Blair A. Silver

Blair A. Silver is an experienced patent litigator with a focus on complex intellectual property disputes across various stages, including federal district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). His practice spans a broad range of technologies, including electronics and computers, financial technology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products, underpinned by his background in electrical engineering. Silver's expertise also extends to copyright and trademark litigation.

Throughout his career, Silver has primarily represented patent owners and innovative technology companies as plaintiffs, while also adeptly handling defense-side litigation and challenging patents. His experience includes three tracked appearances on the plaintiff side and two on the defendant side, often defending his clients' intellectual property in various postures. He is currently Counsel at Irell & Manella LLP, having joined in September 2021. Prior to Irell, he was a shareholder and Of Counsel at Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., and also practiced IP and appellate litigation at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Among his notable engagements, Silver advised Centripetal Networks on appellate strategy in defending a nearly $2.7 billion willful infringement verdict against Cisco Systems, Inc., concerning network security technology. Although the initial verdict was later vacated on grounds of judicial recusal and a subsequent judgment found non-infringement, his involvement was on behalf of the patent owner in this high-stakes litigation. He has also been involved in securing significant jury verdicts for Netlist, Inc. against Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. relating to computer memory technology, including a $303 million award in 2023 and a $118 million verdict in 2024. Additionally, Silver has represented Valtrus Innovations Limited in patent infringement actions against Google LLC concerning computer architecture, virtualization, and data center power systems.

Silver possesses substantial experience with proceedings before the PTAB, having handled over 100 inter partes review (IPR) and covered business method (CBM) review proceedings. He has been recognized as a top practitioner before the PTAB, including being ranked among the top 1-2% in Patexia's 2023 PTAB Intelligence Report. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008 and holds a B.S., magna cum laude, in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University (2005). He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York.