Our Team

Stacey J. (Johnson) Watson

Attorney, Member of the Firm
Email: swatson@patentgc.com
Phone: 703.256.2628

Stacey recently joined the firm, having last served as Director and Senior Corporate Counsel of VeriSign, Inc, where she managed and coordinated the company’s trademark search, prosecution and enforcement in the U.S. and internationally. She also drafted trademark and copyright licenses and reviewed intellectual property provisions in contracts and reviewed marketing and social media material to ensure brand compliance. Stacey’s practice has focused on all aspects of brand management – from the initial steps of search and clearance, through trademark filing and brand/ product launch and finally to manage consistent execution and enforcement.

Before joining VeriSign, Stacey was Of Counsel in the trademark group of Steptoe & Johnson LLP and Senior Counsel at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. At Steptoe, Stacey was a senior member of a trademark team that handled all aspects of trademark, copyright and domain name matters for a wide variety of large and small clients. She counseled clients and foreign associates regarding trademark clearance, prosecution, enforcement, usage and licensing and also assisted with due diligence aspects in acquisitions and divestitures. At Walmart, Stacey was responsible for the U.S. clearance and prosecution docket and also handled product and packaging review. She worked closely with the other members of the team to coordinate domain name registration and international prosecution.

Stacey graduated from Marquette University, where she majored in International Relations with a Business Administration minor. She also attended DePaul University, College of Law and spent a semester at University College – Dublin where she studied international law, specifically European Community law.

Stacey has been involved in the International Trademark Association (INTA) since she first started her career there as a Publications Editor. She has been a member of the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition Committee for over 10 years and was its Chair in 2008-2009. Most recently, she was a part a program team that put together the Trademarks and the Internet conference in September 2011 in Washington, DC and she will begin a term on the Internet committee beginning in May 2012.

Stacey lives with her family in Falls Church, Virginia.