Skip to Main Content
Overview

With a strong foundation in intellectual property law and a practice centered on complex licensing agreements, Kris helps clients protect, commercialize, and leverage IP to enhance their businesses.

Kris represents clients in the healthcare, life sciences, education, retail, financial, and other industries in a wide range of complex technology and intellectual property licensing matters. She devotes a significant portion of her practice to IT services, software as a service (SaaS) and software licensing, and other technology agreements, particularly for large health systems and hospitals, universities, and academic medical centers.

In many cases, she will oversee a client’s entire trademark portfolio, handle all of their technology agreements, draft and review IT contracts and IP policies, and oversee all IT contract workflow, including work with internal AI systems.

In addition to negotiating patent and technology licensing matters for universities, she has represented many institutions in contentious negotiations involving their intellectual property policies. Kris also assists clients with sophisticated patent licensing and research agreements, representing both patent holders and entities working to commercialize patents.

Before she went to law school, Kris worked for several years as a high school chemistry and mathematics teacher. Her background in education not only gives her a keen perspective on the challenges faced by universities and academic medical centers, but also gives her a broader ability to interact with clients in a manner that helps them understand complex intellectual property and licensing concepts. As a bonus, her second job as a real estate agent during her teaching career gave Kris a unique view on what it takes to get deals closed.

Industries

Services

Recognition

  • The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Trademark Law, 2024 and 2025
  • Missouri Lawyers Media, Women's Justice Awards, Innovation & Technology, 2021
  • Missouri Lawyers Weekly, "Up & Coming Lawyer," 2014
  • KC Business Magazine, Rising Stars, Class of 2013

Education

  • J.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
    • TWA Environmental Law Scholarship
    • University of Missouri-Kansas City Student Government Association Superior Court, Chief Justice
    • Urban Lawyer, Articles Editor
  • B.S., Kansas State University

Admissions

  • Missouri
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City
  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section
  • The Missouri Bar
2024 Pro Bono Contributor
Experience

Licensing Agreements

  • Served as outside IT Contracts counsel for a major multinational retailer. This role included negotiating a $40 million HR software agreement.
  • Negotiated multimillion-dollar EMR and other types of software agreements on behalf of large hospital systems.
  • Drafted and negotiated technology and software development agreements on behalf of leading global aviation client.
  • Represented global engineering firm as it sold one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries to a group of employees who were leaving the company to run the wholly-owned subsidiary as a separate and standalone company, including negotiating five intellectual property agreements.
  • Assisted a wearable technology company with a sophisticated patent licensing agreement.
  • Led more than 20 software licensing negotiations on behalf of banks and other financial institutions.
  • Served as opposing counsel on deals involving what most in the industry consider the top four banking software solution providers.

Intellectual Property Portfolio Management and Strategy

  • Prepared and prosecuted patents for medical device company's anchor device for heart surgery.
  • Provided intellectual property work, including Food and Drug Administration (FDA), trademarks and warranty, for West Coast medical device company that manufactures systems for respiratory care.
  • Drafted patents for startup company that creates polymer-based, orthopedic 3-D casts.
  • Prosecuted patent for surgical device that stabilizes femur for incisions.
  • Handled issues such as trademark infringement and domain name disputes for educational institutions.
  • Advised on issues related to name, image, likeness licensing for university athletes.

Other Relevant Experience

  • Advised SCL Health System on sale of Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, and Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth, Kansas, to California-based Prime Healthcare Services. Transaction completed less than three months after Prime Healthcare was selected as preferred bidder in nationwide auction process.
  • Represented Springfield, Missouri-based CoxHealth in completing affiliation transaction with Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson, Missouri.
News Releases | September 11, 2023
Husch Blackwell Named 2023 M&A Advisor Awards Finalist
News Releases | February 28, 2022
Husch Blackwell Guides LivWell in Sale to PharmaCann
Media Mentions | October 18, 2021
Missouri Lawyers Media: WJA 2021: Kristine L. Kappel
Outside the Office

Kris and her kids are baseball fans who enjoy going to Royals games.

She is also a runner who frequently participates in half-marathons and 10Ks. Additionally, Kris enjoys cooking in her free time.

Community Leadership
  • BVN Triple Crown Club – Secretary 2018-present
  • CommunityLINC, Board of Directors, 2014-2019
  • Niles Home for Children, Board of Directors, 2005-2013
Follow Kris on Twitter