Mr. Atkins is a partner in Pillsbury's intellectual property practice. He is an acclaimed trial and appellate lawyer with 20 years of experience representing all types of companies in intellectual property, technology, and other business disputes. Mr. Atkins has been lead counsel in nearly 100 intellectual property litigations and has extensive experience in patent, electronic commerce, copyright, trademark, Lanham Act, and trade secret matters. Mr. Atkins litigates in the trial and appellate courts, the International Trade Commission or ITC, arbitrations, mediations, and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Having won jury verdicts from both sides of the courtroom, his two decades of knowledge and experience combine to provide the wisdom and solid judgment that helps him win his cases.

He is a registered patent attorney who personally handles all of his cases which currently range from co-inventorship claims by a university professor on a blockbuster drug selling $1.7B+ per year to getting $1.2M+ in attorneys fees and costs for his client from a patent holder who originally sought $200 million; and who was defeated at trial and in repeated appeals by Mr. Atkins. In addition to his federal civil practice, Mr. Atkins also has an active pro bono practice representing indigent defendants in criminal proceedings in Maryland state courts.

In addition to current cases, some examples of his previous cases include:

• Won a three week jury trial for a foreign defendant who was sued for $200M+ in a patent infringement action and got it affirmed on appeal, then won a judgment and collected $1.2M+ in attorneys fees and costs; District Court's decision stated "Defendant's counsel could not have achieved a better result for their client," and that the trial team's "time records in this case . . . were all reasonable and reasonably necessary for [the defendant] to defend this case;"
  
• Won jury verdict and JMOL decision for a plaintiff/patent-holder in the Eastern District of Virginia "Rocket Docket" — asserted two patents on behalf of a U.S. company against direct foreign competitor in a three week jury trial; our client's patents were found to be infringed and not invalid; case settled shortly before bifurcated damages trial;
  
• Pro bono representation of sole defendant in a first degree murder trial on Eastern Shore of Maryland—circumstantial evidence case;
  
• Obtained a dismissal of all declaratory judgment claims made against a foreign company defendant on the basis of lack of jurisdiction; this provided the client, an Australian manufacturer, an opportunity to file action as a plaintiff in the jurisdiction of their choice;
  
• Won motion that got client dismissed as a respondent party to an ITC 337 action in which the client was named as a respondent;
  
• Obtained a favorable jury verdict in a five week patent infringement trial between a tier one OEM auto parts supplier and a competitor;
  
• In a preliminary injunction case on a trademark, obtained a quick and successful settlement for an accused infringer before even filing a response brief;
  
• Settled a complicated inventorship and contract case involving an inventor, pharmaceutical drug research company, and a major university shortly after taking over the case;
  
• Filed amicus briefs at the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme court on behalf of such parties as Intel, Microsoft, Medtronic, and Cisco;
  
• Successfully defended a foreign manufacturer of television components in an antidumping case at the ITC by getting the allegation dismissed very early in the case, during the preliminary review by the ITC Commissioners; and
  
• Trial team member on multi-patent infringement trial in which client was awarded over $200 million in damages, and more in follow-on litigation.
  

Mr. Atkins is currently the President of the Foundation of the Bar Association of D.C. and has been President of the Bar Association of D.C. (2005-06), a member of the ABA's House of Delegates, and chaired numerous bar committees. He is a prolific writer having recently published a primer on ITC procedure in English, Japanese, and Chinese as well as two chapters for BNA's Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook. His primer on ITC procedure was judged as one of the ten best law review articles related to patent law published within the last year, by the editor of West's Intellectual Property Law Review.

Mr. Atkins has also been a member of the firm's Managing Board, co-leader of the firm's IP section, Managing Partner of the Northern Virginia office, and a member of the firm's Compensation Committee.

Honors & Awards

• 2012 Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Patent Law (2010-2012)
• 2011 Chambers USA, Intellectual Property—Virginia (2007-2011)
• 2011 Legal 500 US, Intellectual Property
• 2012 Super Lawyers (2011-2012)
  

Affiliations

Bar Association of the District of Columbia, District of Columbia Bar, Maryland Bar Association, Virginia Bar Association, American Bar Association, Giles S. Rich Inns of Court, The Barrister's Club of Washington, D.C.

Courts

U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Federal, District of Columbia, and Armed Forces Circuits; U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Maryland, District of Columbia, the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, and various other districts; International Trade Commission