Awards & Rankings 10.16.25
Pillsbury Once Again Shortlisted by the Financial Times for Cutting-Edge Work
Honors Mark 10 Consecutive Years of Recognition from FT Innovative Lawyers North America
Source: Financial Times
Michael Horikawa handles all aspects of patent, copyright and trademark law, focusing on computer-related technologies, consumer electronics and biomedical devices.
Michael is a partner in the firm's Intellectual Property (IP) practice. His experience includes representing clients in patent and other IP litigation in federal district court and at the International Trade Commission, and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, often involving numerous parties and a multitude of patents.
Representative Experience
- Represented Fox in defending suit for infringement of patents relating to network scheduling software in which the court granted Fox’s motion to dismiss and found all asserted patents invalid with prejudice. Affirmed upon appeal in a precedent-setting, landmark win.
- Represented petitioner Medtronic in three inter partes review proceedings in which all challenged claims to a "Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement" were found unpatentable by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a ruling the Federal Circuit affirmed on appeal.
- Represented Pixar in defending suit for infringement of patent on a "Method for Deriving Pixel Color Using Steradians" asserted against 3D rendering software used in creating animated 3D movies, in which the court granted Pixar's motion to dismiss on ground patent claimed patent-ineligible subject matter.
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- Represented petitioner MasterImage 3D in an inter partes review proceeding in which all challenged claims to a "Polarization Conversion Systems for Stereoscopic Projection" were found unpatentable.
- Represented AT&T Mobility Inc. in defending suit for infringement of patent on a "Telephone/Transaction Entry Device and System for Entering Transaction Data into Databases" asserted against cellular phones and networks, in which the court granted AT&T Mobility's motion for summary judgment on ground patent claimed patent-ineligible subject matter, a ruling the Federal Circuit affirmed on appeal.
- Represented Disney Online and ESPN Ventures Inc. in defending suit for infringement of nine patents on "Digital Library System," including various methods and apparatuses for surveying, managing and cataloging multimedia assets, asserted against the online market and distribution of digital content, including movies and other programming.
- Represented ABC Inc. (d/b/a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) in defending suit for infringement of patent on "Personalized Digital Media Access System" asserted against online digital rights management systems for movies and other digital content.
- Represented a global mass media corporation in defense of copyright infringement claims involving a music album.
Professional Highlights
Honors & Awards
- Recognized by IAM Patent 1000 for Patent Litigation in California (2025)
- Recognized as a Rising Star as published by Managing Intellectual Property (2018 – 2024)
- Super Lawyers, Southern California Rising Stars (2014 – 2018)
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- Associations
- USC Gould School of Law Intellectual Property Institute (Planning Committee Member, 2015 – 2017), Japanese American Bar Association, Japan America Society of Southern California
- Clerkships
- Law Clerk for the Intellectual Property Unit, General Counsel Division, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office
Education
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J.D., Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 2009
M.S.E., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2006
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2003
Admissions
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California