Ben Pleune

About Ben Pleune

I am the Partner-in-Charge of the Charlotte office and a member of Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group. I have extensive experience litigating patents in U.S. district courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the International Trade Commission. I also have extensive experience in post-grant reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. I have co-authored a book on PTAB practice (USPTO Post-Grant Trials Handbook, Third Edition) and I am a recognized authority in this area, frequently speaking and offering insights in industry journals and publications. My practice includes the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, medical devices, Internet database and e-commerce services, machine vision, robotics, and military mobility components. I have been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America© since 2015, and have been honored by Best Lawyers as the 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025 Intellectual Property Litigation “Lawyer of the Year.” I have also been consistently recognized by Patexia Inc. as one of the most-active and best-performing attorneys representing both petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings in its annual IPR Intelligence Report. I have also been consistently ranked by the IAM Patent - The World\'s Leading Patent Professionals. In its 2022 annual report IAM noted that,\"Pleune demonstrates excellent tactical judgement whether litigating in the district courts, the ITC or the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), making him a good fit for complex cases with potentially winding paths to their ultimate resolution.\"I am a member of the board of directors of the Charlotte chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a board member of the Charlotte Legal Initiative to Mobilize Business, and the chair of Alston & Bird\'s Charlotte Pro Bono Committee.

Experience

1. Partner

   Alston & Bird

   Sep 2002 — Present · Charlotte, NC, US

Education

• University of Illinois College of Law

  J.D.

  1999 — 2002

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Genetics and English

Skills

• Copyright Law
• Appeals
• Patents
• Software Patents
• Patentability
• Trademark Infringement
• Trade Dress
• Licensing
• False Advertising
• Intellectual Property Infringement
• Courts
• Prosecution
• Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Trademarks
• Legal Opinions
• Trade Secrets
• Patent Portfolio Analysis
• Intellectual Property
• Registered Patent Attorney
• Cyberlaw
• Client Counseling
• Patent Law
• Unfair Competition