Laura Zeman-Mullen’s pre-legal career started out in laboratory work in biochemistry and genetics and also included working in compounding and IV pharmacies. She then undertook work in the public health field, which took her to Kenya, East Africa and later to county public health departments in the U.S. She graduated law school at the University of Wisconsin in 1991 and began her IP legal career at a boutique law firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. Leaving that firm for a brief spell with another firm in Madison, Wisconsin, she returned to Phoenix, Arizona and spent the major part of her private practice career at Snell & Wilmer. LLP, a nationally ranked law firm, first as an associate and then later as a partner in the IP practice group. Laura is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been named as one of the best lawyers in Intellectual Property Law by The Best Lawyers in America® in 2010-2015.

Laura left Snell & Wilmer in 2010 to start her own IP boutique law firm. She teamed up with Stuart Ford, her law school classmate from twenty years earlier, to form Zeman-Mullen & Ford, LLP in 2011.

Laura’s practice covers the entire spectrum of the intellectual property field, including patent prosecution, trademark registration and counseling, freedom-to-operate and clearance work, license and other technology agreement drafting, copyright registration and counseling, trade secret counseling, patent portfolio analysis and intellectual property litigation. Her technical experience is primarily in the life science fields, with special emphasis in materials, medical devices, semiconductors, and the biomedical and bioscience areas. Laura has written and prosecuted hundreds of patents throughout her legal career and has been involved in patent litigation, trademark litigation, and copyright litigation suits.

Laura actively takes on pro bono work in the area of children’s rights and best interests. She was named Children’s Law Center Advocate of the Year for the Volunteer Lawyers Program in 2009. She has also been active in the Phoenix community for the past decade and a half including serving on a Foster Care Review Board for 7 years and serving on the Board of Directors for both A New Leaf and the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation.

Laura is a member of the Arizona and Wisconsin bars and is also a registered patent attorney. She is not licensed to practice in Oregon or Idaho.

Education

• University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D., 1991)
• University of Minnesota School of Public Health (Graduate Studies, 1984-1985)
• University of Minnesota (B.S., Biology, 1990; B.A., Physiology, 1983)

Court Admissions

• Supreme Court of Arizona
• United States District Court, District of Arizona
• Supreme Court of Wisconsin
• United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
• United States Patent and Trademark Office

Professional Memberships & Activities

• State Bar of Arizona
• Maricopa County Bar Association
• Yavapai County Bar Association
• State Bar of Wisconsin
• Arizona Women Lawyers Association
  • State Board of Directors, Vice President
  • Maricopa County Chapter, Past President
• Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness (2005 – 2013)
• American Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association Mentoring Committee, Vice Chair (2003-2005) Chair (2005-2007)
  • IP Law Associations Committee, Vice Chair (2009-2010) Chair (2010 – 2012)

Zeman-Mullen & Ford

Zeman-Mullen & Ford, LLP focuses its practice exclusively on intellectual property law. The scope of this practice typically includes patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters.

The firm’s primary philosophy is to counsel its clients in the use of appropriate intellectual property tools to achieve defined business strategies. In order to support this philosophy, the firm offers a wide variety of work product to implement its clients’ strategies, such as patent prosecution, trademark registration, freedom-to-operate and clearance work, license and other technology agreement drafting, IP due diligence in business transactions, patent portfolio analysis, opinion work, expert witness work, and, if and when necessary, litigation.

The firm’s lawyers have technological expertise in the engineering and life science fields, with particular emphasis on biomechanical, industrial mechanical, materials science and electrochemical arts. The business focus of the firm’s technology clients includes, for example, medical devices, cosmetic and cosmeceutical products, materials science, industrial tools, semiconductors, and bioscience products. The firm also represents, for example, retailers, food and beverage manufactures, artists, and book publishers in its trade secret, trademark and copyright practices.

The firm’s staff is highly experienced in the administrative support of their clients’ domestic and foreign intellectual property portfolios. The firm has a worldwide network of foreign associates with which its lawyers have worked for many years, both domestic and foreign.