Nicholas Christopher Marais

Nicholas Christopher Marais is an Of Counsel attorney at Alston & Bird LLP, focusing his practice on complex intellectual property litigation for clients in high-tech industries. He regularly represents defendants in patent disputes before U.S. District Courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and has also handled matters at the appellate level, including appearances before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Marais primarily defends operating companies, with his tracked case, IoT Innovations LLC v. Snap One, LLC, reflecting his work on the defendant side in smart home technology disputes.

His experience spans a range of technology areas, including wireless connectivity solutions, active cable solutions, digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, 3D virtual tour technology, barcode scanning, and Wi-Fi related technologies. Notably, he represented a national real estate brokerage as a defendant in a district court litigation involving 3D virtual tour technology, achieving a rare jury verdict of both non-infringement and invalidity. He also played a role in an ITC investigation involving active cable solutions and represented a multinational computer and electronics manufacturer in an ITC investigation concerning Wi-Fi related technology.

Marais is experienced in post-grant proceedings, having represented a telecommunications company as a petitioner in six inter partes review (IPR) proceedings related to DSL technology before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He is also a former law clerk for the Honorable Kara F. Stoll of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, further highlighting his appellate and PTAB-related background. His insights into PTAB strategy are also reflected in his publication, "Weaponizing Follow-On Petitions to Defeat IPR Estoppel."

He is admitted to practice in North Carolina and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Marais earned his J.D., with high honors, from Emory University School of Law in 2018, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. He holds both an M.S. and B.S. in Bioengineering from Clemson University.