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 litigates and tries U.S. patent cases and counsels clients regarding U.S. patents. Christopher has extensive experience with complex patent litigation, including more than 50 U.S. patent cases and multinational patent disputes.
Christopher has successfully tried numerous patent cases, examining both expert and fact witnesses at trial, and arguing at patent claim construction 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 has litigated a broad array of patents in the computer network, electrical, mechanical, medical and software arts, including patented technologies in aerodynamic fairings, athletic footwear, bioprosthetic heart valves, chipsets for set-top boxes, educational course management software and systems, electronics, emergency notification software and systems, Ethernet switches, flash memory, GPRS/EDGE handset power control, hard disk drives, hemodialysis machines, image-guided surgical navigation software and systems, integrated circuit design and manufacturing, lasers, laser diodes, light emitting diodes, Linux operating systems, microdisks, MP3 players, needleless medical connectors, plasma flat panel displays, security software, semiconductor processing, ultrasound medical imaging software and systems, 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, the Eastern District of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Representative Trial 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. Extreme Networks, Inc. v. Enterasys Networks, Inc., Western District of Wisconsin.
- Trial counsel for defendant, including cross-examination of plaintiff’s damages expert witness and direct examination of defendant’s damages expert witness and assistance with technical expert direct examinations and cross-examinations, resulting in a favorable jury verdict of noninfringement. Bedrock Computer Technologies, LLC v. Yahoo! Inc., Eastern District of Texas.
- Prepared and argued claim construction hearing in a three patent case, which resulted in a favorable jury verdict. VirnetX, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., Eastern District of Texas.
- 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 a permanent injunction. Blackboard Inc. v. Desire2Learn Inc., Eastern District of Texas.
- 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. Blackboard Inc. v. Desire2Learn Inc., Eastern District of Texas.
- Trial counsel for plaintiff patentee in a three patent case, including examinations of one of plaintiff’s two technical expert witnesses concerning infringement and validity of the patents in suit and cross-examinations of two of defendants’ technical fact witnesses, resulting in a favorable jury verdict. Surgical Navig. Tech., et al. v. BrainLAB Mediz. Comp., et al., District of Colorado.
- 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. In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephone Handsets, Wireless Communication Devices, and Components Thereof, International Trade Commission.
- 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. Lucent Technologies v. Extreme Networks Inc., et al., District of Delaware.
Education
- George Washington University Law School, J.D. (with honors), 1999
- University of California-San Diego, B.S., 1996
