{"id":2979,"date":"2021-02-26T09:33:28","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T14:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=2979"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:40:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:40:51","slug":"career-spotlight-jennifer-liu-chief-legal-officer-the-pokemon-company-international-inc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2021\/02\/career-spotlight-jennifer-liu-chief-legal-officer-the-pokemon-company-international-inc\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Spotlight – Jennifer Liu, Chief Legal Officer, The Pok\u00e9mon Company International, Inc."},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, the storied Pok\u00e9mon franchise began with the Japan release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green on the Game Boy. Many of us recall playing classics like\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Red\/Blue\/Yellow, Gold\/Silver\/Crystal, and others through the years. When I initially went home at the start of the pandemic, I found my old Game Boy and a copy of\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Emerald, and I took a trip down memory lane (and through the\u00a0Elite Four, again) with my level 86 Swampert and the rest of the team.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ahead of Pok\u00e9mon’s 25th Anniversary, we have a special treat here at JSEL. I interviewed Jennifer Liu, the Chief Legal Officer of The Pok\u00e9mon Company International, Inc., for a Career Spotlight. Jennifer was kind enough to take the time to answer our questions. Congratulations to Pok\u00e9mon on 25 amazing years.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#aaaaaa” size=”6″]<\/div>\n

Name, Position, and Location:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Liu, Chief Legal Officer, The Pok\u00e9mon Company International, Inc. (based in Bellevue, Washington)<\/p>\n

Practice Areas\/Industries:\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Media and Entertainment<\/p>\n

Education:<\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Michigan, University of Iowa<\/p>\n

What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming 25th anniversary of Pok\u00e9mon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being new to The Pok\u00e9mon Company International (TPCi), I\u2019m looking forward to seeing the outpouring of love, excitement and appreciation from Pok\u00e9mon aficionados of all ages. Since joining the company, seeing a diverse community unite over their Pok\u00e9mon fandom has to be one of the most heart-warming things I\u2019ve ever experienced. So many partners and people are helping us celebrate this very special anniversary \u2013 from Katy Perry and Post Malone to Bear Walker, whose gorgeous limited-edition Pok\u00e9mon themed skateboards came out in January \u2013 there\u2019s just a lot of celebration that TPCi wants to share with its fan family throughout the year. Watch this channel<\/a>!<\/p>\n

What do you most enjoy about your job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Solving problems to help bring Pok\u00e9mon to the fan community! Creating elegant solutions to complex problems is really a joy.<\/p>\n

How did you begin working in the entertainment law industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started working at Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC in 2000, the year the PlayStation\u00ae2 console launched. SCEA was a client of the intellectual property boutique firm where I was working; my practice was largely an injunction practice in intellectual property litigation. Having a grounding in intellectual property is a great foundation for an entertainment law practice.<\/p>\n

What has been one highlight from your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re more like war stories. One of the more gratifying experiences from earlier in my career was invalidating as generic the trademark of a company who thought they would shake us down for more than a \u00a0million dollars, which was a lot of money, once upon a time. We went to the Eighth Circuit and won on summary judgment on two grounds: the plaintiff\u2019s trademark was generic and therefore not protected and there was no likelihood of confusion between their mark and our use.<\/p>\n

What piece of advice would you give to a current law student?\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

No time is wasted. That\u2019s not the same thing as, \u201cdon\u2019t waste time.\u201d I\u2019m saying that if you spend time on doing things you really enjoy doing and get into the details \u2013 from playing video games to dabbling in the markets \u2013 you\u2019re going to pick up information and knowledge that is going to be useful to you in your career. What does take practice is flexing your mind to draw analogies, notice similarities, create connections and explore extrapolations. Law school provides some pretty decent training in this area; I advise to extend the practice to everything you encounter.<\/p>\n

What is a recent case or trend in your industry that interested law students should do some research about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entertainment law covers such a broad swath of practices, from litigation to licensing. If you\u2019re supporting a client who produces creative works like video games or linear content, the acceptable First Amendment boundary for use of another\u2019s intellectual property in those creative works continues to develop and is perennially relevant. I also think the distribution cases around what is considered to be \u201cmaking [a work] available\u201d are current and interesting.<\/p>\n

What do you like to do in your free time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So many things. I used to love traveling to places of rich historical interest that many cultures have touched \u2026 now, I\u2019ve had to approximate that by diving deep into a culture\u2019s food history and making those foods in my home kitchen (a poor substitute for a local restaurant, but I do what I can).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eli Nachmany is a second-year law student at Harvard Law School and the Managing Editor (Print) of the <\/em>Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, the storied Pok\u00e9mon franchise began with the Japan release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green on the Game Boy. Many of us recall playing classics like\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Red\/Blue\/Yellow, Gold\/Silver\/Crystal, and others through the years. When I initially went home at the start of the pandemic, I found my old Game Boy and 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