Overview

Christine Lehman is the Managing Partner of the firm's Washington, D.C. office. An accomplished trial attorney focusing on patent litigation in U.S. District Courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Christine uses her technical background and 25 years of litigation experience to guide clients through complex litigation in the most challenging forums. She has litigated in courts across the U.S., as well as coordinated global patent litigation strategy. Christine is known for her strategic insights, knowledge of ITC as a specialized venue, and the ability to communicate clearly and credibly with judges and juries.

Recognized among the nation’s top ITC Section 337 practitioners by Chambers USA, sources noted “She’s very strategic in her approach and good on her feet; she’s a terrific lawyer.” Managing IP recognized her as a “Top 250 Women in IP” worldwide—one of only 60 attorneys ranked in the U.S.—and as an “IP Star.” Benchmark Litigation also named Christine an intellectual property “Litigation Star,” and IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners ranked her as a leading patent lawyer, among other honors.

Christine has extensive experience litigating patent cases at the ITC, a fast-moving forum with highly specialized practice requirements. She served as an investigative attorney at the Office of Unfair Import Investigations early in her career, and has appeared in dozens of ITC investigations, including 16 trials before the administrative law judges at the ITC. She is also an experienced district court litigator handling Markman hearings, summary judgment and jury trials. Christine's combined experience provides clients with expertise and perspective in developing an overall patent litigation strategy. 

Christine spearheaded RJLF’s efforts to achieve Midsize Mansfield Certification “Plus” status. The goal of the Mansfield Rule is to boost the representation of historically underrepresented lawyers in law firm leadership by broadening the pool of candidates considered for these opportunities. Christine’s leadership efforts earned her the 2022 “Woman Worth Watching in Leadership” award by Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Prior to joining RJLF, Christine was a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, serving as leader of the litigation section, co-chair of the ITC section, and pro bono partner in her 20 years there.

Representative Matters

Christine has appeared on behalf of clients in patent infringement litigation involving a broad range of technologies, including Corning, Caterpillar, Philips Lighting, DSM N.V., Vuly Trampolines, Rambus, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Toyota, Abbott (f/k/a Guidant), Hillcrest Labs, St. Jude, Toshiba, and Eli Lilly.

The following is a representative sample of her cases:

• Achieved a $525 million patent infringement verdict for Kove IO against Amazon Web Services, setting a record for the largest patent verdict of 2024 to date and positioning as the ninth highest in the last decade. Law360 named the team “Legal Lions of the Week” for the win.

• Secured a crucial trial victory for Corning Optical at the ITC, which found respondents in violation of Section 337 and issued a General Exclusion Order against all infringing products. The win for Corning bars all infringing products from the U.S. for the life of the patents.

• Represented Densify in securing a $236 million patent infringement verdict against VMware—a verdict recognized in The National Law Journal's 2021 "Verdicts Hall of Fame" (7th largest verdict in past five years) and 2020 “Top 100 Verdicts” (8th largest verdict in the U.S.). 

• Secured an $84 million willful patent infringement verdict on behalf of Cirba, Inc. (d/b/a Densify) against VMware, following a five-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

• Won post-trial motions for a total award of $27 million for client Droplets against tech giant Yahoo. The judgment upheld a $15 million patent infringement verdict and ordered an additional $12 million in pre- and post-judgment interest. The original $15 million verdict was awarded after a three-week jury trial. After the Yahoo verdict, also secured a favorable settlement for Droplets in the consolidated case against Nordstrom.

• Represented renowned chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse in defense of a patent infringement dispute filed by SharkNinja over the popular pressure cooker appliance, the Ninja Foodi. 

• Lead counsel for Caterpillar in two ITC trials involving multiple patents on road construction technology against a major competitor.

• Lead counsel for Signify (f/k/a Philips Lighting) in an ITC trial filed against seven respondents involving LED lighting technology.

• Lead counsel for Covidien in two ITC cases involving patents on medical device technology. Covidien filed two ITC complaints to block infringing products from the U.S. In both cases the infringing products were excluded from the United States for the life of the asserted patents.

