Austin Vining is an Attorney in the Firm's Atlanta office and a member of the Intellectual Property practice group. He focuses his practice on intellectual property, media law, and First Amendment counseling and litigation. His experience includes trademark and copyright prosecution, enforcement, and litigation and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Mr. Vining also handles media issues including privacy and defamation in publishing, advertising, journalism, and social media.

Mr. Vining earned his Ph.D. with an emphasis in communications law from the University of Florida. His research on defamation, free speech, and other communications law issues has been published in top legal journals and has earned national top prize awards. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida where he has taught courses on trademark, copyright, privacy, media, and First Amendment law since 2017.

After graduating from the University of Florida - Fredric G. Levin College of Law, Mr. Vining served as a law clerk to the Hon. Paul C. Huck of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Bar Admissions

• Florida
• Georgia

Education

• University of Florida Levin College of Law, J.D., cum laude
• University of Florida, Ph.D., Communications Law
• University of Mississippi, M.A., Media Law
• Louisiana Tech University, B.A., Journalism
• Louisiana Tech University, B.A., Psychology

• Overview of Key USPTO Trademark Filing Fee Increases Effective January 18, 2025