Michael Harris

Specialty / focus. Michael J. Harris is an IP trial lawyer and partner in Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer's Chicago office whose patent practice centers on consumer products and mechanical/electrical technologies — above all footwear and apparel manufacturing (Nike's "Flyknit" knit-to-shape patents), plus design patents, trade dress, trademarks, and Section 337 work at the ITC. Case-activity data confirms breadth across mechanical engineering/manufacturing, design, semiconductor/optics, and communications matters, and his firm bio also lists antitrust litigation.

Side preference / firm context. His tracked docket is entirely plaintiff-side (1 of 1 appearance), consistent with his career as counsel to large operating companies — primarily Nike — enforcing patents, rather than defending or litigating for NPEs. He joined Arnold & Porter with the Nike team from Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. (Chicago), where he and colleagues Christopher Renk and Aaron Bowling handled Nike's IPR and district-court work (e.g., IPR filings through 2019).

Notable cases / PTAB. In the tracked case, Nike, Inc. v. New Balance Athletics, Inc. (D. Mass., filed Nov. 2023), Harris represents Nike on three Flyknit footwear patents; New Balance's motion to dismiss was denied (Aug. 2024), and the case was stayed pending IPRs in June 2025. Other verifiable highlights: a favorable jury verdict for Nike in Nike v. lululemon (S.D.N.Y., 2025); the Federal Circuit's affirmance for Nike in Akeva L.L.C. v. Nike (No. 2019-2249, 2020); and a General Exclusion Order for Converse in ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-936. He appears regularly before the PTAB — including as Nike's lead counsel in Skechers v. Nike (IPR2025-00150) and on the Nike/lululemon IPR appeal (Fed. Cir. No. 2024-2074) — and was a Legal 500 "Recommended Lawyer" for IPRs (2018–2021).

Bar / education. Illinois bar (2003); J.D., University of Illinois College of Law, per his Super Lawyers profile. He is a registered patent attorney (USPTO Reg. No. 62,957).