Laurence R. Hefter

Senior Counsel

Laurence Hefter’s practice includes all aspects of patent and trademark law including litigation, prosecution, licensing, and counseling. Mr. Hefter has broad experience in intellectual property matters, both as a corporate attorney and in private practice.

Mr. Hefter has been extremely successful with both jury and nonjury trials nationwide, including trademark and patent cases in Maryland, Virginia, New York, District of Columbia, Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, and Oklahoma. He has served as first chair in a variety of litigation matters involving a wide array of technologies and has argued before several U.S. Courts of Appeals. In addition, he has also served as a mediator and neutral in patent and trademark cases.

Through his earlier association with General Electric Corporation and as head of the Mechanical Group of the Patent and Trademark Department of Atlantic Research Corporation, Mr. Hefter gained considerable insight into the workings of a corporation. He is familiar with the political and philosophical issues that in-house counsel face and has first-hand experience that enables him to assist in-house counsel with these issues.

Highlights

• Served as an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School, where he taught trademark law.
• Served on the Trademark Review Commission of the United States Trademark Association (now the International Trademark Association), of which work resulted in the important Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988.
• Selected to serve as a panelist on the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and INTA Trademark and Unfair Competition Panel of Neutrals.
• Served on the Board of Governors of the Brand Names Education Foundation (2000-2005).

Professional Recognition

• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (1995-2010).
• Ranked among top U.S. trademark lawyers in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Trademark Law Practitioners (2006, 2008, 2010).
• Ranked among top U.S. patent lawyers in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Lawyers (2006, 2008).
• Named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top lawyers in Washington, D.C.
• Listed in The International Who's Who of Trademark Lawyers 2009.

Professional Activities

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Member, Advisory Committee for Patents and Trademarks, 1988-1990)
• Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Section on Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law
• New York State Bar, Sections on Litigation; Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law
• American Bar Association (Governing Committee Forum on Franchising, 1994, 1997); (Chairman, Committees on: Patents, Administrative Law Section, 1975, 1976); (Patent Office Affairs, 1976, 1978); (Patent and Trademark Office Affairs, Section on Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, 1977, 1980); (Unfair Competition and Trade Identity, 1980, 1981)
• International Bar Association (Chairman, Committees on: Patents, 1985, 1986); (Trademarks, 1987, 1990)
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (Chairman, Trademark Committee, 1979, 1981); (Member, Board of Directors, 1981, 1984)
• International Trademark Association (Member, Board of Directors, 1982, 1984); (Member, Trademark Review Commission)

Select Publications

• Coauthor. "U.S. Trademark Dilution Act Likely to be Reinvigorated," Trademark World, October 2006.
• Coauthor. "Victoria's Secret: The Aftermath," Trademark World, May 2003.
• Coauthor. "US Courts in Quandry Over ‘Abandoned’ Trademarks," IP Worldwide, May/June 1999.
• Coauthor. "How to Use (and Attack) Consumer Surveys in Trademark Infringement and False Advertising Cases," Trademark World, March 1999.
• Coauthor. "Trademark Law and Related Franchising Issues," Fundamentals of Franchising, ABA, 1997.
• Coauthor. "Making Your Brands Work Harder," Branding: A Key Marketing Tool, 1987.