Practice Areas:
Business
Intellectual Property

Contact

Printable résumé

Leslie C. Ruiter

PRACTICE EMPHASIS:

Leslie Ruiter is a shareholder and practices exclusively in the area of intellectual property, including U.S. and foreign trademarks, domain names, copyrights, Internet and search engine issues, licensing, unfair competition, software protection, trade secrets, confidentiality agreements and intellectual property in secured lending and in estate planning. Leslie and the entire intellectual property team also handle intellectual property litigation in the Federal Courts, and contested matters before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

COUNSELING EXPERIENCE:

Providing trademark availability and registrability opinions; prosecuting trademark registrations, including sound marks, packaging configuration marks and other three-dimensional marks.
Representing startup and Internet-based companies in acquiring and protecting key trademarks and domain names.
Representing high tech company in patent licensing and trademark acquisition.
Uniform Domain Name Resolution Proceedings (“UDRPs”) to recover infringing domain names, resolving Internet domain name disputes.
Negotiating consent agreements and complex settlements of disputed trademark actions.
Petitions for Cancellation and Oppositions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
Mediation of trademark infringement, patent infringement, and domain name disputes.

MAJOR CASES:

Trademark & Domain Name Disputes

Dexter & Cheney, Inc. v. Microsoft, Inc., (W.D. Wash.)
Flow Control Inc. v. A&H Enterprises, Inc., (W.D. Wash)
Competition Specialties, Inc. v. Competition Specialties, Inc., (W.D. Wa.)
Radiator Express Warehouse, Inc. v. Performance Radiator, Inc., (W.D. Wa.)
Kreuter Mfg Co., Inc. v. Reliable Computer Systems, Ltd., (N.D. Ind.) (also software copyright infringement)
Britches of Georgetowne, Inc. v. Kinder Britches, Inc., (Fed. Cir Ct. App.)
Norges Sjokartverk v. Electronic Chart Co., Inc., (TTAB)
Mexican Specialty Foods, Inc. v. La Paz Products, Inc., (TTAB)
Desnoes & Geddes, Ltd. v. Win-It-Too, Inc., (C.D. Cal.)
B&J Sales & Marketing, Inc. d/b/a The Rasta Group v. Shark Products, Inc., (N.D. Ga.)

Patent Infringement:

Galion Holding Co. v. Toccoa Metal Technologies, Inc., (S.D. Ohio.)

Warren Publishing Inc., v. Microdos Data Corp., et al., (11th Cir./Petition for Cert. to U.S. Supreme Court)
Jim Walter Homes, Inc. v. Pride Home Builders, et al., (N.D. Ga.)
Langford v. CBS, Inc. et al., (N.D. Ga.)

Expert Witness Copyright Case: Music Theory & Composition

Bunn v. [Famous Recording Artist], et al., (N.D. Ga./11th Cir.)

EDUCATION:

Leslie obtained her law degree, with distinction, from Emory University School of Law in 1990. Leslie also received a joint degree from Emory's Law & Religion Program, completing her M.T.S., cum laude, in Theological Studies from Emory University's Candler School of Theology in 1990. She received her B.A. in Music Theory and Composition from Calvin College in 1985.

ADMISSIONS:

Leslie is admitted to the Georgia State Bar (1990), the Washington State Bar (1998), the state and District courts in Washington and Georgia, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (1991), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1996), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit (1996) and the U.S. Supreme Court (1997).

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS:

Copyright Management & Litigation Conference, presented by LSI, Shelley Hall, Leslie Ruiter - "Damages & Remedies for Infringement" Wednesday, April 4, 2007.
Presentation and Publication: “Navigating the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy,” Pallavi Mehta Wahi, Leslie Ruiter, WSBA 11th Annual Intellectual Property Institute, Cutting Edge Updates, Opportunities and Issues, March 2006, Chapter 4.
Domain Roundtable Conference:“Evaluating When to File a UDRP,” Leslie Ruiter, Pallavi Mehta Wahi, May 2005 (Seattle, WA).
INTA Table Topics Leader: “Recent Supreme Court Developments in Trademark Law,” May 2005.
CLE: “www.misleading.com: Drawing the Line on Problem Domain Names,” King County Bar Association.
CLE: “Intellectual Property Assets in Bankruptcy: Perfecting Security Interests and Drafting Technology Licenses,” Washington State Patent Law Association.
CLE: “Intellectual Property Considerations in Emerging Growth Company Practice,” Washington State Bar Business Law Section, Midyear Meeting.
CLE: “Fundamentals of Trademarks, Domain Names and Copyrights,” Washington State Bar Association.
CLE: “What Steps Do I Take to Protect My Company’s Name and Product Names? Trademarks, Domain Names and Related Issues,” Washington State Bar Association Business Law Institute.
INTA Facilitator, “Product Configurations and Packaging,” International Trademark Association U.S. Roundtable.
INTA Facilitator, “Domain Name Proceedings" International Trademark Association U.S. Roundtable.
INTA Facilitator, “U.S. Trademark Registration Practice,” International Trademark Association U.S. Roundtable.