Thomas Makin

Practice Areas

Thomas is a first-chair trial counsel and appellate specialist, with a practice focused on intellectual property litigation, in federal and state court, in arbitration, and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). He also participates in post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and counsels clients regarding substantive patent law, patent valuation and licensing issues.

Thomas represents clients across a wide range of technologies: vehicular safety, propulsion, infotainment, and control systems; semiconductor circuitry, fabrication, and packaging; lighting systems; rechargeable battery systems; fintech software; monoclonal antibodies; and medical devices. In a recent trial, Thomas was lead counsel to Nichia Corporation in a three-patent ITC Investigation.  After a week-long hearing, in which Thomas directed Respondents’ main technical witness and cross-examined Complainants’ expert, the ALJ—and, ultimately, the Commission—found all patent claims not infringed, not supportive of a technical domestic industry and/or invalid. He also recently won a motion to dismiss for Nichia, on the basis of both patent indefiniteness and lack of written description (currently on appeal).

His clients have included: DENSO Corporation, GE Healthcare, Genmab A/S, Nichia Corporation, Olympus Corporation, SS&C Technologies, Toyota Motor Corporation, Vantage Specialty Chemicals, and Volkswagen Group of America.