Carla B. Oakley

Throughout her 30 years of practice, clients from startups to global businesses have sought Carla’s counsel. Carla has experience in various state and US federal courts and other venues, such as the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration, and Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings pursuant to ICANN regulations. Her litigation experience includes cases involving trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights, counterfeit goods, advertising, product design and trade dress claims, unfair competition, rights of publicity, patents, and false patent marking claims, as well as IP license disputes, database protection issues and enforcement of online terms of service.

In addition to litigation, Carla counsels clients regarding the strategic development and registration of trademarks and global trademark portfolio management; civil and criminal anti-counterfeiting enforcement; product design protection strategies; trade secret protection programs; copyright registration and fair use issues; IP due diligence and IP enforcement programs; licenses and other types of agreements involving IP; and Internet liability, privacy and data security breach issues, and database protection issues. She also advises clients on how to minimize risks of conducting business online and how to comply with advertising regulations, Federal Trade Commission and Attorney General guidelines, laws pertaining to sweepstakes and skills contests, and privacy laws.

Carla frequently lectures and writes on IP and advertising topics and is active in several professional organizations. She is on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Intellectual Property Association, and is a member of the Emerging Issues Committee for the International Trademark Association (INTA). Carla previously chaired the US subcommittee of INTA’s Nontraditional Marks Committee, was a member of the INTA PAC board for more than a decade, and has served on several other INTA committees. A long-time member of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Carla has been a member of BASF’s Judiciary Committee, chaired the BASF Litigation Section and served on the Litigation Section’s Executive Committee. She is an honorary board member for Larkin Street Youth Services.