Chantal Hwang
Adjunct Professor
Bio
Chantal Hwang Barksdale is a senior attorney in the Intellectual Property department of one of the largest technology companies in Silicon Valley. Chantal oversees trademark, branding, and marketing one of the world’s most popular online platform, ensuring compliance with the company’s third-party developer guidelines and protecting the company’s valuable IP rights. She also serves as an integral member of the trademark team supporting multiple high-profile subscription services in the media/entertainment and fitness space. Chantal works closely with product, design, and marketing teams to review and provide legal counsel on new features, global marketing campaigns, and advertising initiatives. She is also the lead trademark and branding attorney for a prominent cloud storage service, guiding the development and release of new features, mobile apps, and marketing materials while ensuring robust IP protection.
Chantal is active in the Bay Area legal community. She is a formal mentor for the Asian American Bar Association’s (AABA) Pathways to Partnership Program. The program provides advice and mentorship for senior associates preparing to make a bid for partnership at their respective law firms. Chantal is also a committee member for her tech company’s Asian Pacific legal group.
Previously, she was at Cooley LLP where she represented and counseled early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies on a wide range of intellectual property issues involving trademark, copyright, domain name, licensing, advertising, social media, intermediary and secondary liability and rights of publicity issues. There, Chantal managed global trademark portfolios of well-known and famous brands, developing comprehensive trademark clearance, prosecution and enforcement strategies, and overseeing a global network of outside counsel in every major country to implement strategic approaches for enforcement and acquisition of intellectual property rights.
Chantal also litigated cases in federal court, as well as trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She initiated and handled more than 100 domain name dispute (UDRP) proceedings before the Forum (formerly known as the National Arbitration Forum) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Prior to joining Cooley, Chantal was an associate in the media and entertainment practice group of an international law firm. Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, she represented and defended media and entertainment entities, hotel chains, and major insurance companies in federal and state court proceedings against various claims relating to film content, digital marketing and advertising campaigns. There, Chantal was featured in The Hollywood Reporter and Law360 for her efforts in successfully defending an Academy Award-winning director against defamation and breach of contract claims in California state court.