Research and Teaching Interests
Intellectual Property Law
Large Language Models in Legal Research
Computational Law & Legal Analytics
Trademark Law
Empirical Legal Studies
Law & Technology
Multifactor Legal Tests
Contracts
Commercial Law
Business Law
Property Law
Research Statement
My research asks whether all the factors in a multifactor legal test actually matter. Using large-scale empirical analysis, I test what I call the “multifactor collapse hypothesis”: elaborate balancing tests reduce in practice to a few operative factors, even as courts insist on weighing them all. If this hypothesis holds across doctrinal areas, it matters for judicial economy, practitioner strategy, legal education, and legislative design.
My first study tested this hypothesis in trademark law. I used large language models to code about 4,000 Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decisions applying the thirteen-factor DuPont likelihood-of-confusion test. A fixed rule using two factors, mark similarity and relatedness of the goods, matched the Board’s outcome in 99.55% of 4,651 mark comparisons (one decision can compare more than one pair of marks). The study, published in the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, challenges how the DuPont test has been applied since 1973. It drew trade-press coverage and was cited in a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. A follow-on study, Factors and Fictions, applies the same method to federal court confusion decisions. My current research also addresses copyright fair use and patent remedies.
The method carries across doctrinal areas: large language models code each decision, and I check the coding against human review before relying on it. Multifactor tests pervade American law, from the fair use analysis in copyright to the reasonableness inquiry in Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure to the balancing frameworks in dormant Commerce Clause and due process jurisprudence. My long-term research agenda aims to measure how far doctrine-as-applied departs from doctrine-as-written across these domains.
Published and Forthcoming Scholarship
Doctrine, Data, and the Death of DuPont: An Empirical Analysis of Trademark Confusion at the TTAB
36 Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal 678 (2026)
SSRN Top Downloads, Intellectual Property: Empirical Studies eJournal · Cited in the petition for certiorari in World Champ Tech, LLC v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., No. 25-736 (U.S. filed Dec. 17, 2025) (cert. denied Feb. 23, 2026)
What the DuPont Factors Actually Do: A Large-Scale Empirical Study of Trademark Confusion at the TTAB
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (forthcoming 2027) (peer reviewed)
Accepted for publication; awaiting production at Wiley. Claude Sonnet 4.5’s coding agreed with the author’s hand review on 97.11% of 1,002 factor-level findings (95% CI 95.87% to 97.98%; one non-blind reviewer).
The Missing Jury: Fact, Law, and Who Actually Decides Trademark Confusion
2026 U. Ill. L. Rev. Online 64 (2026)
Responding to the Supreme Court’s June 29, 2026 grant of certiorari in RiseandShine Corp. v. PepsiCo, Inc., No. 24-1016.
On Confusion: A Restatement of Trademark’s Likelihood-of-Confusion Test
67 IDEA (forthcoming 2027)
Working Papers
Factors and Fictions: The Empirical Collapse of the Likelihood-of-Confusion Test Across the Federal Courts
Working paper (2026)
The Anatomy of Confusion: A Statistical Dissection of the Multifactor Test
Working paper (2026)
Work in Progress
Multifactor Mythology: The Fiction of Holistic Adjudication
In progress
Examines multifactor collapse across nine doctrinal domains and asks whether the legal fiction of holistic balancing can justify its costs.
Amicus Brief
Brief of Amicus Curiae Thomas A. Reichert in Support of Neither Party
RiseandShine Corp. v. PepsiCo, Inc., No. 24-1016 (U.S. filed July 20, 2026)
Sole author; Sheila J. Simon, counsel of record.
Digital Scholarship and Commentary
The Fair Use Database
Free public research database (2026); sole creator and maintainer
Codes every substantive federal fair use opinion down to the sub-factor, with pin-cited quotations and published reliability statistics. Its research assistant, Folsom, answers only from citable corpus evidence. Checked against 453 human-coded analyses, the coding agrees on 97.4% of holding outcomes (kappa 0.950) and 94.7% of factor directions.
The Board Changes Its Mind Without Changing the Record: Factor Six After Apex Bank
The TTABlog (Aug. 14, 2026) (invited guest post)
Examines the Board’s reversal on DuPont factor six after the Federal Circuit’s remand in Apex Bank v. CC Serve Corp., where the outcome changed without any addition to the evidentiary record.
Presentations
Upcoming
“DuPont’s Abrupt AI Obituary: Are There Only Two Likelihood of Confusion Factors Left to Balance?”
