Christopher A. Harkins graduated from the University of Illinois
College of Law, cum laude, in 1990, where he served as the Articles Editor
on the UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW. He practiced in New York City at
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in the 1990s, and has practiced in Chicago
at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione since 1999, where he is Counsel, focusing
on patent litigation throughout the U.S. and patent prosecution worldwide. The
U.S. Congress has cited to Mr. Harkins in support of the "Patent Reform Act of
2007" pending in the Senate, and Mr. Harkins was the recipient of the 2007 national
winner of the Burton Award for Legal Writing, given in association with the
U.S. Library of Congress and the Law Library of Congress. Mr. Harkins has authored
many patents and published patent applications, and is the author of numerous
law review articles, including the following recent articles on intellectual
property: “Fending Off Paper Patents and Patent Trolls: A Novel 'Cold Fusion'
Defense Because Changing Times Demand It," 17 ALBANY LAW JOURNAL OF SCIENCE
& TECHNOLOGY 407-479 (2007), "A Budding Theory of Willful Patent Infringement:
Orange Books, Colored Pills, and Greener Verdicts," 2007 DUKE UNIVERSITY
LAW & TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 1-39 (2007), "Choosing Between the Advice
of Counsel Defense to Willful Patent Infringement or the Effective Assistance of
Trial Counsel: A Bridge or the Troubled Waters?" 5 Northwestern University
Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property 208-247 (2007), cited in H.R. Rep.
No. 110-314, at 28 nn.15 & 18 (Sept. 4, 2007) (The "Patent Reform Act of
2007"), "Tattoos and Copyright Infringement: Celebrities, Marketers, and Businesses
Beware of the Ink," 10 LEWIS & CLARK LAW REVIEW 313-332 (2006) (National
Burton Award for Legal Writing), and "Overcoming the Extraterritorial Bar to
Bringing Copyright Actions: On Pleading Copyright Infringement to Protect Copyrighted
Works from the Defendant that Ships Overseas for Distribution Abroad,"
17 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & TECHNOLOGY LAW JOURNAL 1-9 (2005).
See the Martindale-Hubbell® profile for Mr. Harkins here.