William P. Atkins

Partner

Partner, Northern Virginia & Washington, DC

Intellectual Property

T: +1.703.770.7777

T: +1.202.663.8057

Tenured at Pillsbury for 25 years, William Atkins has won many resounding litigation victories for a diverse, ultra-innovative client base. The veteran first chair has an on-point strategy ready for any occasion and an encyclopaedic knowledge of PTAB and other case law.

—Independent review from IAM Patent 1000 Leading Patent Professionals 2018

Pillsbury partner William Atkins has been lead counsel in 150+ intellectual property and bet-the-company litigations during his 30+ years with the firm.

Recognized for resolving complex IP issues, Bill is a trial lawyer and registered patent attorney who has won jury verdicts and decisions for both sides in court, the ITC and the USPTO. He is also adept at resolving disputes. Bill is experienced in patent, trademark, trade secret, Lanham Act, unfair competition and copyright matters. He is editor-in-chief of the treatises, The PTAB Handbook and co-editor-in-chief of the Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook.

Representative Experience

Achieved a win for a state university, adding a professor and lab assistant as co-inventors on NIH’s Velcade^® patents, a cancer drug with annual worldwide sales exceeding $2 billion.
In a trademark case, obtained a preliminary injunction denial for a small cryptocurrency client offering Alibabacoins, against Alibaba.
Defended Swedish company in a three-week jury trial against $200 million+ patent infringement and related allegations. The Federal Circuit affirmed. Client was awarded $1.2 million in attorney’s fees and costs.

Represented Atlas Copco as the patent challenger in two IPR proceedings, based on two patents involved in eight cases pending in District Court of Delaware. The PTAB issued final written decisions in favor of Atlas Copco, finding all challenged claims unpatentable. Upon the patent holder’s appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s decisions, resulting in a complete victory for Atlas Copco.

Won a three-week jury trial for patentholder in E.D.Va. after patentholder was sued for patent infringement in D.D.C. by same opposing party; also won the D.D.C. case with summary judgment of no infringement.

Handled preliminary injunction on trademark infringement in E.D.Va. for grocery products with $2 billion+ in annual sales.

Secured Federal Circuit win reversing district court’s summary judgment finding of non-infringement on five patents owned and asserted by a very small company.

Representing inventor of the Taxol® formulation process (a university professor) and separately a co-inventor of a follow-on drug to Allegra® (fexofenadine), which was a post-doc researcher.

Being called in to take over a Federal Circuit appeal on patent infringement and invalidity and separately to help try a case at the ITC.

Represented large retail companies in various litigations and PTO proceedings involving trademarks.

Called in to try a Florida state court trade secrets case a few weeks before trial. Prepared and settled case days before trial.

Provided pro bono representation in a first-degree murder trial on Eastern Shore of Maryland—circumstantial evidence case.

Won dismissal of all declaratory judgment claims at the outset of a case and provided the client, an Australian manufacturer, an opportunity to file an action as plaintiff in jurisdiction of its choice.

Convinced the ITC to dismiss our client, XM Sirius, from an ITC 337 action with motions practice even before our client had to answer.

In a preliminary injunction case on a trademark, obtained a quick and successful settlement for an accused infringer before even filing a response brief.

Settled a complicated inventorship and contract case involving an inventor, a pharmaceutical drug research company, and a major university shortly after taking over case.

In an antidumping case at ITC, successfully defended a foreign manufacturer of television components by getting the allegation dismissed during the preliminary review by the ITC Commissioners.

Second chair in favorable jury verdict in a five-week patent infringement trial between a tier one OEM auto parts supplier and a competitor.

Served as trial team member on multipatent infringement trial in which client was awarded over $200 million in damages, and more in follow-on litigation.

Filed numerous amicus briefs at the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of such parties as Intel, Microsoft, Cisco and Medtronic as well as the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the Bar Association of DC.

