Michael Kim

Background

About Michael Kim

Michael W. Kim has been an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) since April of 2011. Judge Kim has been serving as a Vice Chief APJ since September of 2020, and was previously serving as a Lead APJ since September of 2013. In addition to his executive management responsibilities, which includes managing PTAB's workload and overseeing various PTAB committees, Judge Kim has conducted hundreds of inter partes reviews and post-grant reviews under the America Invents Act (AIA), and also has reviewed over a thousand adverse decisions of examiners upon applications for patents. He works primarily in the business methods, mechanical, and electrical technology areas. Prior to his appointment as an APJ, Judge Kim was a patent attorney at the PTAB. Prior to joining the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Judge Kim was a patent attorney at Finnegan, where he focused on patent prosecution and client counseling.Judge Kim received his law degree from the Duke University School of Law, where he was a founding member of the Duke Law and Technology Review, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also hold concentrations in Economics, Political Science, and Writing. Judge Kim is an avid snowboarder, has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, has trekked the Inca Trail, and is always in search of a taller, faster roller coaster.