F. Christopher Mizzo

I'll research this attorney's background and verify the tracked cases.

Let me verify the tracked cases and recent matters.

Let me verify a few more details on his cases and PTAB work.

F. Christopher Mizzo — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Mizzo is a first-chair trial lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis (Washington, D.C.) whose patent practice spans two broad technology clusters. His earliest work was pharmaceutical/Hatch-Waxman — anti-HIV drugs (Combivir, Epzicom, Trizivir) and Paxil licensing — and he continues to publish on pharmaceutical IP and competition law. His larger recent footprint is high-tech: memory and semiconductor technology (3D NAND/DRAM), smartphones and consumer devices, and image/camera-processing patents. His engineering background (B.S., Industrial Engineering, Rutgers) and registered-patent-attorney status support the technical side. He also has substantial U.S. International Trade Commission practice, described in the Legal 500 and IAM Patent 1000 rankings.

Side preference. His tracked record splits evenly (3 plaintiff-side, 3 defendant-side), and that reflects the practice: he describes himself as representing both plaintiffs and defendants, and the underlying matters show him defending operating companies (Samsung in the SnapAid dispute) while also asserting patents affirmatively for corporate patent owners (as lead counsel for YMTC against Micron, and for GSK/ViiV in Hatch-Waxman suits). His client base is predominantly large operating companies and innovators rather than NPE/PAE monetization; even the SnapAid matter, which pits an individual-inventor-started plaintiff against Samsung, has Kirkland on the Samsung side in the parallel PTAB challenges. This is a both-sides, big-ticket commercial-IP practice rather than a one-directional defense or assertion shop.

Firm context. He has been at Kirkland & Ellis throughout the tracked period. Before Kirkland he was an associate at the IP boutique Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto (pharmaceutical work for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer) and clerked for Judge William Martini (D.N.J.), joining Kirkland after the clerkship.

Notable cases and outcomes. Reported results include lead-counsel work for GSK/ViiV in Hatch-Waxman litigation over Combivir, Epzicom, and Trizivir; the GSK challenge to USPTO rulemaking (the Federal Circuit invalidated a rule and the PTO withdrew the proposed rules in 2009); and a team role for Eli Lilly/ICOS in the Cialis (tadalafil) generics litigation that settled shortly before trial, and for Apple in its smartphone dispute with HTC. Tracked matters include Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. v. Micron Technology (memory/3D NAND; he is listed as lead counsel on the plaintiff side), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al. v. Netlist, Inc. (D. Del. declaratory-judgment action, where he appears as pro hac vice counsel for Samsung, with an associated ITC investigation), and SnapAid Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics (E.D. Tex.; he is listed as lead counsel/partner, with Kirkland handling Samsung's IPR/PGR challenges to the asserted camera-quality patents). Netlist has publicly reported substantial prior jury verdicts against Samsung and Micron, and PTAB outcomes in these disputes have gone both ways; those results are not attributable to Mizzo individually. I did not find a verified recent verdict or Federal Circuit opinion crediting his personal trial win in the current matters, so outcomes there should be treated as pending.

PTAB / IPR experience. Yes — he appears regularly in PTAB proceedings. He is lead counsel on Samsung's IPRs/PGR challenging SnapAid patents (e.g., IPR2025-01519, IPR2025-01521, PGR2025-00083), served as lead counsel on Samsung petitions such as IPR2020-00502, and has been listed on post-grant filings for other clients.

Bar / education. Admitted New York (2000) and D.C. (2007); registered to practice before the USPTO (Reg. No. 73,156); admitted to the Federal Circuit, Third Circuit, S.D.N.Y., E.D.N.Y., and E.D. Tex. J.D., University of Virginia School of Law (1999); B.S., Industrial Engineering, Rutgers University (1996).

Note: the tracked party designations in the SnapAid matter appear on both the plaintiff and defendant lines; where the underlying docket and the PTAB filings are clear, Kirkland represents Samsung. I've flagged rather than resolved any ambiguity.