Blair M. Jacobs is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Blair focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and related antitrust disputes before federal district courts, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the International Trade Commission.
Blair has achieved favorable results for plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement, trade secret, trademark, copyright and other commercial disputes. He represents clients in a variety of technical areas, including robotics, fiber optic telecommunication equipment, photolithographic equipment, semiconductors, internet technologies, iris recognition security devices, computer hardware and software, medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs. Blair also counsels clients on intellectual property and corporate matters, including strategic IP counseling, patent portfolio management, product development strategy, litigation avoidance and risk minimization. He advises clients on general business matters relating to licensing, trademarks, sales strategies, due diligence and employment.
Blair has extensive trial experience in federal court and has specific experience trying patent infringement issues before juries. He is also experienced in the appellate phase of litigation at the Federal Circuit and other federal appellate courts, and has presented more than 20 oral arguments.
Prior to joining McDermott, Blair worked at other large national law firms and served as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice. He also served at the White House where he worked for the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Blair began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Walter E. Hoffman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Blair lectures and writes on various topics including trial tactics and trial advocacy, patent litigation strategies and issues associated with electronic discovery. He teaches trial advocacy at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and served on the faculty of the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute while at the Department of Justice.
Blair is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.
Education
- University of Richmond School of Law, J.D., 1990
- Wake Forest University, B.A., 1987
