Meet Gonzaga Law’s New Associate Dean for Faculty Research & Development

Gonzaga Law is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Jessica Kiser is the law school’s new Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development. On taking on this new role, Kiser says, “I have always loved helping our students set goals and then touting their successes when those goals are achieved. As Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development, I am excited to bring the same enthusiasm to assisting and celebrating my fellow faculty members.”  

I have always loved helping our students set goals and then touting their successes when those goals are achieved.

Before Kiser joined the Gonzaga Law faculty, she taught at Loyola New Orleans College of Law and practiced in the New York City office of Kirkland & Elli’s Transactional Intellectual Property Group. She earned her juris doctor from Columbia University where she was a senior editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts. She earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and a B.S. in Communication (Advertising), both summa cum laude, from Boston University.

In the classroom, Kiser teaches introductory and advanced courses in the law school’s intellectual property curriculum as well as courses in property and business associations. Last year, Kiser won the Ladas Memorial Award from the International Trademark Association for her development of a new intellectual property regime called “Brandright.” This regime would provide affirmative use rights, called brandrights, to consumers. Kiser has argued that trademark law can encourage, and even force, trademark owners to silence consumers who want to create fan websites of groups devoted to a beloved trademark and brand. She argues that this new right, granted to consumers rather than brand owners, will help to formalize the rights of consumers to use trademark-related information for expressive purposes.  

Gonzaga Law Dean Jacob H. Rooksby says that “Jessica brings to the position an impressive publication record and scholarly agenda, as well as a commitment to helping all faculty colleagues enhance our contributions to the academy and the profession in various forms.”