Holly Victorson is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Connectivity, Privacy and Information Practice. She advises clients on complex copyright issues, particularly with respect to new and emerging technologies. As a former software engineer, Holly applies a deep and practical understanding of her clients’ technologies and businesses to creatively address their unique legal challenges.

Holly represents clients in a variety of technology-focused litigation, including copyright, patent, and other civil claims. Clients seek her counsel to guide technological developments and business long before any lawsuit is filed, and she is experienced steering clients through pre-suit investigation, fact and expert discovery, trial, and appeal. She has successfully represented both large and small clients in a variety of industries, including consumer software, electronic devices, semiconductors, mobile communications, and software-powered medical devices. She also currently serves in a management role at the firm as Co-Chair of the Washington, D.C. Parent Lawyers Group.

Prior to joining Latham, Holly clerked for Judge Kimberly A. Moore of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to law school, she also served as the Director of the Office of Research & Technology Applications and as a systems and computer engineer at the Space Vehicles and Directed Energy Directorates of the US Air Force Research Laboratory. She is a named inventor on one US patent.

Holly maintains an active pro bono practice, with a particular interest in representing veterans. She recently represented a former Navy seaman in an appeal of a fitness determination in which the client obtained the medical retirement he sought, and the Court awarded attorneys fees.

Holly's experience includes advising:

  • Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision in a copyright infringement dispute against its main competitor for theft of software for an ophthalmic laser surgery system, resulting in a favorable worldwide settlement
  • Apple Inc. in a litigation involving copyright infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act claims regarding virtualization technology
  • A cloud-based email security provider in defense of software copyright infringement claims
  • Nitride Semiconductors Co. in patent litigation involving ultraviolet LED manufacturing process; successfully defended patent validity against two IPR petitions and received default judgment in favor of client in the Northern District of California
  • MModal LLC in series of patent infringement suits against a competitor in the District of Delaware and the Northern District of Georgia, and both offensive and defensive actions in front of the PTAB, regarding patents for voice recognition software

Thought Leadership

  • “The Halo Effect: Willful Infringement and Enhanced Damages in Light of Halo,” 69 Am. Univ. L. Rev. 1067 (2020)
  • “Structure From Nothing and Claims for Free: Using A Whole-System View of the Patent System to Improve Notice and Predictability for Software Patents,” 20 Mich. Telecomm. & Tech. L. Rev. 497 (2014)

Bar Qualification

  • California
  • District of Columbia

Education

  • JD, University of Michigan Law School, 2015
    cum laude
  • BS in Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, 2006
    summa cum laude

Languages Spoken

  • English