Michael F. Heim

Michael F. Heim is a founding partner of the Houston-based intellectual property boutique Heim, Payne & Chorush. With a career spanning over three decades, his practice is focused on complex patent litigation and related antitrust matters. His technical background in electrical engineering and early career experience as a patent examiner inform his work on cases involving sophisticated technologies such as microprocessors, computer architecture, wireless communications, and data transmission systems.

While the provided case list shows a single appearance on the defendant side in Visa USA Inc v. Cortex MCP Inc, Mr. Heim's broader practice involves representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He has litigated cases for individual inventors and smaller companies against large corporations, as well as for established technology and energy firms. His firm biography and news reports highlight a significant verdict for plaintiff Atlas Global Technologies against TP-Link, which resulted in a $37.5 million jury award for infringement of Wi-Fi technology patents. Mr. Heim also has extensive experience in patent-related class action antitrust lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.

Mr. Heim has spent his career at Heim, Payne & Chorush, a firm he co-founded. The firm is noted for its experience in post-grant proceedings, including inter partes review (IPR) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. During law school, he worked for three years as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Federal Circuit, and various federal district courts.