• Lead counsel for Vuly Trampolines in a patent infringement case filed by Springfree Trampolines in the ITC seeking to block Vuly from the U.S. market just as its innovative trampolines were being introduced into the U.S. Vuly challenged Springfree’s allegations resulting in a complete victory after trial.

• Lead counsel for DSM in district court and ITC trial regarding fiber optic coatings.

• Lead counsel for Mares S.p.A. in district court litigation filed by Underwater Alert System LLC against a variety of diving watch companies.  Underwater Alert dismissed the complaint with prejudice before an answer was filed, with no settlement agreement.

• Lead counsel for Maquet in patent litigation filed by Ventronics in E.D. Texas involving medical ventilator technology.  Won motion to transfer from E.D. Texas to Delaware, where litigation was stayed based on reexamination. After successful reexamination proceeding concluded, the litigation was dismissed with prejudice.

• Obtained dismissal with prejudice for Toshiba in patent litigation filed by Media Digital in district court after a favorable claim construction decision rendered the patent indefinite.

• Represented complainant Eli Lilly in an ITC patent infringement action regarding pharmaceutical products, resulting in a settlement after foreign discovery of respondents was compelled by the administrative law judge.

• Represented Schweitzer-Manduit as a complainant in an ITC trial asserting two patents against 11 respondents.

• Represented Rambus in two ITC trials involving multiple patents and multiple respondents and complex semiconductor technology, resulting in numerous license and settlement agreements.

• Represented complainant Hillcrest Labs in an ITC trial alleging infringement of the Wii video game system, resulting in a post-trial settlement with Nintendo. 

• Represented respondent Syngenta in an ITC investigation in which Sumitomo was seeking to exclude Syngenta agricultural products from the U.S.; successfully argued for early termination of the proceeding by the ALJ and the full ITC based on arbitration clause.

• Represented respondent Toyota in an ITC patent infringement trial seeking to exclude Toyota’s hybrid vehicles from the United States. The asserted patent was declared invalid and not infringed by the administrative law judge and the full ITC for a finding of no violation. The decision was affirmed by the Federal Circuit.

• Represented complainant Tyco Healthcare in patent infringement case against a Mexican company involving diapers and adult incontinence products, resulting in a settlement on the eve of trial. 

• Represented Abbott (f/k/a Guidant) in multiple litigations involving cardiovascular stents and coordinated global litigation throughout Europe.

Rankings & Honors

• Ranked in Chambers USA as a leading ITC Section 337 practitioner: “She has really good judgment and understands what are the right issues in a case to put your resources into and fight about, and which ones to let go.” “She’s very strategic in her approach and good on her feet; she’s a terrific lawyer.” 

• Recognized as a “Top 250 Women in IP” worldwide (one of only 60 in the U.S.) and as an “IP Star” by Managing IP

• Recognized as an intellectual property “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation

• Recognized as a leading lawyer in Washington, D.C. for patent litigation by IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners

• Named a “Woman Worth Watching in Leadership” by Profiles in Diversity Journal

• Recognized by Legal 500 for Section 337 litigation

• Legal Times and The National Law Journal, Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in Washington, D.C.

• Recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine in intellectual property litigation and intellectual property

• Member of Sedona Conference Working Group 10 on patent litigation

Community & Professional Activities

Christine’s commitment to pro bono work began with representing families in Bronx Family Court in law school and has continued through today. She has represented clients in criminal cases and in D.C. Superior Court, as well as clients in Landlord/Tenant Court and Family Court in D.C. She helped establish the Veterans’ Pro Bono Program at a prior firm, and has handled many cases before the Court of Veterans Appeals. 

She has also represented asylum seekers in Immigration Court, as well as in district court habeus proceedings. She has used her intellectual property experience to advise artists through the Washington Area Lawyer for the Arts pro bono program.

She also worked with others to develop and teach a new seminar on patent law policy for Howard University School of Law, and served as adjunct faculty member there. She was the founding co-chair of the first intellectual property conference sponsored by Howard University School of Law’s Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice. 

