Kevin N. Tharp Partner

Representative Cases

Intellectual Property

• Prosecuted patent infringement claims on behalf of table pad manufacturer.  Obtained summary judgment in favor of client, in which court found that client’s patent had been infringed, and that a competitor’s patent was invalid.  
• Defended consortium of pesticide distributors in a trademark opposition proceeding filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by a multi-national agribusiness company.  Case settled favorably to client prior to trial.
• Defended preliminary injunction proceeding against a manufacturer of outdoor grilling equipment in a trademark, trade dress and copyright infringement action.  Preliminary injunction was denied, and case settled favorably to client.
• Prosecuted dozens of trademark applications on behalf of clients in the construction, media, manufacturing, Internet, non-profit, and technology industries.
• Negotiated and drafted various service and licensing agreements for provider of Internet commerce tools.

Construction

• Defended general contractor against subcontractor’s claims for payment and delays in the construction of various telecommunications facilities across the Midwest.  Case settled on terms favorable to client following arbitration hearing.
• Prosecuted large mechanic’s lien claim against general contractor and owner, seeking payment for construction of mixed-use development.  Case settled favorably to client prior to trial.
• Defended paving contractor against IOSHA citations arising out of trench collapse involving serious injury to client’s employee.  The citations were later withdrawn.
• Defended paving contractor against indemnity claim brought by consulting engineer.  Case settled favorably to client prior to trial.
• Defended national construction management firm against claims of employment discrimination pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in state and federal courts in multiple jurisdictions, including a defense jury verdict in federal court in Indianapolis.
• Asserted claims on behalf of subcontractors against payment bonds on various public projects across the State of Indiana.

Business and Transactions

• Assisted technology-based startup company with acquisition of patent portfolio and related assets from a venture capital group, and with raising $3 million in capital through private stock offering.
• Assisted family in exiting its 100-year old business through the sale of its commercial real estate, inventory and related assets, and licensure of its trademark, to a real estate developer.
• Assisted family with exiting its outdoor advertising business through the sale of its stock to a publicly-traded competitor.
• Negotiated phantom stock agreement on behalf of technology-based startup company.
• Assisted real estate developer with the acquisition of numerous low-income housing properties from community development corporations using federal grant proceeds.
• Assisted an Estate with the sale of its 50% interest in a closely-held manufacturing business to the surviving shareholder, the defense of claims totaling $1.7 million against the Estate arising out of the decedent’s operation of the business, and the prosecution of a six-figure claim for shareholder distributions withheld from the Estate. 

Awards

• Order of the Coif
• Scribe Award for Excellence in Legal Research and Writing
• Indiana Super Lawyers® Rising Star (2010, 2012-2013)

Community Involvement

• Board of Directors, Ace Mentor Program of Indiana (2010-Present); Vice President (2011-Present).
• President, Board of Directors, Autumn Ridge Homeowners Association (2007-Present).

• Legal Lines, Indianapolis Bar Association
   

Associations

• American Bar Association (Forum on the Construction Industry and Intellectual Property Sections)
• Indiana Bar Association
• Indianapolis Bar Association
• Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (Business Litigation Section Chair, 2007-2009)

Seminars

• Adjunct Professor, Business Law for Technical Managers, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Department of Engineering Management (2011-present).
• “Enjoining Lender and Surety Payments in a Bad Economy,” DTCI Annual Conference, November 2009.

• Business Litigation Case Law Update, DTCI Annual Meeting, November 2007.
• Jury Verdict Update, Insurance Institute of Indiana Defense Seminar: Current Litigation Trends, October 2005.

Publications

• Indefinite Quantities Contracts Revisited, Indiana Lawyer, August 2007
• The Abrogation of the Indiana Common Law Prejudgment Interest Doctrine in Tort Cases, 3 IN. CIV. LIT. REV. 243 (2006)
• Note, Federal Court Jurisdiction Over Private TCPA Claims: Why The Federal Courts of Appeal Got It Right, 52 FED.COMM. L.J. 189 (1999), cited in WRIGHT, MILLER & COOPER: FEDERAL PRAC. & PROC. & 3562, The Meaning of "Arising Under," n. 45.1.

Education

• Indiana University, B.S. Public Affairs—Environmental Science with high distinction (1997)
• Indiana University Maurer School of Law, J.D. magna cum laude (2000)
• Note Editor, Federal Communications Law Journal (1999-2000)

Bar Admission

• Indiana (2000)
• U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana