Michael J. Flibbert

Specialty / Focus. Michael J. Flibbert is a Washington, DC–based patent litigator whose practice centers on pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemistry, chemical engineering, agriculture, and materials science, with particular depth in Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA (biosimilar) disputes — his Finnegan bio notes a "striking rate of success" fending off IPR petitions filed by biosimilar makers against brand-drug patents (Finnegan profile; IAM Patent 1000). His tracked docket also includes significant electronics and software matters (Wi-Fi/security, memory, standard-essential patents), reflecting a broader technology range than his bio alone suggests. He serves as lead counsel in district court litigations, PTAB proceedings, and Federal Circuit appeals, and has ITC, prosecution, licensing, and antitrust experience (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP profile).

Side / Firm. Flibbert skews defense-side — 8 of 12 tracked appearances are for defendants — and largely defends operating companies and brand pharma patent holders (Kaspersky, Ford, Bank of America, Samsung, Microsoft, Regeneron) against NPEs, PAEs, and generic/biosimilar challengers. He has also led plaintiff-side matters for technology companies (Samsung, Centripetal Networks, Fusion Pharmaceuticals). He is a partner at Finnegan in Washington, DC (10 of 12 tracked cases), having previously been involved in matters at ArentFox Schiff (Centripetal Networks v. Cisco Systems) and Fish & Richardson (Brain Corporation v. Avidbots). He previously led Finnegan's chemical and metallurgical practice group.

Notable matters / PTAB experience. In Centripetal Networks, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., Flibbert (as plaintiff's lead counsel) obtained a $2.75 billion willful-infringement award in the Eastern District of Virginia — then the largest U.S. patent verdict — which the Federal Circuit vacated in June 2022 on judicial-recusal grounds rather than the merits (Fed. Cir. No. 2021-1888), with the remanded case ultimately resolved in Cisco's favor. In Regeneron Pharmaceuticals v. Formycon AG, he represented Regeneron in the Eylea (aflibercept) biosimilar fight, which settled in October 2025 with Formycon's U.S. launch deferred to Q4 2026. IPR/post-grant work is a core strength: per his firm bio he led successful Federal Circuit appeals for DuPont/ADM (invalidating all claims in the Synvina IPR, 17-1977) and DuPont (transgenic soybean reexam affirmance), defended Biogen's Tecfidera and AstraZeneca's Zomig patents to non-institution or patentability decisions, and secured an adverse judgment for Danisco against Novozymes. He co-edited The Practitioner's Guide to Trials Before the PTAB (3d ed. 2022) and is ranked by IAM Patent 1000 and The Legal 500 U.S. for post-grant and litigation work.

Bar / Education. Admitted in D.C., Virginia, before the USPTO, Federal Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court; J.D. with honors, George Washington University Law School (1994); B.S. Chemistry, Georgetown University (1986); Order of the Coif.