Mary L. Shapiro

After 20 years in the book publishing industry and ten years at the renowned intellectual property law firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew, LLP, Mary started her own law firm in the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District in 2009. There, Mary counseled a broad range of clients in owning, enforcing, protecting, and profiting from their intellectual property.

Law is Mary’s second career, and she is passionate about protecting brands and creative properties. She has extensive experience in trademark selection, clearance, prosecution, and enforcement, including handling trademark applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and representation in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy panels.

As the legal cannabis industry began emerging, Mary was able to start at the ground floor and strategize about how to obtain federal trademark registrations for cannabis goods and services. Shapiro positioned her firm as a go-to legal resource to cannabis clients as the industry grew, helping them navigate complex legal issues, such as securing trademark protections for related goods and services. She is active in the battle for federal legalization, or simply a change at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, so that owners of cannabis businesses can be on the same footing as other business owners regarding their capabilities to protect their brands.

Mary advocates for cannabis legalization and does pro bono work for Americans for Safe Access, International Cannabis Bar Association, Marijuana Policy Project, Origins Council, and Sweetleaf Collective. Mary is on the board of directors for Americans for Safe Access, an organization dedicated to bringing access to cannabis therapeutics to patients. She is also on the advisory Board for the International Cannabis Bar Association, an organization focused on raising the standard of legal services available to the cannabis industry and advocate for the lawyers’ right to represent cannabis industry participants.

She enjoys writing about the law, starting with a law review article in 1998, An Analysis of the Fair Use Defense in Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Penguin, 28 Golden Gate U.L. Rev., where she learned how to distinguish parody from satire.

Mary loves blues music, R&B, Cajun, and Zydeco. Whenever she can, she attends music festivals. She especially loves the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage and French Quarter Festivals. Of course, while there, she takes advantage of the local traditional cuisine and beer.

She is an avid television fan and loves binge watching mysteries, noir, police procedurals, and detective shows, especially period pieces. Many of her favorites are those from the former British Empire and now the United Kingdom and Ireland.