William Atkins, founding partner and intellectual property attorney

William P. Atkins

Founding Partner

Intellectual Property

  • 30+ years of experience

  • Patents

  • Trademarks

  • Trade Secrets

  • Unfair Competition

  • Intellectual Property

  • Extensive experience across a broad spectrum of technologies and scientific disciplines

  • Virginia

  • Maryland

  • District of Columbia

  • U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Bill Atkins is a nationally recognized intellectual property trial lawyer and registered patent attorney with more than 30 years of experience handling high-stakes patent, trademark, trade secret, and unfair competition disputes and intellectual property counseling.

He has served as lead counsel in more than 150 matters, including bet-the-company and contingency cases, across federal courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), state courts, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Atkins has extensive trial and appellate experience, including securing Federal Circuit reversals, prevailing in jury trials, and achieving substantial recoveries and defense victories in matters exceeding $200 million.

He is the Editor of The PTAB Handbook and Co-Editor of the Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook, a leading ABA publication. For many years, he has also taught intellectual property litigation at George Washington University Law School.

  • Defended a European company in a three-week patent and trade secrets jury trial in the Southern District of Florida, defeating over $200 million in claimed damages; affirmed on appeal with recovery of $1.25 million in attorneys’ fees and costs.
  • Won a three-week, patent jury trial in the Eastern District of Virginia and defeated parallel infringement claims by securing summary judgment of non-infringement in the District of Columbia.
  • Secured a landmark victory for a state university by adding a professor and lab assistant as co-inventors on NIH-funded patents covering a cancer drug generating over $2 billion in annual worldwide sales.
  • Represented a foreign accused infringer in two inter partes review proceedings; the PTAB invalidated all challenged claims across patents asserted in eight related Delaware district court cases, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.
  • Achieved a complete Federal Circuit reversal overturning a district court’s summary judgment of non-infringement on all five asserted patents.
  • Took over and successfully handled Federal Circuit appeals involving patent infringement and invalidity.
  • Authored amicus briefs before the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Medtronic, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and the Bar Association of the D.C.
  • Convinced the ITC to dismiss electronics communications client from a Section 337 investigation through motions practice before an answer was required.
  • Successfully defended a foreign television manufacturer in an ITC antidumping matter, securing dismissal during preliminary review by the ITC Commissioners.
  • Called in to assist in trying complex matters before the ITC, including patent infringement proceedings.
  • Defeated a preliminary injunction sought by large Chinese company in Southern District of N.Y. against a cryptocurrency client offering “Alibabacoins.”
  • Handled preliminary injunction proceedings in high-stakes trademark litigation in the Eastern District of Virginia involving products generating over $2 billion in annual sales.
  • Secured a favorable settlement for an accused infringer in a trademark preliminary injunction dispute even before filing a response brief.
  • Represented trademark owner in a declaratory judgment action in the Northern District of Illinois, litigating preliminary injunction proceedings through appellate review up to the U.S. Supreme Court and achieving a settlement shortly before the close of discovery.
  • Represented major retail companies in trademark litigation and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • Called in weeks before trial to handle a Florida state court trade secrets case; prepared and settled the matter days before trial.

  • Won dismissal of all declaratory judgment claims at the outset of litigation, enabling an Australian manufacturer to refile as plaintiff in its chosen jurisdiction.

  • Settled a complex inventorship and contract dispute involving an individual inventor, a pharmaceutical research company, and a major university shortly after taking over the case.

  • Represented the inventor of the Taxol® formulation process, a Florida State University professor, in patent and inventorship matters involving a foundational oncology therapy.
  • Secured a $2 million recovery for a Georgetown University post-doctoral researcher in patent interference proceedings involving a follow-on drug to Allegra® (fexofenadine).
  • Established co-inventorship for two individuals on the patented formulation for Velcade® (bortezomib), a leading oncology treatment.
  • Provided pro bono representation in a first-degree murder trial on Maryland’s Eastern Shore involving a case based on circumstantial evidence.
  • Recognized by Chambers USA (Intellectual Property, 2005–2025); Best Lawyers (Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Patent Law, 2011–2026); Managing Intellectual Property as an “IP Star” (Patents) in Virginia and nationally (2020–2025); and IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners (2016–2025).
  • Editor-in-Chief, The PTAB Handbook.
  • Co-Editor-in-Chief, The Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook (ABA); co-author of the chapter on patent trials.
  • Adjunct Professor of Law (Intellectual Property), George Washington University Law School (2017–present).
  • Completed mediation training at Harvard Law School Negotiation Institute.
  • Named Lawyer of the Year (2025), Bar Association of the District of Columbia.
  • Named Lawyer of the Year in Patent Law (2023), Best Lawyers in America.
  • Recognized by IAM Patent 1000 for Patent Litigation in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area (2025).
  • Member of Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia bar associations.
  • Former President, Bar Association of the District of Columbia and its Foundation.
  • Member, American Bar Association; former House of Delegates member and chair of multiple committees.
  • Member, Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court.
  • Held senior leadership roles at prior firm, including Managing Board Member, Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Section, and Office Managing Partner.
  • AI Overview: What It Is, How It Works and How It Can Work for You, webinar (April 2024).
  • Final Trademark Rules Under the Trademark Modernization Act in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Practising Law Institute (Jan. 2022).
  • The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020, Practising Law Institute (Feb. 2021).
  • Career Panel, Maryland State Bar Association (Oct. 2020).
  • Trademark Law: Recent Developments, Practicing Law Institute (April 2020).
  • Design Patent and Trade Dress Protection for Product Designs and Product Features, Practicing Law Institute (Oct. 2019).
  • Annual Conference of the PTAB Bar Association, Washington, D.C. (March 2019).
  • Trademark Cases: Update, Practising Law Institute (Jan. 2019).
  • Views on Patent Cases from the Chambers–PTAB, VA, & MD, Va., Md., and D.C. Bar Presentation (June 2018).
  • Speaker, George Washington University Law School Symposium on IP (May 2018).
  • Frequent speaker on patents and trademarks, PTAB practice, post-grant proceedings, and related strategies for organizations including the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Bloomberg BNA, Intellectual Property Owners, and state bar associations, and George Washington University Law School.
  • LL.M., Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law, George Washington University
  • J.D./M.B.A., University of Baltimore
    • Editor-in-Chief, University of Baltimore Law Forum
  • B.S., Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park

Virginia | Maryland | District of Columbia | U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

U.S. District Courts for Maryland, D.C., Virginia, Texas (Eastern & Western), and many others | U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Fourth, Seventh, and D.C. Circuits | U.S. Supreme Court