Title: Intellectual Property Associate
Company: White & Case LLP
Location: Washington, D.C., United States
Spencer K. Beall, Intellectual Property Associate at White & Case LLP, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Lawyers for dedication, achievements and leadership in Intellectual Property Law.
Ms. Beall is a dual-qualified attorney, licensed to practice law in New York, Washington D.C., and England & Wales. She has established expertise in intellectual property litigation, prosecution, counseling, enforcement, and transactions, with a particular focus in trademark, trade dress, copyright and advertising matters. She has demonstrated exceptional skill and commitment to the legal profession over the course of her career.
Since 2023, Ms. Beall has served as an intellectual property associate at White & Case LLP, where she is responsible for managing trademark prosecution and leading trademark clearance processes (domestically and globally); counseling clients on critical brand protection matters (including but not limited to, advertising claims and best practices, copyright and trademark implications related to the use of AI); assisting clients in maintaining and protecting core brands by curating and executing sophisticated trademark and trade dress enforcement strategies; overseeing and negotiating trademark and copyright licenses and related transactions; leading actions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board at the United States Patent & Trademark Office and before the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office; and serving as lead associate in litigation matters, where she guides clients and supervises junior associates through major litigation processes (including but not limited to, leading the research and drafting of briefs and motions, taking depositions, leading discovery, representing clients in court hearings, and negotiating and finalizing settlements where applicable). She has demonstrated exceptional skill in managing complex legal issues and cases for global clients of all sizes across a diverse array of industries. Throughout her career, she has been recognized for her subject matter expertise, creative legal strategy, and leadership in various litigation matters, including several trade dress and trademark infringement cases for major brands.
Before joining White & Case LLP, Ms. Beall was an associate at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP in Washington, D.C., from 2021 to 2023, where she played a pivotal role in a trade dress case involving Timberland’s iconic boot design. The case centered on a § 1071(b) appeal after the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied registration of Timberland’s design on the grounds of alleged non-distinctiveness and functionality. Although the appeal did not overturn the USPTO’s refusal, Ms. Beall found the experience rewarding due to its complexity and novelty.
Earlier, Ms. Beall served as an associate at Jones Day, where she supported patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and domain dispute litigation teams on high-profile cases as a core associate; directed trademark prosecution for large clients; executed IP enforcement strategies; and carried out IP due diligence and advisory work in large corporate transactions. Before beginning her career in intellectual property law, Ms. Beall served as a legal intern at several distinguished global organizations.
As a legal intern at The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) in Alexandria, Virginia, Ms. Beall spearheaded research and writing for a white paper that examined global patterns of digital child exploitation. The publication became an integral training tool for raising awareness of online dangers to children and establishing preventative strategies in foreign nations in critical-risk areas. Ms. Beall also served as a legal research intern at Women in International Security (WIIS)’s global headquarters in Washington D.C., where she studied the gender gap in the cybersecurity industry and its ramifications on cybercrime prevention initiatives and the safety of connected products. This study was published as a WIIS white paper, “Missing Figures: The Cybersecurity Gender Gap” in June 2018 in the Journal of European and American Intelligence Studies.
Ms. Beall earned a Juris Doctor from Georgetown Law in 2018. During her tenure at Georgetown Law, she completed coursework in comparative law and policy at King’s College London through the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in 2016 and 2017, where she earned Director’s List distinction for academic excellence. Ms. Beall was also recognized on Georgetown Law’s Dean’s List, and she was named a Salzburg Lloyd Cutler Global Seminar International Law Fellow by Salzburg Global Seminar Inc. in 2017.
Prior to studying law, Ms. Beall graduated, summa cum laude, from Sweet Briar College in 2014 with three Bachelor of Arts degrees in French, history, and art history, and a minor in medieval and renaissance studies. During her tenure at Sweet Briar College, she completed master’s coursework in history and art history at Paris-Sorbonne IV, which became the basis for her Senior Honors Thesis on development of the modern museum model in France during the 18th and 19th centuries. Ms. Beall received several academic accolades during her university studies, including but not limited to Sweet Briar College’s 2014 Presidential Medal, Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa, and the inaugural Virginias’ Collegiate Honors Council Scholar of the Year Award in 2014.
Ms. Beall is a member of several distinguished professional organizations. Her affiliations include her involvement with the ChIPs Network, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Law Society of England & Wales, and Lincoln’s Inn.
In her spare time, Ms. Beall maintains a keen interest in global issues that affect women’s social, political, and economic advancement, including criminal justice and human rights challenges related to women’s incarceration. She maintains an active pro bono practice and recently researched global implementation of the Bangkok Rules and its impact on women’s incarceration in the United Kingdom to support global policymaking efforts. Ms. Beall previously authored a study on the rise of female incarceration as a global human rights crisis and how gender disparities have impacted the treatment of female prisoners in the American carceral system, which was published in the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, titled “‘Lock Her Up!’ How Women Have Become the Fastest-Growing Population in the American Carceral State” in 2018.
Ms. Beall is committed to leveraging her skills and qualifications to provide best-in-class legal service. In the future she intends to enrich her professional experience in England & Wales by cross-qualifying as a barrister.
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