Erika H. Arner

Erika H. Arner is a highly regarded patent litigation attorney with extensive experience, particularly in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her practice primarily focuses on electronic technology and computer software patents, encompassing diverse areas such as gaming peripherals, financial transaction processing, network security, and internet search technologies. Arner is also recognized for her expertise in patent-eligibility jurisprudence, having represented petitioners before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos and advised on issues stemming from Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.. Her practice reflects work on both sides of patent disputes, with a near-even split between plaintiff and defendant representations in her tracked cases.

Arner is the Chair of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, where she has spent her entire legal career since joining as a summer associate in 1999. Prior to her current role, she served as the firm's managing partner and led its electrical and computer technology practice group.

Her notable patent litigation experience includes successfully representing Google before the Federal Circuit, securing affirmance of a PTAB decision, and representing Fidelity National in DataTreasury v. Fidelity National Information Services, which resulted in the invalidation of significant Covered Business Method (CBM) patents specifically highlighted by Congress. She also played a key role in ClearOne, Inc. v. Shure Acquisition Holdings, Inc., where the Federal Circuit upheld the validity of Shure's substitute claims. Arner has been lead counsel in over 200 PTAB trials and has argued and won numerous landmark cases for both patent challengers and owners at the PTAB and Federal Circuit. She was notably the first to file a CBM review petition, argue an oral hearing, and win a trial before the PTAB.

A recognized leader in PTAB practice, Arner consistently ranks among the top female attorneys appearing in PTAB trials and was named a PTAB Litigator of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property. She served as the first female president of the PTAB Bar Association. Arner earned her J.D., cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1999, and a B.S. in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary in 1993. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and in the District of Columbia and Virginia.