Kevin Christopher is the principal of Ridgeline Venture Law, founded as Tennessee’s first B Corp® law firm and a 2018 Best for the World Honoree. Prior to founding RVL®, Kevin spent 10 years in the San Francisco Bay Area working within startups, and in the commercialization of biotech and energy technologies from UC Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Labs. Kevin is a registered patent attorney, and his practice areas include patent and trademark prosecution, licensing and litigation, benefit and alternative company structures, and commercialization.
Activities & Affiliations
- Advisory Board, Biz Foundry
- Advisory Board, Chattanooga INCubator
- Board of Directors, IMPACT Cookeville
- County Commissioner, State of Tennessee
- Executive Council, TBA Intellectual Property Section
- Leadership Lawyer, Class of 2017
- Member, Intellectual Property Constituency, ICANN
- Mentor, CompanyLab
- Mentor, Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council
- Mentor, Tennessee Life Science Network
Practice Areas
“Copyright and Public Art.” Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association. Fall Seminar. Nashville, TN. 2 Nov. 2018. Presentation.
“Vile and Viral Trademarks.” Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association. Spring Seminar. Nashville, TN. 4 May 2018. Presentation.
“Intellectual Property.” AgLaunch Bootcamp. Knoxville, TN. 11 July 2018. Presentation.
“Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs.” Tennessee Tech Rural Innovation Conference. Cookeville, TN. 7 June 2018. Presentation.
“Advanced Energy Entrepreneurship.” Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. Opportunities in Energy. Knoxville, TN. 6 Dec. 2016. Presentation.
“Country Music Industry Fights Website Allegedly Selling Bootleg Merchandise.” Fox 17 News Nashville. 3 Aug. 2016. Television Interview.
“Tech Transfer to Manufacturing.” University of California, Berkeley Entrepreneurship Symposium. Biomedical Entrepreneurship: A Roadmap to the Future. Berkeley, CA. 14 Oct. 2014. Presentation.
“Startups and Venture Capital.” Industry Contract Officers Network Annual Meeting. Caltech University. Pasadena, CA. 16 Oct. 2012. Presentation.
“Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing.” University of California Intellectual Property Managers Meeting. Santa Barbara, CA. 2012. Presentation.
Granholm, Jennifer et al. “Creating Jobs through Investment in Renewable Energy and Clean Technology: A Proposal for Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu.” Washington, DC. 29 May 2012. Presentation.
“Reclaiming our Technological Posterity at the Intersection of Intellectual Property and Taxation: Uncovering how Patent Pools are Key to Recapturing the Benefits of Charitable IP Contributions,” American University Intellectual Property Brief (April 2011).
Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Freeing the Grid (2010).
Paul Herman, The Hip Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World (2009).
Collected Works. TAUG: To an Unknown God. University of California, Berkeley. Volumes 1-2. Original Poetry.
