Christopher TL Douglas

Strategic Counseling, Patent Preparation and Patent Prosecution

• Patent portfolio manager and strategist for a global leader in artificial intelligence, aerospace, gas detection, fall protection, electrical safety, sensors, mobile computers, barcode scanners, printers, and material handling automation.
• Patent counsel for a multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company.
• Strategic counsel and portfolio manager for a global developer of machine learning systems and data analytics platforms.
• Patent counsel in acquisitions, transactions, and patent preparation/prosecution for the world leader in natural language generation.
• Prepared and prosecuted patent applications related to signaling at various communications layers, radio communications protocols, carrier aggregation, voice and facial recognition, intelligent transportation systems and user interface systems in the U.S. and abroad.
• Drafted and prosecuted patent applications related to telecommunications and computer-based technologies, with an emphasis on virtual infrastructure, Internet architecture, cloud computing, mobile signaling, machine learning, image processing, search technologies, satellite and broadcast television, mobile applications, wireless technologies, and natural language processing.

Representative USPTO Post-Grant Proceedings

• Counsel for a leading battery manufacturer in multiple inter partes review proceedings relating to rechargeable lithium-ion battery cells and packs.
• Represented a multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation in multiple inter partes review proceedings relating to cellular networks and base stations.
• Counsel for a Fortune 100 company in multiple inter partes review proceedings relating to in-home automation, location awareness, and energy management systems and methods.
• Counsel for a Fortune 100 company in three inter partes review proceedings relating to fluorine chemistry.
• Counsel for a leader in marine electronics in multiple inter partes review proceedings concerning sonar technology.
• Counsel for a leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry in multiple inter partes review proceedings relating to drilling solutions.
• Counsel for a smart grid and smart distribution solutions leader in multiple inter partes review proceedings concerning data encryption.
• Obtained confirmation of all claims in a final written decision for a patent owner in an inter partes review concerning machine vision technology.
• Counsel for multiple inter partes and ex parte reexamination proceedings related to global positioning systems, light emitting diodes, motion control systems, middleware, and medical devices.

Ranked in the top 1% of active post-grant practitioners nationwide, Chris Douglas’s post-grant practice spans a wide range of technologies and includes inter partes review, post-grant review, and ex parte reexamination proceedings.

As co-chair of Alston & Bird’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Practice and co-leader of the Patents Group, Chris oversees pre-grant patent preparation and prosecution, managing patent portfolios to maximize monetization opportunities and support downstream litigation. Clients value his strategic expertise in positioning patent portfolios in both pre-grant and post-grant processes.

Chris has earned national and regional recognition, including recommendations for Post-Grant Proceedings (National) and Prosecution (North Carolina) by IAM Patent 1000. He is ranked as one of the top 15 best performing attorneys by Patexia and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Intellectual Property Litigation annually since 2018. Chris is also a frequent speaker and author on topics such as patent post-grant proceedings, software patent eligibility, and patent drafting and prosecution strategies.

Before joining the firm, Chris served as an armor officer in the U.S. Army and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Bar Admissions

• North Carolina
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Washington

Education

• Seattle University (J.D., 2006)
• University of Redlands (B.S., 2003)