{{news.date}}
{{news.source}}
{{news.type}}
Malisheia O. Douglas
Of Counsel
Malisheia Douglas is a licensed patent attorney and member of the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology Practice Group. She maintains a global practice focused on patent and trademark strategy, trade secret protection, portfolio management, litigation and prosecution. With over 15 years of in-house counsel and private practice experience, Malisheia provides strategic counsel to clients to help them protect their intellectual property assets across industries including automotive, chemicals and energy.
Malisheia manages global patent and trademark portfolios, leads brand protection initiatives and develops anticounterfeiting protection efforts in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. She helped clients navigate trade secret versus patent protection for inventions, including innovations related to AI/ML. Her experience also includes advising clients on the protection of intellectual property through government contracts, including the rights of contractors and the US government regarding research and development of new technologies, products and processes.
While serving as in-house counsel, Malisheia led teams dedicated to cybersecurity and digitization, as well as diversity and inclusion. She is dedicated to creating and guiding collaborative, cohesive and innovative teams.
Prior to law school, Malisheia earned her degree in chemical engineering and worked as a polymer research engineer at a Fortune 50 tire company, as well as a leading manufacturer of specialty fibers and nonwoven materials made from cellulose.
Education
- The University of Akron, J.D., 2008
- Georgia Institute of Technology, B.Ch.E., 1996
Admissions
- Ohio, 2008
Courts
- U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Ohio
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of Ohio
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Memberships & Affiliations
- Past president, Board of Directors for the Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association (CIPLA)
- Treasurer, Kathleen O’Malley IP Inn of Court
- Secretary, Northeast Ohio Professionals chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
- Intellectual Property Advisory Council (IPAC), University of Akron School of Law
- Past president, Project Learn of Summit County
- Member of Kaleidoscope Magazine’s Forty-Forty Club
- Awarded Women in STEAM Leadership Academy, Akron Urban League, 2018
- Speaker, Intellectual Property Symposium and Winter Institute, University of Akron School of Law, 2022 and 2023.
- Speaker, Proactive Risk Management and Cybersecurity, Northeast Ohio Association of Corp Counsel (ACC), 2022.