Molly R. Silfen

Associate

Molly Silfen's practice involves litigation at the trial and appellate levels, preparing opinions, providing strategic counseling, prosecuting patent applications, and participating in the patent reexamination process. She has extensive experience litigating appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Silfen counsels domestic and international clients regarding U.S. intellectual property law by providing infringement, validity, enforceability, and clearance opinions. She also advises clients on licensing matters. Additionally, Ms. Silfen prosecutes patents, from drafting applications through issuance.

Ms. Silfen has experience in a wide range of technical areas, with a focus on the mechanical, electrical, industrial, and biomedical arts. She has assisted clients in the fields of surgical and medical devices, food processing, cryogenic manufacturing processes, extrusion, fuel injection, mobile phone technology, graphics compression, computer memory devices, computer indexing and file searching, and electrical circuitry and design for security systems and industrial processes.

Ms. Silfen devotes a portion of her time to pro bono matters. She has successfully represented disabled citizens before Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Social Security Administration.

Highlights

• ePlus, Inc. v. Lawson Software, Inc. (Fed. Cir.). Represented Lawson as defendant-appellant. Federal Circuit determined that ePlus was not entitled to any damages and reversed district court's findings of infringement on four of the five patent claims, finding two invalid and two not infringed, with result that Lawson's main software product is now clear of any infringement claim.
• Alloc, Inc. v. Pergo, LLC (D. Del., Fed. Cir.). Represented Pergo as defendant in D. Del. and as defendant-appellee in separate appeal to Federal Circuit from E.D. Wis. in cases involving laminate flooring. Federal Circuit affirmed the E.D. Wis. without even issuing an opinion. D. Del. case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.
• Markem-Imaje Corp. v. Zipher Ltd. and Videojet Technologies, Inc. (D.N.H.). Represented patentees Zipher and Videojet in patent infringement action involving transfer printer.
• Nokia Corp. v. InterDigital Inc. (S.D.N.Y., 2d Cir.). Represented InterDigital as defendant in S.D.N.Y. and appellant in Second Circuit regarding injunction against proceeding in separate action at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Case resulted in complete reversal by the Second Circuit and ultimately a fee order against plaintiff for having brought the action.
• Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. v. St. Jude Medical, Inc. (S.D. Ind., Fed. Cir.). Represented plaintiff Cardiac Pacemakers in case regarding implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
• Adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law, teaching a course on Federal Circuit Practice and Procedure, 2011-present.
• Organizer for the Association of Former Law Clerks and Technical Assistants to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2011-present. 
• Served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2008-2010.
• Served as an editor and on the submissions committee for the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, 2003-2006.

Professional Recognition

• Received Harvard Law School's Burling Memorial Fund Fellowship for Academic Research, 2005.

Select Publications

• Coauthor. "Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Local Rules of the Federal Circuit: Procedural Appellate Traps for the Unwary," IP Litigator, July/Aug. 2006.
• "Claim Interpretation: Recommendations for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals from Phillips v. AWH," University of Baltimore Intellectual Property Journal, 2005.
• "How Will California's Funding of Stem Cell Research Impact Innovation? Recommendations for an Intellectual Property Policy," Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, 2005.
• "I Want My Information Back: Evidentiary Privilege Following the Partial Birth Abortion Cases," Journal of Health Law, 2005.