Christopher L. Wanger

Christopher L. Wanger is a litigation partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, where his practice encompasses a range of commercial and intellectual property disputes. While his work includes broader commercial matters, he has handled significant patent litigation. His practice does not appear to focus on a single technology sector; his most prominent reported patent case involved mechanical and electronic patents related to video game controllers.

The attorney's single tracked patent case, Valve Corporation v. Ironburg Inventions Ltd., was a notable success for the patent holder, contrary to the provided case data indicating he was counsel for the defendant. Wanger was part of the lead trial team that secured a $4 million jury verdict for the plaintiff, Ironburg Inventions. The jury found that Valve Corporation willfully infringed Ironburg’s patent for a video game controller. This case was widely reported as the first all-virtual patent infringement jury trial in the United States. The dispute also involved subsequent inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

While the tracked patent case shows a significant plaintiff-side victory, Wanger's broader litigation practice includes defense work, such as his successful representation of the ICON Foundation in a cryptocurrency dispute. He has been a partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips for many years, having previously served as the administrative partner for the firm's San Francisco office. No regular IPR or PTAB trial practice is apparent from available records beyond the proceedings related to the Ironburg case.

Admitted to the California bar in 1993, Wanger received his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1992 and his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1987.