Lauren B. Emerson
Partner
Languages: Japanese
Overview
Lauren Emerson helps the world's most recognizable brands—and the emerging companies determined to join them—build, protect, and profit from what makes them distinctive. As Co-Chair of the Trademark and Copyright Practice Group at Leason Ellis, she guides clients through every stage of the intellectual property lifecycle, from brand creation and protection to high-stakes enforcement in court, across the United States and around the world.
Her clients range from multinational companies and publishers to individual authors and first-time founders. What unites them is a need for counsel who can move fluidly between strategy and execution: managing global trademark portfolios, negotiating and structuring licensing and other commercial agreements, advising on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions, spearheading complex prosecution and enforcement, and litigating in federal court as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Lauren doesn't just protect intellectual property—she helps clients leverage it.
Three aspects of Lauren's practice set her apart. Lauren's Japanese language skills, combined with decades of experience representing Japanese clients, enable her to navigate cross-border brand strategy, portfolio management, enforcement, and commercialization with both legal insight and cultural understanding. She has also built a sought-after publishing practice, representing authors, publishers, and content creators across copyright, licensing, publishing, and other agreements that bring creative work to market. Finally, Lauren brings an uncommon breadth of experience across counseling, transactions, and litigation. Her federal litigation experience spans films, architectural works, beverages, romance novels, and in-dash navigation systems—a range that reflects both her versatility and her command of the field.
Lauren has been recognized by World Trademark Review, Lexology Index, and IP STARS for excellence in trademark law and client service.
Lauren's leadership extends beyond her practice to the broader intellectual property community. She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), is Secretary of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA), and chairs the U.S. Bar–Japan Patent Office Liaison Council, where she leads a coalition of U.S. intellectual property organizations in building dialogue and cooperation with the Japan Patent Office. She is an active contributor to the International Trademark Association (INTA) through committee service and prior subcommittee leadership.
A frequent speaker and author, Lauren presents nationally and internationally on trademark, copyright, and the evolving legal issues reshaping intellectual property law, including artificial intelligence, online content, and fair use. She has authored multiple amicus briefs and regularly addresses bar associations, industry organizations, and international audiences, contributing to conversations that influence both legal practice and policy.
Industries
Credentials
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
- Dartmouth College, B.A., cum laude
- New York
- New Jersey
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
- U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Baker Botts
- American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
- Board of Directors
- International Trademark Association (INTA)
- Commercialization of IP Committee
- New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA)
- Secretary
- Board of Director
- JPO-US Bar Liaison Council
- Chair
Speaking Engagements
- AIPPI-J/JFBA (Tokyo) “Update on Gen AI Litigation/Regulations” (2026)
- JPAA Closed Meeting (Japan Patent Attorneys Association, Tokyo) “Update on Gen AI Litigation/Regulations” (2026)
- Japan Trademark Association (JTA) (Tokyo) “Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents” (2026)
- The AIPPI/AMPPI Mexico (Trilateral IP Cup) “The Fandom Economy: Image rights, limits and ownership of the rights during the event and on social media” (2026)
- Half-Day IP Symposium with NYIPLA & Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law “AI” (2026)
- AIPLA Annual Meeting “Trademark Year in Review” (2025)
- AIPLA Annual Meeting Japan Pre-Meeting “Fair Use or Foul Play AI and Copyright” (2025)
- Pipeline Artists: “Signing Smart: What Authors Should Know About Contracts” (2025)
- NYIPLA IP Transactions Bootcamp (Presenter) (2025)
- U.S. Bar–JPO Liaison Council Annual Meeting “Copyright Fair Use and Artificial Intelligence” (2025)
- LES Japan “Intellectual Property and U.S. Policy Developments” (2025)
- ABA Webinar “Deconstructing Upcycling: Navigating Trademark Law in a Cross-Border Marketplace” (2025)
- 50th Annual Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association IP Law Institute “Trademark Year in Review” (2025)
- Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association IP Law Institute “Pre-Filing Due Diligence in Trademark Litigation” (2025)
- New Jersey Patent Practice CLE (JPPCLE) 41st Annual Seminar “Artificial Intelligence and Copyright” (2025)
- NYIPLA Hot Topics in Trademark & Copyright “How Not to Be Copy-Wrong With Copyright” (Panel Moderator) (2025)
- AIPLA–AIPPI–JFBA Joint Meeting (Tokyo) “Copyright ‘Trolls’ in the U.S.” (2025)
- Japan Patent Office (Tokyo) “Updates on USPTO Practice” (2025)
- Japan Trademark Association (Tokyo) “Trademark Fee Increases/Impact of New Trademark Fee Schedule” (2025)
- AIPLA Mid-Winter Japan Pre-Meeting “Trademark Fee Increases” (2025)
- Readers Take Denver, “Provisions, Promises and the Power of Contracts” (2024)
- ACC Westchester/Southern Connecticut, “IP Hot Topics” (2024)
- Dartmouth Lawyers Association, “Generative AI and its Legal Implications in IP Law” (2023)
- Dartmouth Lawyers Association, “IP and Your Next Deal” (2022)
- ACC Westchester/Southern Connecticut, “Best Practices for Drafting and Negotiating License Agreements and Intellectual Property Clauses in Business Agreements” (2022)
- AIPLA Design Rights Boot Camp (2018–2022)
- NYIPLA, “Legislative Initiatives: Digital Copyright Act, CASE Act, SHOP SAFE Act, and INFORM Acts” (2021)
- ACC Westchester/Southern Connecticut, “Recent Changes to the Trademark and Copyright Laws: What You Need to Know” (2021)
- Romance Author Mastermind, “Trademarks for Authors” (2020)
- AIPLA Annual Meeting, “Your Right to Say it Stops at My Mark: The Complicated Relationship Between the First Amendment and the Likelihood of Confusion Test for Infringement” (2020)
- ABA IPL Spring CLE Series, “Honey Badger Don’t Care, But the Courts Might” (2020)
- ACC Westchester/Southern Connecticut, “@Real Talk: How to Build and Protect Your Brand” (2019)
- Romance Author Mastermind, “Romancing Your Rights” (2019)
- Book Lovers Con, “Literature & The Law” (2019)
- NYIPLA, “DMCA-OK” (2018)
- INTA Table Topic, “What Trademark Attorneys Need to Know About Work for Hire Agreements” (2017)
- AIPLA Spring Meeting, “Fashion & Fabric” (2017)
- AIPLA Spring Meeting, “Non-Monetary Relief for Trademark Infringement” (2017)
- Fordham IP Conference, “U.S. Copyright Developments” (2017)
- ACC Greater New York Ethics Marathon, “A Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Social Media and Legal Ethics” (2017)
- Fordham IPLI Symposium, “Copyright v. Copy-left” (2016)
- “The Shape of the Future: 3D Printing and Intellectual Property Rights” (2015)
- CLE, “The Ethical Use of Investigators” (2015)
- IECA Annual Conference, “Intellectual Property in Practice: Building and Protecting Your Brand” (2014)
- CLE, “Social Media 101: What Every IP Lawyer Should Know” (2012)
