Kandis Koustenis is a shareholder with Bean, Kinney & Korman, focusing her practice on intellectual property strategies, protection, and enforcement. She helps clients manage branding, advertising, and content-related issues including global brand strategies, portfolio development and management, trademark and copyright registration, and advertising claims review. Kandis also assists clients with commercial transactions involving intellectual property including trademark, copyright, and data licensing agreements, privacy policies, and terms of use. She has successfully prosecuted hundreds of trademarks before the USPTO (including for Leidos, International Association of Dental Research, American Diabetes Association, and Huxley & Kent) and directing global maintenance, renewals, and enforcement.
Kandis has extensive experience resolving clients’ disputes in federal court litigation across the country and before the U.S. trademark office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Kandis has successfully resolved disputes for leading U.S. companies and successful startups in diverse industries such as nonprofits, financial services, fashion and lifestyle brands, authors and artists, architects and builders, and restaurants.
Kandis is a native Virginian who returned to this area after practicing intellectual property law in New York City for 20 years. Her experience includes stints as in-house intellectual property counsel for Toys “R” Us / Babies “R” Us and the Kenneth Cole group of fashion and lifestyle brands. Kandis’s in-house experience has enhanced her ability to provide practical, business and budget driven advice to clients.
Kandis attended the University of Virginia for her undergraduate education and graduated cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. After graduating from Georgetown, Kandis clerked for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, United States District Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Service Areas
Bar & Court Admissions
- Virginia, 2017
- District of Columbia, 2013
- New York, 1992
- Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Education
- Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., cum laude, 1991
- University of Virginia, B.A., 1987
Awards & Affiliations
Awards
- Arlington Magazine, Top Attorney – Intellectual Property, 2019, 2021-2025
- World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) Leader, 2019-2024
- Virginia Business, Legal Elite in Intellectual Property/Information Technology, 2017-2025
Professional Affiliations
- International Trademark Association, member, (2022 – Present)
- Virginia Women Attorneys Association, Northern Virginia Chapter, board member (2024 – Present)
Blogs
Videos
News & Publications
Recent Highlights
Blog Post
Employment Law Landmines for Federal Contractors
Event
Nonprofit Forum
Video
The BKK Beat, Episode 27: Employment and IP Law in the News
News / Publication
2026 Super Lawyers
Blog Post
What is Worrying Our Nonprofit Clients – Part III: Staffing and Talent
Event
On Board
Video
The BKK Beat, Episode 26: Employment and IP Law in the News
News / Publication
