Steve enjoys an unrivaled track record and reputation as a patent litigator and one of the world’s leading practitioners at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He has more than 30 years of experience, including three in Tokyo, where he opened an office for an AmLaw 10 firm working with international companies to resolve their high-stakes IP and technology-focused disputes. Steve’s unmatched experience with PTAB trials began September 16, 2012, the first day those procedures became available. He had three of his own Day One filings and, shortly thereafter, a fourth where he was added to the team – including the first post-grant trial to reach final decision, recognized by Managing IP as a “Milestone Case of the Year.” In the next four-and-a-half years, Steve built an unparalleled 47-0 record in final written decisions on behalf of petitioners, invalidating every claim ruled on by the Board, and defeating or (on behalf of patent owners) turning back challenges to patents linked to district court verdicts and market valuations totaling well over $1 billion.
From that first day more than a decade ago until today, Steve has continuously appeared before the PTAB in more than 200 proceedings as counsel of record and has worked on scores more behind the scenes, bringing innovative new strategies and techniques that other practitioners later analyze and discuss – making him the go-to counsel for top corporations around the world in a wide range of industries, from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to semiconductors and satellites. IAM Patent 1000 has dubbed Steve a “post-grant guru,” an “ace up [the] sleeve” and “a consummate all-round advocate,” with clients praising him as “an excellent strategist” and “superb on the technical detail and as up to date on recent developments in the law as it is possible to be.” Having been named Law360’s first IP MVP for post-grant contributions in 2013 to, most recently, Managing IP Americas Awards’ 2024 PTAB Practitioner of the Year, Steve has also been recognized by Chambers & Partners, IAM Global Leaders, LMG Life Sciences, Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars, and Who’s Who Legal: Patent. He helped form the PTAB Bar Association in 2016 and was a director and officer from its creation through his service as its president from March 2020 to May 2021. Steve is one of the most experienced and accomplished patent litigators in the nation’s capital and at the PTAB—a critical forum in any serious U.S. patent dispute.
Updated Sep 2024
