Meredith Martin Addy

Practice Areas

Patent Litigation

Appellate

IPRs (PTAB)

Intellectual Asset Mgmt.

Technology Licensing

Career

Meredith Martin Addy is co-founder of AddyHart LLC and a nationally recognized intellectual property litigator with a practice focused on appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as complex patent litigation in federal district courts, the Court of Federal Claims, and proceedings before the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board. She has handled more than 100 federal district court matters and over 100 Federal Circuit appeals.

Over the course of her career, Addy has represented and advised leading companies in the software, technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical sectors, assisting clients in protecting and monetizing significant intellectual property portfolios. She is known for developing litigation and appellate strategies designed to align legal outcomes with broader business objectives. Clients have described her as “an exceptionally skilled lawyer” and “extremely pro-business,” noting her command of both the courts and commercial realities (Chambers USA).

With a background in electrical engineering, Addy brings technical fluency to highly sophisticated patent disputes and is widely regarded for her ability to distill complex legal and scientific issues for judges, juries, and business stakeholders.

Prior to co-founding AddyHart, she held senior leadership roles at AmLaw 100 firms and large intellectual property boutiques, including serving as office managing partner of a Chicago office, chair of a national patent litigation practice, and chair of a national appellate practice. She has also served on executive committees and boards of directors.

Addy has been deeply involved in the Federal Circuit and broader IP bar. She served for ten years on the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council and was a co-founder and first president of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court, dedicated to intellectual property. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago (IPLAC), and chaired or co-chaired amicus committees for the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and IPLAC.

In addition to her litigation and appellate work, Addy has been retained as a patent law expert in matters involving legal malpractice and complex patent disputes. She has provided expert reports and testimony addressing standards of care in patent prosecution and litigation, claim construction, validity and enforceability, and procedural aspects of patent practice.

Federal courts have appointed Addy to serve as both a Special Master and a Court-Appointed Expert in technically complex patent cases. In these roles, she has advised courts on issues including discovery management, claim construction, validity, summary judgment, and trial management across a range of technologies, including encryption, database security, guided vehicles, and medical devices.

Addy is the author of the blog BusinessDeNovo, focused on innovation and intellectual property strategy. She is a frequent speaker and CLE presenter on patent litigation and appellate practice and has authored numerous publications, including serving as a longtime editor of Claim Construction in the Federal Circuit (West LegalWorks). She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Art [MA1.1]from Rice University, a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, an LL.M. in Intellectual Property from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law, and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Ct. of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Ct. of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Ct. of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Ct. of Appeals for the Dist. of Columbia

U.S. International Trade Commission

U.S. Court of Federal Claims

U.S. Dist. Ct. N.D. Ill. (member Trial Bar)

U.S. Dist. Ct. N.D. Ga.

Supreme Court of Georgia

Supreme Court of Illinois

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Education