Steven C. Carlson

Steven C. Carlson is a Partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, focusing his practice on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trade secret, and copyright disputes. His technical expertise spans a broad range of technologies, including medical devices, semiconductors, chemistry, machine learning, genomics, telecommunications, robotics, databases, and software. This aligns with his involvement in cases such as Walker Digital, LLC v. Microsoft Corp. et al., which concerned patents related to network search and mapping services, and BPI Labs, LLC v. Eli Lilly & Co., involving a pharmaceutical patent challenge for tirzepatide.

Carlson maintains a balanced practice, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent litigation. His experience includes defending operating companies, as seen in the Walker Digital v. Microsoft case where he represented Microsoft, and prosecuting for entities challenging patents, such as BPI Labs against Eli Lilly. Prior to joining Robins Kaplan, where he is now a Partner, Carlson was Of Counsel at Lee & Hayes and also practiced at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP.

His notable experience includes securing the vacatur of a preliminary injunction at the Federal Circuit and obtaining a complete dismissal for expense processing software provider Expensify in patent litigation. He also has significant experience before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), having invalidated patents as lead counsel and teaching advanced patent litigation with a focus on PTAB and International Trade Commission (ITC) proceedings. The BPI Labs v. Eli Lilly matter, an Inter Partes Review (IPR) challenging a patent for Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, received a discretionary denial from the PTAB in December 2025.

Carlson earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1999 and holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Reed College (1993). He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul R. Michel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Honorable Roderick R. McKelvie in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. He has been licensed to practice in California since 2000.