Steven M. Seigel

Summary — Steven M. Seigel, Susman Godfrey L.L.P. (Seattle)

Steven Seigel is a partner at Susman Godfrey whose patent practice spans district court litigation, the ITC, and Federal Circuit appeals, layered on a broader complex-commercial and class-action docket. He describes himself as a trial lawyer/generalist, but the bulk of his work has been patent infringement matters. Technology areas run across mechanical/automotive (dual direct-and-port fuel-injection engine systems in Ethanol Boosting Systems v. Ford), software and networking (computer-network automation in NetFuel v. Cisco; packet-switched networks in Monarch v. Juniper), EV charging/battery software (ChargeLogic v. Tesla), standards/FRAND (defending Huawei against Netgear's Wi-Fi 6 SEP, antitrust, and RICO suit), power modules (an ITC trial for Vicor), and § 101 challenges (IBM v. Zillow). He does not have a technical degree (English/political science) and handles non-patent work as well, including the Dominion Voting Systems defamation cases and a PFAS class action.

His 11 tracked appearances are nearly evenly split — six plaintiff-side (typically patent owners, including MIT-affiliated/licensing entities) and five defendant-side (operating companies such as Huawei, Zillow, and MIT) — and his self-description confirms he acts for both plaintiffs and defendants, from individuals to multibillion-dollar corporations. In the tracked Ford v. MIT/EBS v. Ford cluster he has served as lead/arguing counsel for the patent-owner side of the ethanol-engine dispute, including a 2022 Federal Circuit argument (No. 21-1949) that secured vacatur of a non-infringement judgment on claim-construction grounds (Judge Newman dissenting).

Notable outcomes verified from firm and court sources: oral argument and a precedential Federal Circuit win in Ancora Technologies v. Hulu, Roku, and Nintendo (No. 23-1674, argued Nov. 2024), vacating a PTAB obviousness decision and clarifying the nexus requirement for license-based objective indicia; a Federal Circuit win for Zillow affirming § 101 invalidation of IBM patents (No. 22-1861); and an April 2025 ITC trial for Vicor resulting in an initial determination in Vicor's favor. He also argued the EBS v. Ford IPR appeals (Nos. 24-1381/-1382/-1383), which the Federal Circuit affirmed in December 2025 — a loss for his patent-owner clients (the underlying IPRs were handled by separate counsel).

On PTAB/IPR: Seigel does not appear to be a primary IPR trial practitioner, but he regularly handles Federal Circuit appeals of Board decisions for both patent owners and challengers, and PTAB-adjacent issues are a recurring feature of his docket. He joined Susman Godfrey directly after clerking for Judge Richard Taranto on the Federal Circuit (also clerking for Judge Tatel on the D.C. Circuit and Judge Boasberg on the D.D.C.), and has spent his entire career at the firm in Seattle. Education: B.A. Williams College (2004) and J.D. Yale Law School (2014); admitted in Washington (2018) and Maryland, with frequent pro hac vice admissions; recognized as a Washington Super Lawyers Rising Star (2024). Sources: Susman Godfrey attorney profile and Vault 2025 Litigation Specialty Q&A, Federal Circuit opinions (21-1949, 23-1674), Alston & Bird and Knobbe Martens case summaries, Super Lawyers, and court filings.