Publications 

• Coauthor, “ITC Trade Secrets Claims: Why Are They Not Used More by Companies in the USA?” Chambers Expert Focus (October 17, 2023)

• Coauthor, “ITC Seems Unlikely To Stay Investigations For Parallel IPRs,” Law360 (March 17, 2021)

• Coauthor, “ITC Dispute May Lead To PTAB Litigation Strategy Shifts,” Law360 (January 27, 2021)

• Coauthor, “Commentary on Patent Litigation Best Practices: International Trade Commission Section 337 Investigations Chapter,” Sedona Conference (February 2018)

• Coauthor, “E.D. Texas’s Loss Should Prove ITC’s Gain,” BNA’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal (July 19, 2017)

• Contributor, “Women in IP Network Best Practices Series,” Managing Intellectual Property (July 20, 2015)

• Coauthor, “The Role of Stare Decisis at the U.S. International Trade Commission,” Fordham Intellectual Property, Media, and Entertainment Law Journal (July 2014)

• Coauthor, “Designing in a Border-Less Economy: Enforcing Design Rights in the E.U. and the U.S.,” Intellectual Property Today (June 2014)

• Coauthor, “Tale of Two Borders: Comparison of U.S. and EU Enforcement of Design Rights Against Imported Goods," CIPA Journal (March 2014)

• Coauthor, “Preparing for the International Trade Commission’s New Pilot Disposition Program,” Westlaw Journal Intellectual Property (August 7, 2013)

• Coauthor, “Stare Decisis and Litigating at the International Trade Commission,” Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal (November 2013)

Speaking Engagements  

• Speaker, “Recent Developments in 337 Litigation at the ITC,” 59th Annual Conference On Intellectual Property Law, The Center for American and International Law (CAIL) (November 8-9, 2021)

• Speaker, “Navigating IP Litigation and Funding Post-Pandemic,” Dealmakers Digital Disruption Series: Beyond COVID Part 2 (June 24, 2021)

• Moderator, “Remote Trial and ADR,” The Sedona Conference on Remote Case Management of IP Proceedings (June 11, 2021)

• Webinar Presenter, “TC Heartland Anniversary Edition - Recent Developments and Practical Implications of Evolving Patent Venue Law,” Webinar hosted by Thomson Reuters Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology (May 23, 2018)

• Panelist, “What Is The Future for Domestic Enforcement of IP Activities Occurring Abroad?” The Sedona Conference on International Patent Litigation, Reston, VA (February 26-27, 2018)

• Panelist, “Embracing Pro Bono Beyond IP in a Brave New World,” Managing Intellectual Property’s International Women’s Leadership Forum, San Jose, CA (November 7, 2017)

• Speaker, “Recent Developments in Trade Secret Law and its Use in the International Trade Commission,” Seminar on Important Developments Affecting Semiconductor and IC-Related Patents, Palo Alto, CA (2016)

• Speaker, “Recent Updates to U.S. Patent Litigation,” U.S. Patent Law Boot Camp, Taipei, Taiwan (2015)

• Speaker, “Protecting and Enforcing Unique Nontraditional Marks Via Trade Dress, Design Patents, and Copyright in the United States,” Seminar hosted by the Association of Patent & Trademark Attorneys in Italian Industry (AICIPI) in Milan, Italy (2015)

• Moderator, “Minimizing the Rising Costs of Section 337 Cases: Practical Strategies for Securing Senior Management Buy-In, Handling Discovery, Subpoenas and Expert Witnesses, and Limiting the Impact on Personnel,” American Conference Institute’s conference on Managing Complex ITC Litigation (2014)

• Speaker, “Protecting Your IP,” Medical Device Manufacturers Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. (2014)

• Panelist, “ITC Practice,” Intellectual Property SpringPosium, presented by the Atlanta Bar Association (2013)

• Panelist, “Section 337 IP Investigations at the ITC: Lessons for District Court Practitioners,” presented by the Washington, DC Bar Association (2012)