Christopher D. Bright is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Orange County Office. He focuses his practice on litigation and trial of U.S. patent disputes, and counseling clients regarding U.S. patents. Christopher has also litigated multinational patent disputes.
Christopher has successfully tried several patent cases, examining both technical expert and fact witnesses at trial, and arguing at hearings. He has also argued before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In addition to his litigation experience, Christopher has prepared opinions regarding patent infringement and validity issues.
Christopher’s practice has focused on electrical, mechanical and medical arts, including diverse patented technologies in aerodynamic fairings, athletic footwear, bioprosthetic heart valves, chipsets for set-top boxes, educational course management system software and systems, electronics, Ethernet switches, flash memory, GPRS/EDGE handset power control, hard disk drives, image-guided surgical navigation, integrated circuit design and manufacturing, lasers, laser diodes, light emitting diodes, microdisks, MP3 players, plasma flat panel displays, semiconductor processing, ultrasound imaging for medical applications, virtual private networks (VPNs), and voice and data networks.
Christopher was a managing editor of The George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics. He is also a former extern to the Honorable Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1999).
Christopher received his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, San Diego.
Christopher is a member of the bars of the state of California and the District of Columbia and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is also admitted to practice in the Central, Northern and Southern district courts in California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Representative Experience
- Trial counsel for plaintiff patentee in a three patent case, including examinations of plaintiff’s technical expert witness concerning infringement and validity of the patents in suit, resulting in a favorable jury verdict, permanent injunction, and order to destroy defendant’s infringing product inventory.
- Trial counsel for plaintiff patentee in a contempt hearing, including examination of plaintiff’s technical expert witness concerning infringement of the patent in suit by defendant’s alternative design.
- Trial counsel for plaintiff patentee, including examinations of plaintiff’s technical expert witness concerning infringement and validity of the patent in suit, and cross-examinations of defendant’s technical fact witnesses, resulting in a favorable jury verdict and permanent injunction.
- Trial counsel for plaintiff patentee, including examination of plaintiff’s technical expert witness concerning enforceability of the patent in suit, resulting in a favorable bench verdict.
- Trial counsel for complainant in International Trade Commission investigation involving three patents, including direct examination of the complainant’s inventor witness and cross-examination of one of respondent’s two technical fact witnesses.
- Lead trial counsel in bench trial for plaintiff in Civil Rights Action against the U.S. Government, including direct examination of plaintiff and cross-examinations of the Government’s witnesses.
- Assisted lead trial counsel for defendant, including preparations of cross-examination of plaintiff’s infringement expert and direct examination of defendant’s noninfringement expert, resulting in a favorable jury verdict.
- Assisted lead trial counsel in Markman hearings, including preparation of claim construction briefing and hearing presentations, resulting in favorable jury verdicts.
- Assisted lead trial counsel for defendant in binding arbitration, including preparation of arbitration briefing, resulting in a favorable arbitration ruling.
- Co-lead counsel in arguing at two final hearings before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, resulting in a favorable Board ruling.
Education
- George Washington University Law School, J.D. (with honors), 1999
- University of California-San Diego, B.S., 1996
