J. Michael "Mike" Jakes

Mike Jakes, leader of Finnegan’s appellate section, concentrates his practice on patent litigation and related counseling. He serves as lead counsel in federal district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), before arbitration panels, and on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mike deals mainly with computer, electronics, semiconductor, software, and medical device technologies.

Mike has vast experience at the Federal Circuit, having argued more than 45 appeals and prepared and filed briefs in many more. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Giles S. Rich at the Federal Circuit. He is a coauthor of Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Practice & Procedure, published by LexisNexis. He was also a member of the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council.

Mike has been described in Chambers USA as “one of the most talented patent lawyers out there,” “an exceptionally talented litigator who is picked by clients when hundreds of millions are at stake,” and “one of the premier appellate litigators for cases involving electronics and medical devices.” Mike has been recognized as a leading patent litigator in the D.C. area and nationally before the Federal Circuit by Intellectual Asset Management and was named one of the top ten business litigators in D.C. by Legal Times. He has ranked among top U.S. patent lawyers in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioners since 2015.

Mike has served as both a special master and technical advisor to various U.S. district courts, assisting with claim construction and summary judgment motions on patents covering a wide variety of subjects. He is also a trained mediator, having completed the American Arbitration Association’s mediator training course.