Get to know Maristella
Maristella Collazo-Soto is a Capital Member of Ferraiuoli, Co-Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. She has devoted her practice to representing clients in all aspects of intellectual property, from a transactional, strategic, and a litigation perspective. Maristella advises clients on matters such as patent infringement litigation, social media, rights of publicity, trade secrets, entertainment, copyrights, privacy matters, false advertising, unfair competition, and trademark prosecution and infringement litigation.
Maristella is particularly adept at helping clients understand the business and legal risks associated with the adoption, use, and registration of trademarks both in Puerto Rico and in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She has successfully represented clients in Puerto Rico, Delaware and in the Eastern District of Texas.
Maristella currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law for Intellectual Property and Advertising courses.
Prior to joining Ferraiuoli, Maristella began her career at McConnell Valdés LLC and completed her LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at Fordham University School of Law in New York City. While undergoing studies for her LL.M., she served as a Judicial Clerk for the Administrative Judge of the New York Supreme Court, the Honorable Sherry K. Heitler.
Why Ferraiuoli?
Ferraiuoli epitomizes a forward thinking vision combined with our core values — dependability, commitment, efficiency and responsibility. Here, our clients receive advanced and specialized legal counsel, together with the attention and dynamism of a group that is motivated and inspired to make a difference in each of our client’s businesses. We are our clients’ go to source for everything legal and we pride ourselves in being able to deliver results time and time again.
Why do your clients come to you?
It’s important for me to really connect with my clients by understanding their business, their short term and long term goals, and the essential values that define them. I love being able to provide my clients with not only a legal response to their inquiries, but reasoned results and advice that goes beyond the questions posed and addresses needs and/or risks the clients didn’t even know they had.
What is your primary focus?
To me, one of the greatest assets that a company and/or individual can have is intellectual property. That is why I am a dedicated intellectual property attorney and advisor. My goal and passion is to help my clients develop, protect and monetize every aspect of their intellectual property and therefore, their business.
- Negotiated multimillion dollar exclusive intellectual property license agreement with Stanford University
- Dennis M. Rivera v. The Coca-Cola Company, et al., 3:13-cv-01426-PAD, copyright infringement case
- The Estate of Rafael Leavitt-Rey v. Samuel Marrero-Gónzalez et al., 3:16-cv-02769-RAM, copyright infringement case
- Adjunct Professor at the University of Puerto Rico Law School
- “The Advantages and Challenges of Being a Younger Boss”, INTA 2015 Annual Meeting, San Diego California
- Co-author, Puerto Rico Chapter of the Intellectual Property Review (2015), 4th ed. London, U.K. Law Business Research, Ltd.
- “For the Love of Hazelnut”, MarcaSur, April 8, 2015
- “Michael Kors on the Hunt”, MarcaSur, August 27, 2014
- “Yogurt, Go Gurt, Everywhere a Gurt, Gurt!”, MarcaSur, February 26, 2014
- Co-author, Puerto Rico Chapter of Oceana Trademark Practice & Forms Publication, Released June 2011, 2012 and 2013
- Co-author, Puerto Rico Chapter of Getting the Deal Through (2012, 2013), Law Business Research, Ltd.
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Education
- Fordham University School of Law, LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Information Technology, 2010
- University of Puerto Rico, School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2008
- University of Massachusetts, Amherst, B.B.A. in Operations Management, cum laude, 2005
Bar Admissions
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
- U.S .Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Affiliations
- International Trademark Association (INTA)
- Inter-American Association of Industrial Property (ASIPI), Member of the Informative Manuals Committee
- Beta Gamma Sigma International Honor Society
- Fordham Alumni Association
- American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section (ABA-IPL), Trademark Legislation Committee, Co-Chair for the Adoption of Uniform State Trademark Law Subcommittee (2012) and Vice-Chair for the Fashion Law Subcommittee (2013)
Professional Recognition
- Maristella has been recognized in the 2015 Latin America Edition of Chambers & Partners as an Up and Coming Individual, Intellectual Property and identified by clients as “knowledgeable and innovative”.
