Michael A. Dorfman
Michael A. Dorfman
Patent and Trade Secret Litigation | Post-Grant Proceedings
Michael Dorfman is a registered patent attorney who focuses on intellection property litigation. With an electrical engineering background and more than 25 years of legal experience, Mr. Dorfman represents both patent owners and accused infringers in litigation in a broad array of technological areas, including electronics, computer hardware and software, semiconductors, and manufacturing processes. Mr. Dorfman has litigated cases in numerous district courts throughout the country, including the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, the District of Delaware and the Northern District of California, and in the International Trade Commission. He has also appeared on behalf of petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Mr. Dorfman diligently evaluates his clients’ products and services to determine if there are any patent issues, whether for a product early in the development cycle or in the face of a charge of infringement on a mature product or service. Further, Mr. Dorfman often assists clients in evaluating ways to design around a patent to obviate any possible infringement issues and considers prior art-based and technical invalidity arguments. Still further, Mr. Dorfman provides written legal opinions on issues of infringement and validity.
Mr. Dorfman draws from his extensive expertise to also represent patent owners in evaluating competitors’ products and services, sending cease and desist letters, filing complaints for infringement, and seeking injunctive relief. Mr. Dorfman supports clients in purchasing and selling patent portfolios, conducting due diligence in connection with commercial transactions, and negotiating inbound and outbound licenses.
Mr. Dorfman’s approach to his representations begins and ends with the client’s interests. He regularly works with legal and technical personnel to understand his client’s business and where the dispute fits in the bigger picture such that he can find and suggest the right path to achieve its goals, whether that is to reach a pre-litigation resolution, litigate through appeal or something in-between. Because every case is different, Mr. Dorfman makes sure to work with his clients to collectively develop a cost-effective, successful strategy unique to the facts of each matter.
Education
- DePaul University College of Law (J.D.)
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S.)
Electrical Engineering
Admissions
- Admitted in IL and USPTO only; practice is limited to matters and proceedings before federal courts and agencies
- Illinois
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
Accolades
- Illinois Super Lawyers®, 2017-2018, 2020-2024
- Illinois Super Lawyers®, Rising Star, 2013
Representative Presentations and Publications:
- “2022 Patent Year in Review.” Live and On-Demand CLE Video Webinar Series (January 25, 2023)
- “Patentable Subject Matter: Seeking Certainty in Uncertain Times.” Live and On-Demand CLE Video Webinar Series ( October 25, 2022)
- “Willful Infringement and Enhanced Damages: Litigation Takeaways in an Evolving Landscape.” Live and On-Demand CLE Video Webinar Series (August 24, 2022)
- “Indirect Infringement and the Life Sciences: Recent Litigation Takeaways and Insights for Patent Drafting.” Live and On-Demand CLE Video Webinar Series (May 25, 2022)
- “2021 in Review: Significant Updates to Copyright and Trademark Law and Practice.” Live and On-Demand CLE Video Webinar Series (April 19, 2022)
- “How the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic Changed IP Practice,” IP Watchdog (December 22, 2020)