Deborah R. Gerhardt
Professor of Law, Reef C. Ivey II Excellence Fund Term Professor of Law
Areas of Expertise
- Advertising and Marketing Law
- Art Law
- Copyright Law
- Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law
- Entrepreneurship and the Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- Trademark Law
Biography
Deborah R. Gerhardt joined the UNC law faculty in 2009 and serves as the Reef C. Ivey II Excellence Fund Term Professor of Law. She specializes in intellectual property law, with a particular focus on the intersection of law and creativity. Gerhardt teaches Arts Entrepreneurship, Art Law, Copyright Law, Trademark Law, and Contracts. In 2018, Gerhardt was awarded UNC’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction. Gerhardt has written many influential essays and articles on copyright, trademark, entrepreneurship, and art law. Her current scholarship focuses on public memory, nontraditional trademarks, and race and gender equity in intellectual property prosecution.
Prior to joining the faculty at UNC, Gerhardt clerked for the Honorable Judge John M. Manos in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and practiced in the intellectual property section at Jones Day Reavis & Pogue in Cleveland, Ohio. She earned her A.B. degree from Duke University and her J.D. degree cum laude from Case Western Reserve School of Law where she was the Executive Notes Editor of the Law Review.
Education
- J.D. (cum laude), Case Western Reserve University (1990)
- A.B., Duke University (1987)
Selected Publications
An Empirical Study of Gender and Race in Trademark Prosecution (with M. Marcowitz-Bitton and W. M. Schuster), 94 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1407 (2022).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Law in the Shadows of Confederate Monuments, 27 MICH. J. RACE & L. 1 (2022).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
The Last Breakfast with Aunt Jemima and its Impact on Trademark Theory, 45 COLUM. J. L. & ARTS 231 (2022).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Copyright Publication on the Internet, 60 IDEA 1 (2020).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Beware the Trademark Echo Chamber: Why Federal Courts Should Not Defer to USPTO Decisions, 33 BERKELEY TECH. L.J. 643 (2019).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress | Document Link
Owning Colors (with Jon McClanahan Lee), 40 CARDOZO L. REV. 2483 (2019).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Trademarks as Entrepreneurial Change Agents for Legal Reform, 95 N.C. L. REV. 1519 (2017).
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Consumer Investment in University Brands, 29 LOY. CONSUMER L. REV. 95 (2016).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Copyright at the Museum: Using the Publication Doctrine to Free Art and History, 61 J. Copyright Soc'y U.S.A. 393 (2014).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein
Lexmark and the Death of Initial Interest Confusion, LANDSLIDE Sept.-Oct. 2014 at 22 (2014).
Westlaw | Hein
In the Media
- CPI Security, Vivint to face off in court over deceptive sales tactics claims, D. Gerhardt quoted (Fox 46)
- Michael Best’s Burgeoning Raleigh Office Continues to Grow with the Addition of Newly Appointed Of Counsel Attorney Deborah Gerhardt (Michael Best)
- D. Gerhardt talks Copyright and Choreography (New York City Bar Podcast)
- ‘It’s about democracy’: Law school deans weigh in on attacks on election results (Charlotte Observer)
- D. Gerhardt Explains Challenges of Walking Away From Offensive Trademarks (Law.com)
- As Racist Brands Fall, Will Some Try To Revive Them? D. Gerhardt Quoted (Law360)
- D. Gerhardt: Abandoning Disparaging Marks (Patently-O)
- D. Gerhardt comments on family's slaveholding defamation case (Washington Post)
- University Teaching Award Winners like Deborah Gerhardt Come with Impressive Resumes (Daily Tar Heel)
- Op Ed: D. Gerhardt Writes about Silent Sam and the Center for Civil Rights (Charlotte Observer)