Chris Scharff is a Shareholder at McAndrews who focuses on all areas of intellectual property, and in particular patent litigation, post-grant review proceedings, and IP transactional work.

Chris’s litigation practice includes all areas of discovery, trial, and appeal.  Chris regularly represents both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes ranging from small cases to ones involving hundreds of millions of dollars.  Since the enactment of the America Invents Act, Chris has also represented clients in over 70 inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board.  Chris’s IPR work has resulting in over a dozen early-stage non-institution wins on behalf of patent-owner clients, as well as numerous favorable final decisions or settlements for both patent-challenger and patent-owner clients. Patexia named Chris the 31st most active IPR practitioner in 2018, the 45th best-performing IPR practitioner the same year, and the 22nd most active IPR practitioner in 2017. He is a frequent speaker and author on IPR topics.

In addition, a significant part of Chris’s practice includes advising clients in connection with IP transactional issues and mergers and acquisitions.  Chris regularly represents clients in connection with due diligence of target companies, counseling clients regarding the strength and scope of an IP portfolio, freedom-to-operate issues, IP ownership disputes, and IP valuations.  Chris also advises clients regarding IP licensing, confidentiality agreements, and joint development agreements.

Chris is a member of the bar of both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has represented clients on patent issues for technologies as varied as orthopedic implants, infusion pumps, spinal surgery devices, GPS hardware, chemical products, advanced materials, automotive technology, food processing, and wireless communication technology.