Panelist, Midwest IP Institute, Minnesota Continuing Legal Education, Minneapolis, MN (Sept. 25, 2026)
“The Missing Jury: Who Decides Trademark Confusion?”
Scholars in Conversation, SIU Simmons Law School, Carbondale, IL (Sept. 30, 2026)
Bar and CLE Programs
“Multifactor Mythology: What If Most Factors in Balancing Tests Don’t Matter?”
Virtual CLE, SIU Simmons Law School (Apr. 27, 2026); CLE Presentation, Jackson County Bar Association, Carbondale, IL (Apr. 16, 2026)
“Rethinking Likelihood of Confusion: Data-Driven Insights for TTAB Practice”
Kansas City IP Symposium, Lawyers Association of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO (Apr. 23, 2026)
Scholarly Conferences and Workshops
“Factors and Fictions: The Empirical Collapse of the Likelihood-of-Confusion Test Across the Federal Courts”
Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School (Aug. 6 to 7, 2026); New Scholars Program, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, FL (July 27, 2026); Chicagoland Summer IP Workshop, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (June 24, 2026)
“Doctrine, Data, and the Death of DuPont”
Chicagoland Junior Scholars Conference, Loyola University Chicago School of Law (Sept. 26 to 27, 2025)
Other Invited Talks
“Cryptocurrency and the Law”
Invited Speaker, Blockchain and Economics Club, Southern Illinois University (Apr. 2, 2026)
“Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence Services as Medical Students: Responsibility in the Age of Automated Medicine”
Invited Speaker, MEDPREP, Southern Illinois University (July 10, 2025)
Teaching
SIU Simmons Law School, Assistant Professor of Law (Aug. 2025 to present)
Courses: Business Organizations (Fall 2025, Fall 2026); Contracts I (Fall 2025); Contracts II (Spring 2026); Property I (Fall 2026); Property II and Intellectual Property (Spring 2027, scheduled).
Student evaluations: Contracts I, 4.83/5 and Business Organizations, 4.93/5 (Fall 2025); Contracts II, 4.77/5 (Spring 2026). Each score was above the law-school comparison, and all 12 Spring 2026 instructor measures were classified Much Higher. I created an AI-assisted contract-drafting exercise that integrates large language models into doctrinal instruction.
SIU College of Business and Analytics, Assistant Professor of Practice (Aug. 2024 to Aug. 2025)
Courses: Business Law; Legal and Social Environment of Business; Advanced Corporate Finance.
Legal Experience
Patent Attorney, Washington, D.C. (remote)
Prosecuted U.S. and international patent portfolios involving machine learning, artificial intelligence, medical systems, software, and mechanical technologies.
Intellectual Property Attorney, Kansas City, Missouri
Drafted and prosecuted patent applications; provided global trademark prosecution, enforcement, clearance, and dispute-resolution counsel; negotiated IP licenses and development agreements.
Education
Juris Doctor, cum laude
Editor, Southern Illinois University Law Journal
Master of Business Administration, cum laude
Master of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Bachelor of Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Selected Awards and Research Support
Summer Research Appointment ($10,000)
SIU Simmons Law School, June 2026
CALI Excellence for the Future Awards
Trademarks and Unfair Competition (Fall 2017); Patent Law (Spring 2017)
Top of Class (4.0)
Trusts and Estates (Spring 2018); Civil Procedure I (Spring 2016); Contracts I (Fall 2015)
Full-Tuition Scholarship
Southern Illinois University School of Law, Aug. 2015 to May 2018
Selected Service
Chair, Ad Hoc AI Committee
SIU Simmons Law School, Sept. 2026 to present
Appointments Committee
SIU Simmons Law School, Fall 2025; reappointed for 2026 to 2027; search resulted in three faculty hires
Member, Faculty Development Committee
SIU Simmons Law School, 2026 to 2027
Steering Committee Representative
Southeastern Association of Law Schools, July 2026
Faculty Advisor, Intellectual Property Law Society
SIU Simmons Law School, Aug. 2025 to present
Peer Referee, Jurimetrics
Empirical trademark-strength manuscript (Apr. 2026)
Judge, Illinois Junior Academy of Science
Region 8 Fair (2023 to 2026); State Fair (2023)
Admissions
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Registered Patent Attorney, Reg. No. 77,326 (registered 2018)
Illinois
Attorney, ARDC No. 6343575 (admitted 2023)
Missouri
Attorney, Missouri Bar No. 71135 (admitted 2018)
Curriculum Vitae
The full CV, including every presentation, institutional review, and honor.
View CV (PDF)
Put the Research to Work
Want this method applied to your practice area or your audience?