Cole Y. Carlson Attorney At Law

Cole is a shareholder in GrayRobinson’s Tampa office. He litigates patent (including Hatch-Waxman), copyright, and trademark, unfair competition, trade secret, false advertising, and other related state law disputes. Using his experience and degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cole has handled matters involving technology as complex as online database encryption to removable paint for automobiles. Cole is also a registered patent attorney, where he prosecutes patent and trademark matters in front of the USPTO, specializing in computer hardware and software as well as complex chemical matters as well as opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Cole has experience in front of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board in Inter Partes Reviews and Covered Business Method Reviews, and has assisted in the oral arguments of these matters.  

Cole routinely works on intellectual property licensing issues, including confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, exclusive and non-exclusive licenses, software agreements, research and development agreements, joint venture agreements, and manufacturing and supply agreements. He also conducts due diligence for mergers and acquisitions involving intellectual property, dealing with issues such as scope-of-protection, invalidity, infringement and freedom-to-operate investigations and opinions.

• Background

  Cole was born in New York City but was raised in Tampa, Florida where he attended Tampa Preparatory School. Cole graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. His capstone project involved monetizing a method of recycling polyvinyl bottles using chemical processes. He interned with a local New Port Richie, Florida company at their industrial plant learning how to grow and maintain Neodymium YAG crystal growth for use in optical lasers. He went on to receive his juris doctor from the Stetson University College of Law. While at Stetson, Cole interned with Judge Herbert Baumann of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa. He also received the top score in his Patent Law, Bankruptcy, Constitutional Law and Secured Transactions classes. 

• Education
  • Vanderbilt University, B.S. (2011)
  • Stetson University College of Law, J.D. (cum laude, 2014)
• Admissions
  • Florida
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • United States Patent and Trademark Office
• Professional Associations & Memberships
  • The Florida Bar
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association 
  • District of Columbia Bar 
  • American Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Propert Law Association
    • Co-Chair, Robert C. Watson Award Subcommittee
• Civic
  • Tampa Preparatory School Alumni Board
  • Hillsborough County Bar Association Bar Leadership Institute, Class of 2017
  • Tampa Connection, Class of 2016 
• Presentations & Seminars
  • "Curing What Ails You: The Hatch-Waxman Act," Hillsborough County Bar Association Intellectual Property CLE, May 2019
  • "Patent Law Year-in-Review," The Florida Bar 9th Annual Intellectual Property Symposium, April 2018
  • "Intellectual Property Year in Review," Intellectual Property Section CLE, Hillsborough County Bar Association, March 2017
  • “Intellectual Property: What the Business Lawyer Needs to Know,” Business Law Section CLE, St. Petersburg Bar Association, May 2016
  • “Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016,” Intellectual Property Section CLE, Hillsborough County Bar Association, May 2016
  • “Patents and Trade Secrets: What’s the Difference?” Intellectual Property Law Society, Stetson University College of Law, October 2015
• Articles & Publications
  • "DMCA Misrepresentation: When Does it Apply?" HCBA Lawyer, June 2021
  • "Pharma Product-by-Process Limitations,” Intellectual Property Magazine, October 2019
  • "Next Up in China Trade War: Biotech Purge?” Forbes, September 2019
  • "TC Heartland Transfers Trolls," Lawyer Magazine, October 2017
  • "Patent Battles Go National," September 2017
  • "Intellectual Property & Technology E-lert -- Small Businesses Stand to Gain From Federal Circuit Ruling Limiting On-Sale Bar," July 2016
  • "Newly Passed Trade Secrets Act Will Impact Employment Agreements," May 2016
  • "Trade Secret Misappropriation is Now a Federal Cause of Action," May 2016
  • "Intellectual Property Protections Enhanced With The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015," February 2016
  • "The Strong, Trol, and Innovation Acts of 2015," Lawyer Magazine, Summer 2015
  • "Rule Against Royalties Past Patent Expiration Upheld," June 2015
• Awards & Recognitions
  • Best Lawyers in America, "Ones to Watch," 2021-2022
    • Commercial Litigation
• Reported Cases
  • Alper Automotive, Inc. v. Day to Day Imports, Inc., (July 2020)