Tracy-Gene G Durkin

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Tracy is admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; United States Patent & Trademark Office; District of Columbia.

Practice Areas

With more than thirty-five years of experience obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights, Tracy-Gene G. Durkin is sought out by leading consumer product companies, and by colleagues around the world for her deep understanding of utility and design patents, trademarks, and copyrights. She crafts and delivers unique IP protection strategies, designed to meet individual client’s needs. Her expertise includes helping clear new products and trademarks for use in the marketplace, selecting appropriate IP protection, and enforcing such protection through mediation, litigation, and licensing.

Tracy has represented companies in patent, trademark, and copyright disputes before Federal District Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She has successfully represented both complainants and respondents before the World Intellectual Property Office in domain name arbitrations. Her prior experience working at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gives her unique insight into arguing difficult cases and negotiating with examiners in personal interviews. She has served as an expert witness in patent disputes in District Court litigation and before the International Trade Commission on the issues of design patents and U.S. Patent & Trademark Office practice and procedures. Tracy has served as an advisor to associates participating in the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP), which provides associates with training and development opportunities in PTAB proceedings, including oral argument.

Career

Tracy is the practice leader of Sterne Kessler’s Mechanical & Design Practice Group and a member of the Trademark & Brand Protection Practice. She has a well-earned reputation for excellence in design patent law. Financial Times named her as one of the “Top Ten Legal Innovators in North America,” noting her as “a leading authority on design patents.” Among Tracy’s additional rankings, Legal 500 recognized her as a “Recommended Lawyer” in the U.S. for assisting a world leader in the consumer electronics space “with the development and implementation of its global design patent strategy, including the coordination of patent filings in over twenty countries worldwide.” Intellectual Asset Management’s “IAM Patent 1000” declared Tracy is the “design doyenne,” and World Trademark Review’s (WTR) annual “WTR 1000” editors wrote that Tracy is “the go-to for top consumer product companies, as well as global colleagues” and is particularly known for operating “at the vanguard of design patent law” and that she has “an affinity for matters at the intersection of trademarks, trade dress and design protection.” Tracy has also been heralded by WTR editors for “thinking outside of the box to devise one-of-a-kind strategies that focus on delivering business-driven outcomes” and being “as innovative as the products that she protects.” In the 2025 edition, WTR editors declared “her deep knowledge of patents, trademarks and copyrights allows her to craft unique IP protection strategies tailored to each client’s needs.”

Tracy was named an “IP Star” by Managing IP for excellence in her counseling practice, and has been featured in five editions of Managing IP’s “Top 250 Women in IP.” Who’s Who Legal has recognized Tracy for excellence in patents. Profiles in Diversity Journal has listed her among “Women Worth Watching.” Clearly a trailblazer, Tracy has a Martindale AV Preeminent Peer Rating of 5.0/5.0, a recognition fewer than 5% of women lawyers have earned, and has been named as one of the “Top Women Lawyers in the Northeast.”

Tracy’s leadership at the firm includes her current role as practice group leader. She was the first woman elected as an equity director, and is the first woman to serve on the firm’s executive and compensation committees. A leader in the legal community, Tracy is a past president of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia and of The Women’s Bar Association Foundation, two organizations in which she continues active membership. She has also served on the Legal Aid Society of DC’s board of trustees.

Professional Memberships

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: Patent Public Advisory Committee, Former Member (2020-2022) and Vice Chair (2022-2025); American Intellectual Property Law Association, Member; Intellectual Property Owners Association, Member; International Trademark Association, Designs Committee Vice Chair (2022-2023) and Chair (2024-2026); Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation: Educate & Enable Committee, Member; Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Member; Institute for Design Science and Public Policy, Founding Board Member

Education

Awards