Eric L. Sophir

Professional Summary — Eric L. Sophir (Foley & Lardner LLP)

Specialty / focus. Sophir is a Washington, D.C.-based IP partner whose practice centers on patent prosecution and portfolio strategy rather than high-volume litigation. Foley's bio describes his technical focus as fintech/insuretech, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud computing and "big data," autonomous vehicles, computer vision, medical devices, semiconductors/chip design, telecommunications, e-commerce, and consumer products. USPTO prosecution data shows heavy filing volume for semiconductor and electronics applicants (Kioxia, Nichia, Nissan, ZTE, Toshiba, Hitachi), plus MassMutual and Memorial Sloan Kettering. The single tracked litigation matter involves smart-home/security technology — video doorbells, IP cameras, and home automation.

Side preference. The tracked record shows 1 plaintiff-side appearance and 0 defendant-side appearances, and that one case is Vivint Inc. v. SB IP Holdings LLC, in which Vivint (an operating company) sought declaratory relief against an entity described in the pleadings as a SkyBell subsidiary. That should not be read as NPE/PAE prosecution work: Foley's and press descriptions state he counsels "offensive and defensive actions involving competitors as well as non-practicing entities," i.e., generally on the operating-company side of disputes. The sample here is too thin to draw a firmer side-preference conclusion.

Firm context and prior work. He is a partner in Foley & Lardner's Intellectual Property Department and Electronics Practice Group, based in D.C. He joined Foley with a team that moved over from Dentons, where he was a partner and served as co-practice leader of the firm's IP group (Foley team-addition announcement). Earlier career history beyond Dentons was not reliably verified in the sources reviewed.

Notable matters and PTAB/IPR experience. The tracked case, Vivint Inc. v. SB IP Holdings LLC (C.D. Cal., transferred to E.D. Tex.), was part of a broader Vivint–SB IP/SkyBell dispute over video doorbell and camera patents. Foley represented Vivint in a related family of IPRs (IPR2022-00810 through -00814, -01352, -01364, -01365, and -01449); the Federal Circuit dismissed the consolidated appeals in July 2025 on the parties' joint stipulations. The PTAB filings I located for those IPRs list Michael Houston and Nicholas Lagerwall as Foley counsel and Quinn Emanuel's James Glass at the oral hearing; Sophir's individual role in that IPR family is not documented in the materials I could verify, so I would not attribute the outcomes to him. Where his PTAB appearances are documented, they are as backup counsel in IPR2019-00039 (Next Caller Inc.) and as counsel of record for the patent owner in PGR2016-00024 (withdrawn in 2016). He is a registered patent attorney (USPTO Reg. No. 48,499).

Bar / education. Engineering studies at Cornell University (research on gallium nitride/III-V semiconductors); he has served on the Dean's Advisory Council at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, though a J.D. from that school is not explicitly confirmed in the sources reviewed. Specific state bar admissions were not verified.