Christopher J. Higgins

Christopher J. Higgins — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Christopher J. Higgins is a Washington, D.C.–based partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he is co-head of the firm's 3D Printing Group and a trial lawyer with a B.S. in electrical engineering. His practice centers on high-technology patent disputes — including 3D printing/scanners, graphics processing, semiconductor devices and fabrication, LCD/display technologies, medical devices, data encryption, and wireless/communications standards — in district court, the ITC (Section 337), and PTAB proceedings. His two tracked appearances both fall in that hardware/display space: as back-up counsel for display maker Tianma Microelectronics against Unified Patents, and as lead counsel for defendant Motorola Mobility in Multifold International Inc. Pte. Ltd. v. Motorola Mobility LLC (D. Del.), a case concerning multi-display handheld-device patents.

Both tracked matters reflect a clear side preference: Higgins predominantly defends operating companies (Tianma, Motorola, plus firm clients like Fujifilm, Realtek, Bosch, TSMC, Panasonic, MediaTek, and Innolux) against NPE/PAE and competitor assertions. He also regularly leads IPRs for those same companies as petitioners attacking asserted patents — e.g., he served as lead counsel for Motorola/Google in the IPR2025-00038/-00040/-00058 challenges to Multifold's patents, and for Panasonic Automotive in IPR2024-00364 — though he has also acted as plaintiff-side trial counsel (notably for Continuous Composites). He joined Orrick in 2011 after practicing IP at Jones Day; pre-law-school roles included the patent department at medical device maker Ethicon Endo-Surgery and engineering work at L-3 Communications.

Notable verified results include: trial counsel for Continuous Composites in its Delaware jury win against MarkForged over 3D printing patents, which returned over $17.3 million in past damages (recognized by The American Lawyer's "Litigators of the Week"); leading Fujifilm's successful campaign of eight IPRs against Papst Licensing, with the PTAB ruling all instituted claims unpatentable; summary judgment of noninfringement for Fujifilm against Princeton Digital Image, affirmed by the Federal Circuit; and defense wins for Bosch (no infringement/invalidity upheld on appeal) and Realtek in an ITC investigation. In the related Motorola/Google v. Multifold IPRs, a May 2026 PTAB final decision declined to find Multifold's challenged claims unpatentable.

Higgins has substantial, regular PTAB/IPR experience (petition drafting, lead and back-up counsel roles, and institution-stage advocacy) alongside his district-court and ITC trial work. He holds a J.D. from George Washington University Law School (2008, Thurgood Marshall Scholar) and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Cincinnati; he is admitted in Ohio (2008) and D.C. (2011), is registered with the USPTO (Reg. No. 66,422), and is admitted to the Federal Circuit. He was a Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (2014–2018) and a Legal 500 recommended lawyer for patent litigation (2020).