Judge Paul R Michel served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from March, 1988 through May, 2010 and as its chief judge from December, 2004 to May 31, 2010 when he retired from the judiciary in order to speak freely on the nation’s need for a stronger patent system. In pursuit of that goal, he has written dozens of articles and numerous amicus briefs for the Federal Circuit, the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court. The articles have been published in both general media and IP media, including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek magazine, STAT, Boston Sunday Globe, Fortune, Thompson-Reuters, International Business Times, The Hill, Roll Call, Bloomberg Law, the National Review and IPWatchdog, among many others. He has co-authored scholarly articles, including for the Berkeley Law School and Business School journals and the Drake University Law Review. At IP conferences, he is a ubiquitous panelist and a frequent keynote speaker. He has been called repeatedly to testify before the IP committees in Congress, including on the urgent need to reform the law of eligibility.
Judge Michel also consults for private clients and has conducted scores of mediations, moot courts and arbitrations in patent cases. In court cases in the UK and Norway and in several international arbitrations, he has testified as an expert witness on U.S. patent law.
Managing Intellectual Property magazine named him one the 50 most influential leaders in intellectual property law in the world and Intellectual Asset Management magazine inducted him into its international Hall of Fame.
He serves on the boards of the IPO Education Foundation and the U.S. IP Alliance. A graduate of Williams College and the University of Virginia Law School, he was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by John Marshall Law School and The Catholic University of America.
Previously, he was an assistant Watergate special prosecutor, assistant counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Korea-gate prosecutor, associate deputy attorney general, and chief of staff and counsel to Senator Arlen Specter.
