Laura L. Chapman

Laura Chapman is a partner and Practice Group Leader of the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's San Francisco office.

Areas of Practice

Laura has extensive experience handling, managing and litigating multi-party intellectual property, breach of contract, business fraud, unfair competition, trade secret, non-compete, employee, and customer solicitation cases. She advises clients on intellectual property disputes and clearance matters, drawing on experience as a seasoned litigator to minimize exposure.

Laura is currently lead counsel on numerous patent, trademark, and copyright actions pending in different district courts throughout the U.S. Her recent work includes:

•Won a significant trade dress case at the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) for a large, national retailer. In that case, Converse, Inc. sought unsuccessfully to monopolize the canvas, cap-toe sneaker market and prohibit all imports of a classic style of footwear. Defeated the claims after a one-week trial at the ITC in August of 2015. In the Matter of: Certain Footwear Products, investigation number 337-TA-936, decision dated June 23, 2016.

•Won a trademark case for a California-based, Mexican-style ice cream company after a three week trial, securing an injunction against the defendant-infringers that prohibits them from using works and logos that have been used in Mexico since the 1940s, paving the way for our client to expand its business in the U.S. Paleteria La Michoacana. Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A de C.V, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Case No. 1:11-cv-01623-RC, decision dated May 27, 2016.
•Obtained summary judgment on a significant false advertising case.
•Successful defense of an international retailer and twelve suppliers in a case alleging trademark infringement in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that settled on favorable terms several days before trial in January of 2012.
•Successfully made an emergency motion to stay a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California one day after the court granted the injunction pending appeal the day after the submission of the emergency motion, permitting sales of the subject product to continue the week before Christmas. The case settled two weeks later on favorable terms.

Honors

Legal 500, Intellectual Property, Trademark Litigation, 2017-2019

Top Intellectual Property Lawyer, Daily Journal, 2017-2018

Insights

Articles

• Copyrights on the Gray Market, Law360, August 2, 2012

Intellectual Property Law Blog Posts

• Ninth Circuit Retires Fee-Award Standard, Imports Octane Fitness to Trademark Cases, November 3, 2016
• B&B Hardware v. Hargis - U.S. Supreme Court Declares TTAB Findings Can Have Preclusive Effect on Subsequent Federal Court Decisions, March 30, 2015

Events

•2019 INTA Annual Meeting
May 18-22, 2019

•McCarthy Institute Symposium 2019 at NYU: Trademark Law and Its Challenges
02.01.2019