Key member of trial team that obtained an award exceeding $200 million in damages, and more in follow-on litigation, for a client in a multipatent infringement trial.

Professional Highlights

Recognized by Chambers USA, Intellectual Property (2005 – 2025); Best Lawyers (published by BL Rankings LLC), Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Patent Law (2010 – 2025); listed among Managing Intellectual Property’s “IP Stars” (Patents) in Virginia and nationally (2020 – 2025) and IAM Magazine’s “IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners” (2016 – 2025).
Editor-in-chief of The PTAB Handbook
Co-Editor-in-chief of The Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook, published by the ABA

Adjunct professor of law in IP, George Washington School of Law (2017 – present)

Trained at Harvard Law School Negotiations Institute, Mediation Workshop.

Honors & Awards
- Recognized by IAM Patent 1000 for Patent Litigation in the DC Metro Area (2025)
- Recognized as a 2023 Lawyer of the Year in Patent Law by Best Lawyers in America (published by BL Rankings LLC).
- LexisNexis, AV Preeminent Rated Lawyer (2003 – 2021)
- Super Lawyers (2006 – 2020, 2022 – 2023)

Associations
- Member, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia Bar Associations
- Served as president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (2005 – 2006) and that Bar's Foundation (2007 – 2009).
- Member, American Bar Association. Served as a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates and chaired many bar committees.
- Member, Giles S. Rich Inns of Court
- Has held many positions within Pillsbury, including managing board member, co-chair of IP Section, office managing partner, and others
- Fellow in American Bar Foundation

Speaking Engagements
- “AI Overview: What It Is, How It Works and How It Can Work for You,” webinar, April 10, 2024
- “Final Trademark Rules Under the Trademark Modernization Act in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,” Practising Law Institute, January 22, 2022
- “The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020,” Practising Law Institute, February 10, 2021
- Career Panel, Maryland State Bar Association, October 2020
- “Trademark Law: Recent Developments, Practising Law Institute,” April 14, 2020
- “Design Patent and Trade Dress Protection for Product Designs and Product Features,” Practising Law Institute, October 2019
- 2019 Annual Conference of the PTAB Bar Association in Washington, DC, March 2019
- “Trademark Cases: Update,” Practising Law Institute, January 2019
- Views on Patent Cases from the Chambers–PTAB, VA, & MD, CLE, June 2018
- The George Washington University Law School 2018 Symposium on Intellectual Property, Speaker, May 2018
- “Top Ten Current PTAB Topics & How They Affect Your Practice,” webinar, April 2018
- Trademark Surveys: Update, webinar, January 2018
- “Updates on PTAB Issues,” U.S. Patent Law Committee Meeting, July 2017
- “Hot Topics at the PTAB,” Bloomberg BNA webinar, July 2017
- “Hot Topics at the PTAB,” George Washington University Law School Symposium on Intellectual Property, May 2017
- “The Patent Trial and Appeal Board: Reflections of 2016, Anticipating 2017,” webinar, January 2017
- “PTAB Trials: A Live PTAB Hearing,” 2016 AIPLA Annual Meeting, October 2016
- GW Law Conference: Post-Grant Practice Roundtable Discussion, October 2016
- George Washington University Law School Symposium on Intellectual Property, May 2016
- “Impact of Alice v. CLS Bank—When and How the Courts Should Address Section 101 Patentability,” The Sedona Conference WG9 and WG10 Joint Midyear Meeting, May 2015
- “Current Status of Post-Grant Proceedings,” Post-Grant Procedures at the Patent Office: Timely Cure or New Disease? April 2015

Education

LL.M., Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law, The George Washington University Law School

J.D./M.B.A., University of Baltimore School of Law
Editor-in-Chief, University of Baltimore Law Forum

B.S., Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park

Admissions

District of Columbia

Maryland

Virginia

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

William P. Atkins

Areas of Focus

Practices

Representative Experience

Professional Highlights

Bill's Insights