the firm’s intellectual property practice,” said Roberta Jacobs-Meadway, Co-Chair of the firm’s IP Group. “Her experience brings additional expertise to our team and presents us with an opportunity to provide additional value to our clients as the firm expands its capabilities in the entertainment industry.”
Groves has experience in IP litigation, enforcement, prosecution, and trade policy. She has led negotiations and implementation of IP Chapters of numerous Free Trade Agreements, and has developed regional expertise in international trade and IP matters in the Middle East, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Asia. Groves has advised clients in a variety of industries, including motion pictures, music, media, sports, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, cellular telephones, automobiles, video technology, luxury goods, consumer goods, and retail. As a former Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and a litigator in private practice, she also has a strong litigation and enforcement background.
“Eckert Seamans has a dynamic intellectual property practice. I look forward to adding to the IP Group practice by drawing on my experience at the White House and in other areas to guard and protect the intellectual capital of clients’ assets in today’s competitive landscape,” said Groves.
Groves received her LL.M. specializing in Intellectual Property and International Law from Columbia University Law School in 1998 and her J.D. from Rutgers Law School in 1994, where she was editor of Rutgers Law Review. She received her A.B. from Princeton University in 1991 and a diploma in piano and composition from the Juilliard School of Music in 1987.
