1001 West Fourth Street, Winston-Salem, NC USA 27101
4208 Six Forks Road Suite 1400, Raleigh, NC USA 27609
Laura Miller helps brand owners build and protect their brands domestically and abroad. She focuses her practice on branding, advertising, and brand protection and enforcement. Laura has particular experience with the apparel, food and beverage, life sciences, logistics and software industries.
Laura works with clients across a variety of industries to develop and implement registration and enforcement strategies that minimize the risk of disputes while maximizing the value of clients’ brands. Offering practical advice related to brand building and protection, Laura has counseled some of the world’s best known brands on multi-jurisdictional trademark clearance, protection, enforcement and litigation. Laura crafts brand protection strategies, manages domestic and international trademark portfolios, and handles litigation and enforcement efforts in the administrative and federal courts. Laura leads global policing and enforcement programs that protect her clients’ trademark rights against infringement and dilution while furthering and safeguarding competitive advantage. This includes multi-country opposition and infringement actions, domain name disputes and UDRP proceedings, TTAB opposition and cancellation proceedings, and online brand protection.
Drawing upon her experience as interim in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company where she oversaw the commercial, advertising, and intellectual property functions of the legal department, Laura is able to provide pragmatic, solutions-oriented advice to clients.
Clients appreciate Laura’s dedication to responsiveness, as well as her ability to carefully analyze an issue while presenting complex topics in a way that is easily understood and makes sense from a business perspective. Determined, persistent and hard-working, Laura is committed to achieving the best possible outcome for her clients.
Laura serves as lead trademark counsel for technology companies, research organizations, life sciences companies, consumer products companies, and logistics companies.
Laura also represents advertisers in connection with the legal aspects of their advertising and promotional marketing businesses. Laura has drafted numerous agreements in the advertising space, including talent agreements, sweepstakes and contest rules, social media agreements, influencer agreements, and agency agreements.
Laura has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation and clients across a diverse range of industries, including, for example, food and beverage, fashion and beauty, regulated products, home furnishings, entertainment, and logistics.
Laura has written and spoken on topics in trademark and advertising law.
Laura was the recipient of the John Thomas Byrum Scholarship at Wake Forest University. In 2007, the Intellectual Property Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association presented its individual Pro Bono Award to Laura. She was recognized as a North Carolina "Super Lawyer" in 2021, 2024 and 2025 and a North Carolina "Rising Star" in 2019 and in each of the five years immediately preceding for Intellectual Property Litigation by Super Lawyers magazine. Laura was listed in the 2025 and the five immediately preceding editions of World Trademark Review 1000 – The World's Leading Trademark Professionals. She was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Trademark Law in 2021 and 2022 and for Advertising Law, Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Litigation, and Trademark Law in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Laura was also named a 2025 "Triad Lawyer of the Year" for Copyright Law by The Best Lawyers in America®. She was recommended by Legal 500 US in 2023 for Non-Contentious Trademark Law. Laura was also named one of the Triad’s “Outstanding Women in Business” in 2023 and one of the “40 Leaders Under Forty” in 2016 by Triad Business Journal. She was recognized by The Mecklenburg Times and North Carolina Lawyers Weekly as one of the "50 Most Influential Women" in 2023 for her influence in business, government, legal, education, and the nonprofit sector.
Experience
Lead trademark counsel for a global consumer products company and the owner of some of the most recognized brands for T-shirts, underwear, hosiery and activewear and routinely advises the client on advertising related issues that include reviewing advertising copy, securing rights from models, photographers and musicians, drafting and negotiating agreements for celebrity spokespersons, product placement in motion pictures, and event sponsorships.
Lead trademark counsel for well-known chain of franchised and company-owned quick service restaurants. Responsible for worldwide brand management and enforcement, as well as advertising-related mattres.
Lead trademark counsel for life sciences company, managing all aspects of clearance, prosecution and enforcement.
Lead trademark counsel for worldwide logistics company, managing a worldwide portfolio of brands.
Manages the domestic and international trademark portfolio and registry disputes for one of the world's most popular social media companies.
Represents medical aesthetics company in advertising matters, including negotiation of A-list celebrity agreements.
Represented United Parcel Service (UPS) as a defendant in suit claiming trademark infringement. Obtained summary judgment in favor of UPS, which was affirmed on appeal.
Represents American Eagle Outfitters in litigation involving counterfeit, infringing and alleged gray market goods.
Represented Universal Furniture International Inc., a home furnishings manufacturer, in a suit against Collezione Europa USA, Inc., a furniture wholesaler, based on Collezione's infringing imitations of Universal's highly successful Grand Inheritance and English Manor furniture collections and Collezione's marketing of those imitations. The court found (1) that Collezione had infringed upon Universal’s valid copyrights in Universal’s Grand Inheritance collection and English Manor collection; (2) that Collezione had passed off Universal’s furniture as Collezione’s, in violation of the Lanham Act; and (3) that Collezione’s violation of the Lanham Act also constituted an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-1.1. After additional hearings related to monetary remedies the court awarded Universal Furniture International Inc. an amount that represented the entirety of Collezione's gross sales of the infringing furniture, as permitted by the Copyright Act. Universal Furniture Int'l, Inc. v. Collezione Europa USA, Inc.,No. 1:04CV00977, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31026, aff'd, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10880 (M.D.N.C. Feb. 12, 2009).
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Webinars
Events
Advertising Counseling & Disputes
Anti-Counterfeiting & Gray Markets
Brand Licensing & Related Transactions
Clearance & Portfolio Management
Copyright Litigation & Counseling
Wake Forest University School of Law J.D. (2005) cum laude, Order of the Coif
Davidson College B.A. (2001) magna cum laude
North Carolina (2005)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (2008)
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (2008)
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (2005)
U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (2007)
International Trademark Association (INTA), Member
North Carolina Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section, Member
Brand Activation Associate, Member
Kaleideum, Board Member and former Board Chair
The Enrichment Center, Board Member
Wake Forest University School of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law
Children’s Law Center, Guardian Ad Litem
Wake Forest Law Review, Notes and Comments Editor (2004-2005)
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