Dawn Ross, Esq.

About The Lecturer

Dawn Owens Ross is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ross & Owens Ross Law, LLC (ROR Law), where she leads an intellectual property and business law practice dedicated to founders, creators, and entrepreneurs. A USPTO-registered patent attorney with a distinct background in electrical engineering, Dawn focuses her practice on IP strategy, trademark and patent protection, licensing, business formation, and complex contracts. She frequently serves as an IP, business, and Go-To-Market (GTM) strategist, helping clients leverage legal infrastructure as a tool for growth and protection in the rapidly evolving AI economy.

Prior to founding ROR Law alongside her husband, Attorney Jonathan Ross, Dawn held key in-house IP roles at major corporations, including Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and Clarivate, and practiced at boutique IP firms across Atlanta and Jacksonville. An innovator in her own right, Dawn holds two issued U.S. patents. Drawing from her extensive cross-sector experience in corporate, private, and government spheres, she frequently develops and delivers specialized legal programming on:

• AI training and fair use guidelines 
• IP due diligence for technology transactions 
• Leveraging technology to enhance firm and operational efficiency 
• Business and IP gap analyses 
• Brand protection strategies for the creator economy

Dawn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in communication from the University of North Florida. She earned her Juris Doctor with certificates in Advanced Legal Research, Writing, and Drafting, as well as International and Comparative Law. After law school, she pursued her passion for technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification.

Active in the legal and educational communities, Dawn serves on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance, where she chairs the IP Start-up Awards. She is a former Business Law instructor at Clayton State University and the founder of the DOR Institute, an initiative dedicated to closing the IP ownership gap for underrepresented entrepreneurs and building pipelines for STEM professionals entering patent law.

Publications

“Trends in Nanomaterial based Non-Invasive Diabetes Sensing Technologies”

Education

Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.), University of North Florida

J.D., Florida Coastal School of Law

B.A., University of North Florida