
Tim Holbrook
Provost's Professor
Robert B. Yegge Endowed Distinguished Professor in Law
Specialization(s)
Civil Procedure, Intellectual Property, International Intellectual Property, Patent Law, Property Law, Trademark Law
Professional Biography
Timothy (Tim) R. Holbrook (he/his/him) is an internationally recognized patent law and intellectual property scholar. He has authored over fifty publications and has given over two hundred presentations around the world. His recent work has explored the impact of 3D printing on patent law, the extraterritorial reach of US patent and trademark laws, and the function of patent disclosures. He frequently comments on issues of intellectual property law in various media, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Scientific American, and Science. 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) and a Sustaining Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Holbrook has also been an advocate for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer plus (LGBTQ+) community. His commentary and op-eds have appeared in various outlets, including CNN, the Denver Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and Huffington Post. He previously served on the boards of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia. He was co-counsel for former National Football League players on briefs before the US Supreme Court advocating for marriage equality.
View CV
Degree(s)
JD, Yale Law School
BS, Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University (summa cum laude)
Featured Publications
BOOKS AND BOOK CHAPTERS
Extraterritoriality and Intellectual Property, in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Extraterritoriality and the Law (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2025).
PATENTS, PROPERTY, AND POSSESSION: A UNIFYING APPROACH TO PATENT LAW, (Cambridge, forthcoming).
PATENT LITIGATION AND STRATEGY (6th ed., West, 2025) (with Kimberly A. Moore, John F. Murphy, and Andrew R. Sommer); (5th ed., West, 2017) (with Kimberly A. Moore and John F. Murphy); (4th ed., West, 2013) (with Kimberly A. Moore and John F. Murphy); (3d ed., Thomson-West, 2008) (with Kimberly A. Moore and Paul R. Michel).
Intellectual Property, in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON EXTRATERRITORIALITY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW (Parrish, A. and Ryngaert, C., eds.) (Edward Elgar, 2023).
Extraterritoriality and Digital Patent Infringement, in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES 338-62 (Aplin, T. ed.) (Edward Elgar, 2020).
Remedies for Digital Patent Infringement: A Perspective from USA, in 3D PRINTING AND BEYOND: THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS SURROUNDING 3D PRINTING AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES 217-33 (Mendis, D., Lemley, M., Rimmer, M., eds.) (Edward Elgar, 2019).
RECENT ARTICLES AND ESSAYS (* denotes work co-authored with students)
Copyright Extraterritoriality, 62 SAN DIEGO L. REV. --- (forthcoming 2025).
Relative and Absolute Patentability, 59 WAKE FOREST L. REV. 641 (2024) (with Mark D. Janis).
Confusion Over Trademark Extraterritoriality…and Beyond, 73 AM. U. L. REV. 989 (2024) (with Anshu Garg).*
Remembering Dr. Dmitry Karshtedt as a Scholar and Friend, 21 NW. J. OF TECH. & INTELL. PROP. 319 (2024) (with J. Jonas Anderson and Sean B. Seymore).
How the Supreme Court Ghosted the PHOSITA: Amgen and Legal Constructs in Patent Law, 109 IOWA L. REV. ONLINE 83 (2024) (invited response) (with Mark D. Janis).
Is There a New Extraterritoriality in Intellectual Property?, 44 COLUM. J.L. & ARTS 467 (2021).
The Importance of Communication to Possession in IP, 100 B.U. L. REV. ONLINE 18 (2020) (invited essay response to Dotan Oliar & James Y. Stern, Right on Time: First Possession in Property and Intellectual Property, 99 B.U. L. REV. 395 (2019)).
What Counts as Extraterritorial in Patent Law?, 25 B.U. J. SCI. & TECH. L. 291 (2019) (symposium).
Extraterritoriality and Proximate Cause after WesternGeco, 21 YALE J.L. & TECH. 189 (2019).
RECENT OP-EDS AND OTHER MEDIA (* denotes work co-authored with students)
Supreme Court leaves door open to widespread discrimination, CNN OPINION, June 30, 2023.
Territoriality v. Extraterritoriality in Intellectual Property, TRANSNATIONAL LITIGATION BLOG, Oct. 6, 2022 (with Gianna Mercandetti and Eva Rian).*
Justices Must Correct Federal Circuit’s Overreach on Patents, LAW360, July 28, 2022 (with Mark D. Janis).
Marriage equality laws and Roe’s reversal, ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION, July 8, 2022 (with Michael J. Broyde).
LGBTQ rights may be safe at the Supreme Court – for now, CNN OPINION, Nov. 6, 2020.
Don’t reward intellectual property theft, THE FORUM: INSIDERADVANTAGE: FORUM, Oct. 26, 2020.
Same-sex marriage at risk as Supreme Court gets more conservative, CNN OPINION, Oct. 6, 2020.
Whose Law Controls On Sale Prior Art in Foreign Countries, PATENTLYO, Feb. 4, 2020.