Whether advising an industry leader or a startup, Susan A. Russell has a deep appreciation for and understanding of her clients’ objectives and resources available for each matter. Her extensive international experience enables her to provide comprehensive and practical strategies to efficiently and effectively resolve complex domestic and international matters.
Susan is a trusted advisor who provides collaborative, practical and actionable counsel to her clients on their trademark, copyright and trade secret transactions, prosecution, enforcement and litigation. She also advises clients on complex domestic and international intellectual property law disputes, social media, online legal disputes, and right of publicity and advertising law.
Susan’s clients are from diverse industries, including technology, banking and finance, manufacturers, healthcare, government, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, energy resources, apparel and fashion companies, musicians, social media companies, and consumer retail and product companies.
Susan advises her clients on USPTO matters, including trademark search and clearance, responses to office actions, and post-registration petitions; TTAB proceedings, including opposition and cancellation matters; UDRP matters, including domain name disputes and transfers; USCRO matters, including trademark applications; DMCA matters, including copyright takedown notices; IP infringement and enforcement matters; and settlement negotiations, including the preparation of settlement agreements.
Susan regularly works with clients on developing and implementing innovative domestic and international trademark and copyright enforcement strategies against infringement. She also works on enforcement matters against entities engaged in counterfeit and gray market goods, including cross-border importation of goods, and works with international customs agencies and IP rights organizations.
Additionally, Susan works with clients on IP contract and license drafting, review and analysis, including music performance agreements, sponsorship agreements, employee IP agreements and IP assignments. She also conducts IP audits, valuation and due diligence.
Susan is committed to giving back to her community through volunteering her time to working with pro bono clients, such as by working with a military veteran to develop and protect his trademark and copyright portfolio.
Susan volunteers more than 50 hours each year to help local artists protect and enforce their IP rights and navigate all manner of agreements. She also helps families who have children with disabilities enforce their reasonable accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Representative Matters :
- Successfully secured reinstatement of a client’s house trademark that had been declared abandoned by the USPTO for almost two years.
- Worked with a client to successfully identify the source of infringing IP, and secured an agreement and compliance from the infringer to cease and desist.
- Prevailed in defending a trademark owner from claims of infringement by a serial trademark opposer before the TTAB; established that the opposer had abandoned its mark and committed fraud upon the Trademark Office, enabling the client to register its mark.
- Counseled a bank with respect to compliance requirements for its multistate advertising campaign, including advising on state statutes and federal regulations and guidelines, the FTC Act, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and the Truth in Lending Act’s Regulation Z.
Professional and Community Involvement :
- American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section, IP Transactions and Licensing Committee, Member
- International Trademark Association, Member
- Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, Leadership Committee, Member
- The Junior League of Atlanta, Sustaining Member
- Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Pro Bono Volunteer
- Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, Pro Bono Volunteer
EDUCATION :
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, LL.M., 2004
- University of Oklahoma College of Law, J.D., 2003
- University of Oklahoma, B.A., cum laude, 2000
BAR ADMISSIONS : Georgia
COURT ADMISSIONS :
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Supreme Court of Georgia
- Georgia Court of Appeals
Cost
Rate : $$$