Elizabeth Ferrill

Elizabeth Ferrill is a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, where she leads the firm's electrical practice and focuses extensively on design patents, including prosecution, counseling, Patent Office trials, and litigation. Her experience spans design patents related to consumer and industrial products, medical devices, transportation and construction vehicles, and graphical user interfaces and icons. Additionally, she handles utility patent litigation in software- and hardware-related technologies and provides trade secret counseling. She represents both design rights holders and those accused of infringement, demonstrating a balanced practice, although her tracked appearances notably include defense-side representation.

Ms. Ferrill has significant litigation experience, including jury and bench trials, claim construction, dispositive motions, post-trial proceedings, and appeals. She has appeared before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A prominent case in her portfolio is Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Maxell, Ltd., where she served as counsel for Samsung. While a jury initially awarded Maxell $111.7 million against Samsung for willful infringement in May 2025, the court subsequently overturned this verdict in September 2025, granting Samsung's motion for judgment as a matter of law, finding insufficient evidence of infringement, and invalidating claims in two of the three asserted patents.

Her practice also encompasses substantial experience in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, including Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) and Post-Grant Reviews (PGRs). She has argued appeals before the PTAB and is recognized for her expertise in IPRs concerning design patents, having co-authored articles on the topic.

Prior to her legal career, Ms. Ferrill served five years on active duty as a communications officer in the U.S. Air Force. She earned her B.S. in Computer Science with distinction from the United States Air Force Academy in 1998, an M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999, and her J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2006. She is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.