Timothy Holbrook

Professor of Law, Emory University

Professor Timothy R. Holbrook is one of the nation’s leading patent law scholars. He has authored over thirty publications and has given over one hundred presentations around the world on patent law. His recent work has explored the impact of 3D printing on patent law, the extraterritorial reach of US patent law, and the function of patent disclosures. He frequently comments on issues of patent law, appearing in various media, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune. Professor Holbrook’s work has been cited in briefs before the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the court that hears all appeals in the US arising under the patent laws), and various district courts. The Federal Circuit and district courts have cited his work favorably. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI).

Professor Holbrook has also been an advocate for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. His commentary has appeared in various outlets, including CNN, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and Huffington Post.

Professor Holbrook graduated summa cum laude and as valedictorian from North Carolina State University, earning a BS in chemical engineering with a life sciences concentration. He received his JD from Yale Law School, where he served as a lead editor and publications director of the Yale Journal on Regulation. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Glenn L. Archer Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Holbrook worked in Budapest, Hungary, with the Hungarian patent law firm Danubia. Upon his return to the United States, he associated with the Washington, DC, law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding (now Wiley Rein), where his practice focused on patent and appellate litigation.

Professor Holbrook’s work appears in a variety of journals, including the Emory Law Journal (twice), Minnesota Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, William and Mary Law Review, Washington University Law Review, UC Davis Law Review (twice), SMU Law Review, and Science magazine (twice). He is the co-author of Patent Litigation and Strategy (4th ed.) with Judge Kimberly A. Moore of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and John Murphy of Woodcock Washburn LLP.

Before joining the Emory faculty, Professor Holbrook was a tenured professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He served as the Edwin A. Heafey Jr. Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and also has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. He was a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Media and Communication Studies at the Central European University (CEU) (Budapest, Hungary) and served as a visiting professor in CEU’s Legal Studies Department.

While in Chicago, Professor Holbrook was a founder and the program chair for the Richard Linn Inn of Court. Upon arriving in Atlanta, he helped found the Atlanta Intellectual Property Inn of Court, serving as its first president. He also has served as an expert or consultant in a variety of patent litigation cases in the United States and abroad.

Professor Holbrook has worked to advance the rights of the LGBT community. He presently serves on the board of the Stonewall Bar Association of Georiga and previously served in advisory positions to groups advocating for the rights of persons with HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBT community in Washington, DC, and Chicago. He was co-counsel for former National Football League players on briefs before the US Supreme Court advocating for marriage equality. In recognition of his work on diversity and inclusion, he has been awarded the Chesnut LGBT Person of the Year Award at Emory University, the Outstanding Service to the Community Award by the Stonewall Bar Association, the Friends in the Faculty Award from the Division of Campus Life at Emory, and the Professor of the Year by Emory’s Black Law Students Association.

Education: JD, Yale Law School; BS, Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (summa cum laude)