Lionel M. Lavenue

Lionel M. Lavenue is a highly experienced patent trial lawyer and partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, specializing in complex patent litigation across a broad spectrum of technologies. His practice encompasses business methods, computer software, electrical and mechanical devices—including medical device software applications—as well as financial services, aerospace, and automotive industries. Notably, he works with innovators in artificial intelligence (AI), advising on patent strategy for machine learning, data processing, and automated decision-making technologies. Mr. Lavenue also possesses particular expertise in patent issues related to aviation and aerospace, including aircraft, rotorcraft, drone, UAV, and UAS technologies, often lecturing on these topics.

With experience in over 220 patent cases, including 22 bench or jury trials, Mr. Lavenue is known for relentlessly defending and enforcing intellectual property. While his experience includes both plaintiff and defendant-side work, he has a significant reputation for leading multi-front defense campaigns for innovative companies, particularly those targeted by non-practicing entities (NPEs). His notable defense work includes leading the BMW Group's successful defense against multiple patent assertion entities, a strategy that involved coordinated district court and PTAB proceedings, as seen in cases like Foras Technologies, Ltd. v. BMW. He also secured a swift dismissal for BMW in Ad Innovations, LLC v. BMW of North America, LLC and brought a 13-year litigation to a close for BMW in Beacon Navigation GmbH v. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG et al. He has briefed and argued numerous patent and IP appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Lavenue is a prolific practitioner in post-grant proceedings, being one of the first to challenge a patent via the inter partes review (IPR) procedure. He has led the filing of almost 200 IPR petitions and covered business method (CBM) petitions, in addition to directing nearly 100 defensive ex parte reexaminations used in litigation. His experience extends to matters before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, handling nearly a dozen patent infringement matters under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(a), and over a dozen Section 337 disputes before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Mr. Lavenue is admitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the District of Columbia, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia bars, among various federal district courts. He earned his J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law, an LL.M. in Patent Law and Government Procurement Law from George Washington University Law School, and an M.S. in Information Systems from George Mason University. He was also a Fulbright Scholar, studying international intellectual property law at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany.