Repeatedly honored by her peers as one of Minnesota’s top IP lawyers, Laura has more than 25 years of experience assisting clients in building value in their brands and other competitive assets, from their initial states of development through and including their maintenance, protection, and defense. Laura provides counseling, dispute resolution, and litigation services to businesses and individuals in the areas of trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, advertising, unfair competition, and related business torts. She has successfully represented many dozens of clients in disputes involving trademark infringement, copyright infringement, false advertising, and related claims in courts across the country, in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and in arbitration settings.
Laura cochairs Gray Plant Mooty’s Trademark and Intellectual Property Litigation teams and was the first woman elected to Gray Plant Mooty’s Board of Directors, serving two terms in the 1990s.
She is a frequent lecturer on trademark and copyright issues. In 2002, the U.S. District Court (District of Minnesota) appointed Laura to serve on its Federal Practice Committee, which advises and assists the Court regarding its local rules of practice and procedure.
In 2008, Laura was appointed to the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Fiercely practical, efficient, and creative in helping others reach their goals, Laura truly enjoys her relationships with her clients. When she is not busy solving other people's problems, she is a total movie geek who also makes a mean curry and has been known to smash large insects without fear.
Experience
- Represents clients in disputes involving greeting card and stationery designs, false advertising, clothing designs, privacy rights, Internet domain names, jingles and slogans, motion pictures, gray market imports, franchise terminations, packaging designs, publishing contracts, maps, software, quilt patterns, jewelry designs, and Web site designs.
Representative Cases
- Saul Zaentz Co. v. Wozniak Travel, Inc., 627 F. Supp. 2d 1096 (N.D. Cal. 2008) (producer of Lord of the Rings films’ trademark infringement claims rejected on summary judgment in client’s favor, where client had used its mark HOBBIT TRAVEL for three decades)
- Southern Grouts & Mortars, Inc. v. 3M Company, 575 F.3d 1235 (11th Cir. 2009) (affirming summary judgment granted in client’s favor in domain name dispute involving trademark infringement and cybersquatting claims)
- Taylor Corp. v. Four Seasons Greetings, LLC, 403 F.3d 958 (8th Cir. 2005) (affirming copyright infringement verdict in client’s favor)
- R.H. Donnelley, Inc. v. USA Northland Directories, Inc., File No. 04-4144 (D. Minn. 2004) (denying opponent’s motion to enjoin client’s use of the color red for telephone directories)
- Mid-List Press v. Nora, 374 F.3d 690 (8th Cir. 2004) (affirming grant of summary judgment in favor of literary publisher against its former director and officer on claims for trademark infringement and breach of fiduciary duty); District Court opinion at 275 F. Supp. 2d 997 (D. Minn. 2003)
- Taylor Corp. v. Four Seasons Greetings, LLC, 315 F. 3d 1039 (8th Cir. 2003) (affirming preliminary injunction in copyright infringement dispute involving greeting card designs)
- Thimbleberries, Inc. v. C&F Enterprises, Inc., 142 F. Supp. 2d 1132 (D. Minn. 2001) (preliminarily enjoining distribution and sale of table linens bearing infringing quilt design and ordering recall of infringing goods)
- United Agri-Services, Inc. v. Nebraska Cultures, Inc., et al., File No. 98-CV-2437 (D. Minn. 2000) (granting motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction based on defendant’s operation of interactive internet website)
- Synergistic International, Inc. v. Landes, File No. 99-CV-1461 (D. Minn. 2000) (granting summary judgment in favor of national franchisor and enjoining defendant after 18 years of remote junior use of franchisor’s mark)
- American Dairy Queen Corp. v. New Line Productions, Inc., 35 F. Supp. 2d 727 (D. Minn. 1998) (preliminarily enjoining defendant from using "Dairy Queens" as a motion picture title; film ultimately released under the title "Drop Dead Gorgeous")
Publications
- "The Truth is Not Enough: Minimize Your Risk of False Advertising Claims," Franchise Times, November/December 2006
Presentations
- “It’s Not Fair! Or is it? Copyright and Fair Use,” Midwest IP Institute, September 2008
- "Beyond Brand X: The Decision to Use Another’s Trademark in Your Advertising," Trademark Law 2007, March 2007
- “Trademark Infringement Damages,” Midwest IP Institute, October 2006
- “Copycats Beware: Avoiding Copyright Infringement”
- “Trademark Protection for Colleges and Universities”
- “Hot Topics in Trademark Dilution,” INTA Roundtable, 2003
Education
- University of Iowa College of Law, J.D., with distinction, 1983
- Grinnell College, B.A. in English, 1978
Bar Admissions
- U.S. Supreme Court, 2004
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1986
- U.S. District Court, District of Western Michigan, 1996
- U.S. District Court, District of Eastern Michigan, 1988
- U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, 1984
- Minnesota, 1984
Professional Activities
- International Trademark Association
- Minnesota Intellectual Property Association
Honors and Distinctions
- “Minnesota Super Lawyer®,” Thomson/Reuters, 2003-2011
- “Top 100 Female Super Lawyers,” Minnesota Super Lawyers, Thomson/Reuters, 2006-2011
- “Top 40 Intellectual Property Lawyers,” Minnesota Super Lawyers, Thomson/Reuters, 2004-2011
- Named one of Minnesota’s top intellectual property litigators by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2005-2011
- Selected for inclusion in Who’s Who Legal USA (trademarks)
Community Involvement
- Minnesota Board of Law Examiners, 2008-present
- Frank Theatre, past president
- Minnesota 100, past volunteer mentor