Christine P. Searls
Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd.
Christie Searls currently serves as Senior Associate General Counsel to CenturyLink (a Fortune 200 company) where she has directed the legal department's intellectual property practice group since 2008. Ms. Searls' organization manages and enforces CenturyLink's patent and trademark assets worldwide, defends the company against third party intellectual property assertions, and advises CenturyLink on a broad range of intellectual property issues including use of third-party intellectual property, FOSS licensing and compliance, and intellectual property ownership and indemnification risk. In 2013, Ms. Searls and her team were named Best In-house Internet and Telecommunications Trademark Team by the World Trademark Review. Ms. Searls also leads the CenturyLink legal department's award-winning pro bono and community service programs. Prior to joining CenturyLink (through its predecessor, Qwest Communications) Ms. Searls led the intellectual property team for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and before that worked as a litigator for a Denver-based litigation boutique firm. Ms. Searls earned her Juris Doctorate in 1991 from the University of Colorado School of Law.
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