Of Counsel
Cara Mia Pinto is a member of the Intellectual Property Group and focuses her practice on portfolio management and brand strategy. She provides intellectual property legal advice to clients ranging from entrepreneurs and startups to multinational corporations.
Cara advises clients on the strategic protection and enforcement of their intellectual property portfolios to cultivate and maintain a strong brand identity. She has experience managing a trademark portfolio for a global consumer product company with more than 1,800 trademarks worldwide. She supports clients with trademark portfolio expansion, management, and maintenance, including trademark clearance, prosecution, protection, and enforcement. Her services cover trademark selection and global registration, proper trademark usage, opposition proceedings, and cancellation proceedings. Cara also has experience monitoring for unauthorized uses, preparing counterfeit product takedown requests, drafting cease and desist letters, and engaging in settlement discussions.
Patent law
In addition to her trademark practice, Cara is a registered patent attorney with significant experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She effectively manages utility and design patent applications, leveraging extensive experience in surgical techniques and medical devices, such as surgical robots, surgical staplers, surgical stapling cartridges and surgical staples, electrosurgical instruments, harmonic scalpels, suturing devices, and clip appliers. Cara offers strategic guidance on patent portfolio development, maintenance, and enforcement, including conducting prior art analyses to secure strong protection for client innovations. She advises on invention harvesting strategies and performs due diligence analyses for patent portfolios and license agreements. She has developed and executed claim strategies and expansion efforts as part of comprehensive patent portfolio management for a Fortune 100 company.
Her practice extends to providing counsel on contractual matters, including the drafting and negotiation of privacy policies, terms of use, service level agreements, and sponsorship agreements, as well as sweepstakes and contest rules.
Community engagement
Cara is eager to share her intellectual property law experience to support law students as well as innovators and entrepreneurs. She volunteers as a mentor for the Leadership Council Legal Diversity (LCLD) Success in Law School Mentoring Program and serves as an Advisory Network Member for Penn State University’s Propel Business New Venture & Innovation Program.
Explore recent thought leadership, news, and other updates.
At the 2025 Estate Law Institute, hosted by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, McNees attorneys Alison Smith, Kendra McGuire, Courtney Wentzel, and Cara Mia Pinto will join the region’s judges, attorneys, and professionals for two days of presentations and discussions on the strategies and challenges in trusts and estates, guardianships, and other fiduciary topics in Philadelphia, […]
The 2026 Super Lawyers rankings recognize nine attorneys in their Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists for Pennsylvania. The attorneys span across four of the firm’s Pennsylvania offices and six practice areas. Since 1991, Super Lawyers has recognized attorneys nationwide across areas of practice, basing their Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® lists on peer recognition […]
This article is based on insights shared by attorneys Cara Pinto and Alison Smith during their presentation at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Estate Law Institute on November 13, 2025, in Philadelphia, Pa. Estate planning is often viewed as a process that ends at death, with assets transferred and administration completed through probate or trust administration. For many forms of […]
This article is based on insights shared by attorneys Cara Pinto and Alison Smith during their presentation at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Estate Law Institute on November 13, 2025, in Philadelphia, Pa. Many of today’s most valuable and sensitive assets exist primarily in digital form and may include communications such as emails, digital media such as photos, operational materials […]
Advises inventors, entrepreneurs, and companies on patent, trademark, and trade secret matters. Supports IP strategy, portfolio management, and commercialization.
Advises companies and individuals on intellectual property protection and commercial contracts. Focuses on trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters.
Represents businesses on IP protection and licensing. Advises on trademark, copyright, franchising, technology, and artificial intelligence matters.
Supports attorneys and clients in intellectual property matters, namely, trademark and copyright matters. She works on applications, maintenance, and searches.
