Christophe Lair, founding partner and intellectual property attorney

Christophe F. Lair

Founding Partner

Intellectual Property

  • 25 years of experience

  • Intellectual Property

  • Patent Counseling, Prosecution And Opinion

  • Post-Grant Proceedings

  • Glass Manufacturing

  • Material Processing

  • Semiconductors

  • Medical Devices

  • Aerospace

  • Virginia

  • Maryland

  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

  • Languages: French

Christophe Lair is a skilled patent attorney and experienced engineer with deep knowledge of many technical disciplines.

Christophe is a patent strategist with 25 years of IP experience and seasoned engineer who concentrates his practice on strategic IP counseling, opinion drafting, and U.S. and international patent prosecution. He helps technology-driven companies turn R&D into durable competitive advantage by building strong, strategically layered patent portfolios to defend aggressive rights while deterring competitors, strengthening negotiating leverage, and positioning clients to assert and enforce when needed. His counseling spans freedom-to-operate, validity and infringement analyses, risk mitigation, licensing and technology transactions, and pre-litigation opinions, as well as reexaminations, reissues, and other post-grant proceedings for a global clientele.

Drawing on experience as a research engineer and time in the IP department of the world’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, Christophe pairs legal judgment with deep technical fluency across materials, physics, optics, semiconductors, lithography, mechanical systems, software, internet/business methods, and medical technologies. He regularly manages U.S. and foreign patent portfolios for multinational manufacturers, innovative medical-device companies, and aerospace leaders, aligning filing and prosecution strategies with product roadmaps, standards activity, and business objectives. He works seamlessly across borders, including with francophone teams and inventors, to harmonize protection worldwide.

Before founding Cushman, Christophe was an attorney and partner at a large international law firm from 2003 to 2026, advising clients on complex intellectual property matters.

  • Leads strategic IP counseling and U.S./international portfolio development for an international manufacturing company.

  • Handles ongoing prosecution, strategic counseling, and litigation support for multiple medical-device companies (diagnostics and healthcare products).

  • Advises a leading aerospace company on prosecution and portfolio strategy.

A co-inventor on U.S. Patent No. 6,812,113 and an author of multiple peer-reviewed publications on advanced interconnects and CMOS integration, Christophe previously served as a research engineer with STMicroelectronics and CEA-DAM. This hands-on foundation informs practical guidance to inventors and in-house counsel alike.

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • “New method to study unlanded via architecture. Application to advanced interconnects: Al with Low k and copper dual damascene,” International Interconnects Technology Conference, IITC′2000, San Francisco, California, 2000.
  • “Influence of HSQ dielectric on process conditions and impact on CMOS circuit performance,” ESSDERC’1999, Leuven, Belgium, 1999.
  • “Integration of HSQ in a sub .2 micron CMOS technology with unlanded via architecture,” VMIC’1999, Santa Clara, California, September 1999 (Outstanding Paper Award of the Conference).
  • “Developing a 0.18-Micron CMOS Process,” IEEE Micro, vol. 19, no. 5, pp16-22, September 1999.
  • “Planarization properties of hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) influence on CMP,” MAM’99 European Workshop on Materials for Advanced Metallization No. 3, Oostende, Belgium, 1999.
  • Proceedings 1998 VMIC conference, IMIC, Tampa, Florida, 1998.
  • J.D., University of Maryland School of Law (2003)
  • M.S., Material Sciences (DEA Sciences des Matériaux), Sorbonne Université Paris (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI) (1996 with honors)
  • M.S., Engineering with a specialization in Physics (diplôme d’ingénieur Physicien), ESPCI – PSL Université Paris (1996)
  • B.S., Physics and Chemistry, University of Toulouse magna cum laude, ranked first in graduating class

Virginia | Maryland | U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Not admitted in the District of Columbia.