Smith R. Brittingham IV

Smith R. Brittingham IV is a highly experienced intellectual property litigator and a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, where he co-leads the firm's U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation practice. He joined Finnegan in 2000, bringing with him six years of experience from the ITC's Office of Unfair Import Investigations. His practice focuses on intellectual property disputes in trial and appellate courts, with a particular emphasis on ITC Section 337 investigations, where he has been involved in over 70 investigations and more than 30 trials. Prior to his work at the ITC, Mr. Brittingham spent over five years in private practice concentrating on civil litigation and antitrust counseling.

Mr. Brittingham's extensive experience at the ITC positions him predominantly on the plaintiff (complainant) side for enforcing patent rights to block infringing imports, though ITC practice involves both complainants and respondents. His work often involves complex technologies, including mechanical engineering, manufacturing, transportation, e-commerce, design, and semiconductors. He has represented clients such as Syneron-Candela and MGH in patent infringement litigation concerning RF micro-needling technology, and LG Electronics against a non-practicing entity asserting patents related to point-to-point communications. He also secured a decisive ITC victory for US Synthetic Corp. (USS) in a case involving infringing polycrystalline diamond products.

In addition to his ITC focus, Mr. Brittingham has experience with PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) proceedings and Federal Circuit appeals, often in parallel with ITC and district court litigation. He has provided insights on the interplay between PTAB and ITC proceedings, noting that an early IPR invalidation could impact ITC exclusion orders.

Mr. Brittingham is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Ohio. He earned his education from The Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law.