Kathleen M. O’Malley was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Barack Obama in 2010. Prior to her elevation to the Federal Circuit, Judge O’Malley was appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio by President William Clinton in 1994.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge O’Malley served as First Assistant Attorney General, Chief of Staff, and Chief Counsel to the Attorney General for the State of Ohio. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Judge O’Malley was in private practice with Jones Day and Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, where she focused on complex corporate and intellectual property litigation.
Judge O’Malley began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She received her J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1982, summa cum laude and Order of the Coif. While there, she served on the Law Review and as President of the National Mock Trial Team. Judge O’Malley received her A.B. from Kenyon College in 1979 where she graduated magna cum laude, is a Phi Beta Kappa, and she also received an honorary LL.D. from Kenyon in 1995.
For her contributions to the development of IP law, she has received the following honors: the Sedona Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association Jefferson Medal, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association Outstanding Public Service Award, and the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s 2020 Distinguished IP Professional Award and was named to the Globe Business Media Group’s IP Hall of Fame.
