Directory

Laura Kelley is head of the firm’s mechanical group practice and has extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in a wide variety of areas in the mechanical and electromechanical arts. Laura also counsels clients on freedom-to-operate issues, strategies for designing around third party patents, patent portfolio management, patentability analysis, and filing strategies for both domestic and international protection. Laura represents clients ranging from large companies to start ups and has significant experience representing universities. Representative technologies with which Laura has experience include the following:

• Medical devices, such as cardiac defibrillators, brachytherapy devices, and subdural drainage catheters
• Ultrasound imaging systems
• Three dimensional printing technology Imaging readers and sample collection devices for detecting bovine mastitis
• Analog music synthesizers and electric guitars
• Dose counters for metered dose inhalers
• Wearable electronic water sensing devices for swim safety systems
• Interactive voice response software for use in retail pharmacies
• Software for predicting user preferences for wines and beers.

Laura is also a member of the firm’s trademark practice, counseling clients on mark selection, clearance searching and prosecution.

Practicing patent and trademark law since 2000, Laura received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from the College of William and Mary and her Juris Doctor degree, with high honors, from Duke University. As an undergraduate, she participated in various research projects, including a summer internship at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab at Michigan State University and a senior thesis in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at William and Mary, for which she received highest honors. While at Duke, Laura was the Special Projects Editor of the Alaska Law Review. Laura is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Laura is a past Chair of the IP Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, and has also served as Co-Chair of the CLE Committee of the IP Section. Laura was named to the “Legal Elite” in 2012 by Business North Carolina magazine, based on a poll of North Carolina lawyers.