Patent litigator Michael Lyons leads the Silicon Valley litigation practice and brings more than 25 years of experience to his intellectual property (IP) rights practice. In 2018, he obtained a $268 million verdict in California on behalf of the Alfred E. Mann Foundation in a patent infringement action against Cochlear. This judgement reinstated a $134 million jury verdict from 2014 and then doubled the damages for willful infringement, ranking it among the largest patent damages awards in 2018. Michael’s patent, copyright, trade secret, and other technology-focused litigation involves tools that range from video streaming and consumer electronics’ circuit architecture to medical devices.
Michael’s experience includes litigating cases that involve semiconductor processing, software, and optoelectronic transceivers. Suits related to ink jet and laser printers, hard disk drives, hardware for graphics image production, and circuit architecture of chips also have come across his desk.
In Virginia, Michael obtained a notable jury verdict for ActiveVideo Networks in a suit that involved video-on-demand technology. The case resulted in a total recovery, including post-trial rulings, in excess of $250 million. He also represented a leading light-emitting diode manufacturer in connection with an US International Trade Commission investigation of patent infringement. The commission found infringement and issued an exclusion order that barred importation of all of the accused products.
In addition to litigation, Michael frequently handles adversarial Patent Office proceedings such as Inter Partes Reviews and Covered Business Method Reviews. In 2015, Michael won a Federal Circuit affirmance of rarely achieved termination rulings in four Covered Business Method Review proceedings.
Michael lectures on IP topics and has served as a guest speaker on IP enforcement at Boalt Hall School of Law.
Recommended, Intellectual property: Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission),The Legal 500 US (2024)
Recommended, Intellectual property: Patents: litigation (full coverage), The Legal 500 US (2020–2024)
Recognized, IP Patent Star – California, Managing Intellectual Property (2020–2024)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Intellectual Property, Law360 (2019)
Member, Litigation Department of the Year–Intellectual Property, The American Lawyer (2019)
Winning Litigator, The National Law Journal (2019)
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Intellectual Property, Palo Alto (2020–2025)
Top Intellectual Property Lawyers in California, Daily Journal (2019, 2021–2023)
Recognized, IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals (2018–2024)
"California Lawyer of the Year," Intellectual Property, California Lawyer (2012)
Fellow, The American Bar Foundation
Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association
Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Bar Association of San Francisco