Lance A. Lawson
Lance serves as the Managing Partner of the firm's Charlotte office, and is a member of the firm's Intellectual Property practice group. A licensed Professional Engineer, Lance focuses his practice on patent infringement and other intellectual property litigation including trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, and trade secrets, as well as commercial disputes involving technology.
Lance also has extensive experience in strategic planning concerning patent and trademark procurement and portfolio management, including acquisition, maintenance, and licensing of U.S. and foreign patent and trademark assets. He has represented companies in more than 50 intellectual property disputes before the International Trade Commission, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and in U.S. district courts in more than 25 states. Lance has served as lead counsel in a number of these intellectual property disputes.
Before entering private practice, Lance was a federal law clerk for the Honorable Robert D. Potter of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition, he was the Chairman of the committee that promulgated the first set of Local Patent Rules for the Western District of North Carolina in 2010-2011 and currently is on a committee revising the Local Patent Rules for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Also, after serving as the Managing Editor and co-author for a weekly patent law update and Federal Circuit Annual Review for over eight years, Lance currently serves on the Intellectual Property Editorial Advisory Board for Law360s nationally-published IP newsletter.
Lance has leveraged his experience as a licensed professional engineer to advise clients in intellectual property disputes in diverse technologies, including:
- medical devices
- oil & water coupling devices
- injectable dermal filler implants
- breathable film & nonwoven fabrics
- mobile phones
- cervical cancer screening systems
- handheld scanners
- light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
- computer software & hard disk drives
- mechanical discharge constriction devices
- spread spectrum chip technology
- athletic & comfort footwear
Over the past three decades, Lance has developed a robust IP practice. Prior to pursuing law, Lance served nine years on active duty as a civil engineer officer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, including three years as chief of engineering and design in a construction unit, and one year commanding a construction unit in both Iraq and Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Lance served as an attorney at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves, while performing duties as the general counsel to several military units in the Southeas
Lance serves as a college liaison counselor to high school students interested in attending a service academy.
- 2019 Citizen Lawyers Award, North Carolina Bar
- Best Lawyers in America (2011-2020)
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property Litigation (2012-2017)
- Federal Circuit Annual Review, Aspen Publishers, Managing Editor (2004-2011)
- University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Law Review
Charlotte, North Carolina 28280
