PRACTICE FOCUS
Laura J. Winston is the chair of the firm's Intellectual Property group. Ms. Winston focuses her law practice primarily in the areas of trademarks, copyrights and the internet, representing a broad range of both domestic and international clients from individual business owners and small startup ventures to established Fortune 500 and publicly traded companies.
Ms. Winston’s experience covers various industries, including animal health, gaming software and hardware, alternative energy, travel and transportation, and numerous others.
Ms. Winston is known for her strategic counseling when registering trademarks and has been referred to as a litigation avoidance advocate due to her thoughtful and creative solutions for avoiding or resolving disputes.
Ms. Winston covers the full gamut of trademark services, whether it involves transactions, searching and clearance, acquisition and registration, opposition and cancellation proceedings, and domain name dispute resolution. In the circumstances where it is not possible to stay out of the courtroom, Ms. Winston is prepared and willing to handle litigation matters on behalf of her clients.
Ms. Winston is an active member of the International Trademark Association (“INTA”). She currently serves on INTA’s Public Information Committee and is a former subcommittee chair of INTA’s Brands and Innovation Committee. She has acted as a facilitator of INTA Table Topic discussions for U.S. and international participants in the areas of trademark selection and clearance, the finer points of securing trademark registrations, and cost-effective international trademark protection strategies. She is also on the faculty of Brand School Masterclass by BrandTwist, an online branding course targeted to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Ms. Winston is an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law.
POINTS OF DISTINCTION
Offit Kurman prides itself on the cross-practice and geographically flexible services it is able to offer to current and potential clients. Ms. Winston has successfully executed multiple cross-practice collaborations across regions throughout the firm and is known for her thorough, responsive, clear, and concise counseling style.
HONORS
- World’s Leading Trademark Professionals (WTR1000), 2023:
- Noted for “social media, internet and software expertise” and for her "strategic counseling and responsiveness”)
- Oppendahl's Toteboards, 2022
- Recognized for trademark registrations, utility patent grants, and for design patent grants