Gregory S. Arovas

Gregory S. Arovas is a highly regarded patent litigator and partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he has practiced since 1999, having previously been with Fish & Neave. His practice focuses on high-stakes intellectual property disputes, primarily representing major technology companies. Arovas is noted for his deep expertise in a wide range of technology areas, including computer hardware and software, communications, electronics (including flash memory and standards-essential patents), and medical products, as well as trade secret litigation. He tries cases in district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and has experience with Post-Grant Review (PGR) and Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

With a strong preference for defense, Arovas has appeared as counsel for defendants in 15 of his 17 tracked cases. He frequently represents leading operating companies such as Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation, defending them against patent infringement assertions. While primarily a defense counsel, he also has experience representing plaintiffs in patent disputes.

Arovas has been lead counsel in numerous high-profile cases, securing significant victories for his clients. He successfully defended Samsung against Spansion Inc. in an ITC flash memory patent dispute, resulting in a rejection of infringement claims and prevention of import exclusion orders, and also secured an exclusion order for Samsung in a related ITC case. He also served as co-lead trial counsel for Intel in a series of disputes with Wi-Lan Inc. concerning Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and DSL patents, where Wi-Lan ultimately lost or dropped most claims, leading to a settlement with Intel. More recently, he secured the dismissal of a patent case against Samsung brought by Staton Techiya and Synergy IP, based on findings of misconduct and improper acquisition of privileged information by the plaintiffs. Other notable representations include defending Apple in Marshall Feature Recognition, LLC et al. v. Apple Inc. and Lenovo in Maxell, Ltd. v. Lenovo Group Ltd. et al. He has also been involved in complex litigation for Samsung against Ericsson, dealing with standards-essential patents and antitrust issues.

Arovas is admitted to the New York Bar (1993) and registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1992 and a B.S. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1989.