Laura T. Geyer
Practice Areas
- eControl
- Intellectual Property, Entertainment, and Technology Protection
Industries
Education
- American University Washington College of Law, J.D., 1998, cum laude
- American University Law Review, special projects editor, 1997-1998
- Oberlin College, B.A., 1990
Bar & Court Admissions
Laura is a partner in the Vorys Washington, D.C. office and a member of the intellectual property, media, technology and entertainment group. She counsels clients on a variety of aspects of intellectual property law including trademark, copyright, and internet law issues; IP issues related to social media and licensing and due diligence for IP transactions and disputes.
During her 20-year career in IP law, Laura has worked on a broad variety of issues including: trademark prosecution from clearance to registration; trademark infringement and conflict resolution (from demand letter to inter partespractice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board); as well as international trademark disputes . In addition, she has counseled clients on internet and domain disputes and has filed and managed domain disputes in both national and international forums. Laura also has significant experience conducting due diligence and has managed IP due diligence review as part of a multidisciplinary team responsible for counseling clients on international and national high-stakes corporate transactions. She is also a member of the Vorys eControl team.
Prior to joining Vorys, Laura was an attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and at Jones Day. She also wrote for the Bloomberg Corporation's then-new B-LAW legal reference service.
Laura received her J.D. cum laude from the Washington College of Law at American University, where she was the special projects editor of the American University Law Review. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College.
Professional and Community Activities
- Intellectual Property Owners Association, Member, 2017
News
- 1/1/2018Vorys is pleased to announce that Kelly Bissinger, Joseph Brunner, Laura Geyer, David Hine, Jacinto Núñez, Daniel Shuey and Keith Zabela became partners on January 1, 2018.
- 2/13/2014Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP announced that Laura Geyer has joined the firm as of counsel in the Washington, D.C. office. She will practice in the intellectual property (IP), media, technology and entertainment group and counsel clients on a variety of aspects related to intellectual property law.
Events
- 1/31/2018Vorys hosted the webinar, Year in Review: Our Top IP Developments of 2017 on January 31, 2018. Iona Kaiser, Bill Oldach, Tanya Curcio and Laura Geyer from the Vorys IP team presented.
Insights
- 4/1/2020The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced on March 31, 2020 that certain patent and trademark filing and payment deadlines have been extended in response to delays caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
- 3/30/2020In these unforeseen and unique circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to keep our clients abreast of how patent and trademark offices around the world are handling deadlines and other issues.
- 8/30/2018Laura Geyer, a partner in the Vorys Washington, D.C. office, authored an article for Westlaw’s Intellectual Property Journal.
- 7/31/2018Currently, to maintain or renew a United States trademark registration, the registrant must file a Declaration of Use stating the mark is in use in commerce in connection with each listed good or service in the registration.
- 3/2/2018Now that March is here we want to take a moment to remind you that MARCH MADNESS is a registered trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
- 3/13/2017Picture this: your company operates a website which allows users to post material such as music, drawings, videos or photographs. One day your company receives a letter alleging copyright infringement and demanding a large sum of money from your company because one of those user-generated posts included copyright-protected materials without the owner’s authorization.
- 2/3/2017More changes are going into effect at the Trademark Office that may increase the vulnerability of trademark registrations both during prosecution and after registration.
- 1/5/2017After ten years with no change, on January 14, 2017, new filing fees in the Trademark Office and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) and revised rules of procedure before the Board for both new and pending cases will go into effect.
- 8/22/2016With Ohio set to become the 25th state to legalize marijuana for medical use, there are inevitably many questions about how to legally operate marijuana-related businesses in those states.
- 7/6/2016In the wake of the surprise outcome of the United Kingdom referendum on whether to leave the European Union (aka, the Brexit), many clients have asked what they should do to ensure continued trademark protection in the UK for their existing European Union (EU) registrations and future applications.
- 6/14/2016U.S. Customs and Border Control (CBC) is a powerful ally in the battle to prevent counterfeits from reaching the U.S. market. In 2015 an estimated 11 million maritime containers arrived on U.S. shores carrying imported products from all over the world.
- 10/13/2015Your company spends vast resources developing and protecting its brand. A brand or trademark is shorthand communication for your company’s values and the quality of your products or services. Obtaining a trademark registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides the fullest protection under the law.
- 8/18/2014Selecting a name or brand for a new product or service involves multiple considerations, some of which are not obvious at first and can haunt the company later. Marketing teams struggle with choosing a name that balances the right message and image to attract the target consumers while informing those consumers of the benefits and functions of the new product or service. During this process it is easy to forget that brands are valuable assets and protectable property under trademark law. Trademarks are the public face of a product or company and hold the reputation and goodwill of the company, typically for many years and even generations. Thus, it is important to select the strongest trademarks to lay a strong foundation for a long-term asset. Following are five considerations, beyond the marketing concerns, to assist in selecting a strong new brand.