Blair M. Jacobs

Blair is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with extensive experience as lead counsel and strategist in patent, IP, and trade secret disputes.

Recognized by clients, legal publications, and directories, including IAM Patent’s 1000’s guide of The World's Leading Patent Professionals, commentators have noted that he “creatively puts arguments together in a way that juries find entertaining – and persuasive” and have described him as having an “impressive knack of clinching wins for high technology clients.” His ability to bring creative solutions to disputes has also been lauded, with one ratings service noting that clients praise his “impressive commercial savvy” and “level of sophistication.”

Blair has also achieved significant success serving as lead appellate counsel in several high-profile matters shaping patent law, such as In re Seagate Technology, LLC, in which the Federal Circuit overturned 24 years of precedent in his client’s favor, and Fairchild v. Power Integrations, in which the Federal Circuit established a precedent-setting ruling on extraterritorial damages that resulted in victory for his client. 

Blair focuses his practice on all forms of technology litigation, including patent, trade secret, copyright, and other complex commercial disputes involving technology. Blair regularly appears in all major patent jurisdictions, including federal courts in Texas, Delaware, Virginia, and California.

He has also represented both plaintiffs and defendants in numerous U.S. International Trade Commission Section 337 investigations, as well as in proceedings before Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Circuit, and the Court of International Trade.

He is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, where membership is limited to one-third of one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. A sought-after speaker and author, Blair frequently shares insights on patent strategy, trade secrets, trial and appellate advocacy, and ITC practice. 

Before entering private practice, Blair served in the U.S. Army and later as a trial lawyer in the Civil Division at the Department of Justice. He was also selected to serve on the White House Counsel’s staff for the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, handling investigations involving human rights and national security. Blair has taught at the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and continues to mentor young trial lawyers nationwide.

Before joining BSF, Blair led the IP practices of several leading international law firms. 

• Secured favorable jury verdict as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in a District of Delaware case involving semiconductor technology
• Trial counsel in several multi-week NDCA jury trials involving power conversion technology; convinced court to throw out jury’s damages award post-trial
• Achieved favorable settlement for Align Technology in multiple Delaware and International Trade Commission trials involving digital dentistry
• Won a dismissal with prejudice as lead defense counsel in a case involving allegations of infringement against Ciena’s fiber optic switching products
• Obtained a complete victory for Trend Micro in a cybersecurity patent dispute in Delaware and the Federal Circuit
• Obtained a dismissal shortly before trial for AT&T in a case involving LTE technology in the Eastern District of Texas
• Acted as lead trial counsel in the District of New Jersey and multidistrict litigation defending infringement allegations involving ring-mesh networks
• Served as lead counsel for Vextec in a District of Tennessee trade secret case brought in parallel with the Economic Espionage Act
• Lead counsel for plaintiff Mars in an EDVA patent enforcement action resulting in the defendant to stop making infringing products
• Served as lead trial counsel in Delaware, representing plaintiff McKesson in a multi-week trial in a case involving automated robotic systems
• Represented Corvis in numerous Delaware trials involving wavelength division multiplexing technology
• Successfully served as appellate counsel for the first Korean pharmaceutical company involved in ANDA litigation in the United States
• Served as appellate counsel for Citrix in multiple appeals
• Successfully defended Seagate in the Southern District of New York and the Federal Circuit in a trade secrets and patent case involving purported damages in excess of $800 million
• Represented Nintendo, HTC and Panasonic as lead counsel in multiple ITC investigations
• Achieved zero-dollar settlements for Tellabs, Ciena, Nortel, and ADVA Optical Networking in ITC investigations

Panelist, Dealmakers’ Masters: Getting Deals Across the Line, IP Dealmakers Forum (November 2024)

Speaker, 15th Annual Practitioners’ Think Tank on ITC Litigation & Enforcement (2023)

Author, The Conundrum Concerning Perceived Partiality and Financial Incentives in the AIA Review Process, IPWatchdog (2022)

Author, PTAB Prevails Against ‘Big Tech’ Bias Complaint, World Intellectual Property Review (2022)

IP Dealmakers Forum (2022)

Panelist, IPWatchdog Masters Program – Standards, Patents & Competition (2022)

Moderator, Patents & Trade Secrets, AIPLA Annual Conference (2022)

Panelist, Federal Circuit Bar Association’s Fall Global Series (2021)