For Charles Mottier, patents and trademarks are best seen as tools of business. Mottier’s clients receive the benefits of an attorney who can guide them and protect their specific intellectual property interests in the broader context of their business concerns and goals.
Mottier has extensive and deep experience in all aspects of intellectual property law, including litigation, licensing, mediation, arbitration, prosecution, and counseling.
Joining Leydig as an associate in 1981, and elected as a shareholder in 1986, Mottier has participated in various aspects of the firm’s management, including service on Leydig’s board of directors, the firm’s Conflicts Committee, and acting as chair of the Marketing, Professional Development, and Recruiting Committees. He was a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Illinois College of Engineering (Urbana-Champaign) for 15 years, where he lectured on intellectual property issues.
Mottier received a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering from the University of Illinois with a focus in mechanics and fluid dynamics. While an undergrad he was a James Scholar, and in law school he was a member of the Illinois Bar Journal. While enrolled in law school, he studied constitutional legal history at Magdalen College, Oxford University.
An avid supporter of the arts community, with a keen interest in 20th century Japanese prints, Mottier serves on boards of arts and civic organizations.
Experience
Mr. Mottier has worked for a wide range of clients, from multinational corporations to start-ups, as well as individuals. Mottier provides prosecution services, prepares validity and clearance opinions, prosecutes patent applications, licenses patents and technology, and litigates on behalf of clients.
Mr. Mottier has participated as counsel of record in dozens of litigations. Recent contested proceedings include (clients represented are underscored):
- Multiple Amazon Patent Inter-partes Evaluations 2021-2025, representing patent owners and accused infringers
- Elkay Manufacturing Company v. Kraus USA Inc., Civil Action 20-cv-5565 (E.D. New York) (Action for patent infringement)
- Elleci S.P.A. v. Elkay Manufacturing Company, Civil Action 21-868-MN (D. Delaware) (Action for declaratory judgment)
- KBK Industries, LLC v. Belco Manufacturing Company, Inc., Civil Action 5:17-cv-242 (W.D. Texas) (Action for patent infringement)
- Kohler Co. v. Elkay Manufacturing Company, Civil Action 2:16-cv-01439-LA (E.D. Wisconsin) (Action for patent infringement and a declaratory judgment)
- Confidential arbitration under AAA rules (2016)
- Confidential arbitration under AAA rules, resolved through mediation (2014-2015)
Honors
- Recognized as one of six leading lawyers in the area of Patent Prosecution in the United States in connection with utilty and design patent applications by The Legal 500
- One of 455 attorneys inducted into the inaugeral Legal 500 US Hall of Fame 2017
- Named an IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property
- AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated (Highest Rating) – Martindale-Hubbell
- Selected by peers as a Leading Lawyer in Intellectual Property Law – Leading Lawyers Network
- Named in the Illinois Super Lawyers list, Intellectual Property
- Listed among the Top Lawyers in Illinois in Intellectual Property Law – Chicago Lawyer
- Recognized in iam 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners
- Recognized in iam 250 – The World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers
- Selected as a top patent prosecutor by Patent Buddy
Professional Affiliations
- The American Bar Foundation
- Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)
- The Lawyers Club of Chicago
Community Involvement
- East Asian Arts Group, one of five Founders and Steering Committee Member, 2021 – Present
- The EAAG annually organizes three presentations on topics of East-Asian art, and one or two collection visits. Past speakers have included John Carpenter, Curator of Japanese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Jay Xu, Director of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.
- Alliance Française de Chicago, Board Member 2018 – Present
- The Arts Club of Chicago, Board Member 2018 – Present
- President, 2023 – Present
- Member on the Nominating and Governance Committee, 2019 – 2023
- The Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, presents programming in the arts, and has exhibition galleries that are open to the public.
- The Committee on Asian Art, 2017 – Present
The Art Institute of Chicago - The Smart Museum, Chicago, Illinois, Board of Governors 2008 – 2020
- Asian Arts Council, 2005 – 2019
President of the Board of Directors, 2014 – 2016
Board of Directors, 2010 – 2019
Member, Acquisition Committee, 2007-2008
The Art Institute of Chicago - Member of the Visiting Committee to the Department of Art History, 2009 – 2013
The University of Chicago - Literature and Arts Committee, 2005 – 2012
Chair, Art Acquisition Subcommittee, 2007 – 2012
University Club of Chicago - Presidents Council
University of Illinois
Articles, Publications & Lectures
- In conversation with Professor Silvia Beltrametti on Rights of Publicity, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, November 28, 2023
- Undergraduate Seminar ISE 290 on opportunities for engineers in the practice of law, University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana), September 2023.
- “No Wiggle Room With Patent Assignment Rights,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, April 4, 2018
- “Design Patents Now More Complicated,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, August 3, 2017
- “Choice of Law Clause Not Something that Should be Taken for Granted,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, February 15, 2017
- “High Court Might Have a Big Say on Design Patent Infringement, Damages,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, April 4, 2016
- “International Design Protection Under the Hague Agreement,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, December 8, 2015
- “Rethink Joint Development Agreements,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, May 11, 2015, as reprinted on July 1, 2015, in the Leydig Intellectual Property Report, with updates to incorporate new Federal Circuit case law.
- “Proving the Obvious,” Chicago Lawyer, November 2014
- “Fee Shifting: The Pendulum Swings, ” Chicago Lawyer, July 2014
- “Trolling for trouble,” Chicago Lawyer, April 2014
- “Streamlining contested patent matters,” Chicago Lawyer, November 2013
- “Bulletproof your patents,” Chicago Lawyer, July 2013
- “Post-grant procedures: Strategic considerations,” Chicago Lawyer, March 2013
- “Tips on subscription agreements,” Chicago Lawyer, October 2012
- “Licensing: Contentious terms,” Chicago Lawyer, June 2012
- “Rules we live by,” Chicago Lawyer, February 2012
- “Patent damages: What are they worth?” Chicago Lawyer, September 2011
- “The evolution of claim construction,” Chicago Lawyer, May 2011
- “The changing order of battle,” Chicago Lawyer, December 2010/January 2011
- “Provisional applications: best practices,” Chicago Lawyer, August 2010
- “Patent marking revisited,” Chicago Lawyer, April 2010
- “Perils of inventorship,” Chicago Lawyer, October 2009
- “Design patents: clarified and strengthened,” Chicago Lawyer, April 2009
- Editor of the firm’s quarterly newsletter from 2001 to 2016.
Languages
- French
Practices
Insights
- Leydig Attorneys Named 2025 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 21, 2025 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2024 Illinois Super Lawyers
February 1, 2024 - Leydig Attorneys Selected for IAM Patent 1000
September 29, 2023 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2023 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 26, 2023 - Leydig Attorneys Selected for IAM Patent 1000
September 29, 2022 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 26, 2022 - Leydig Attorneys Selected for IAM Patent 1000
September 29, 2021 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2021 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 26, 2021 - Leydig Attorneys Selected for IAM Patent 1000
September 29, 2020 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2020 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 26, 2020 - No Attorneys’ Fees For The USPTO In District Court Actions Challenging Patent Denials
October 5, 2019 - Leydig Attorneys Selected for IAM Patent 1000
September 29, 2019 - Leydig Recognized by Managing Intellectual Property
July 8, 2019 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2019 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 25, 2019 - Leydig Selected As Top IP Law Firm in Managing Intellectual Property™
August 28, 2018 - Leydig Recognized by the Legal 500
August 28, 2018 - Leydig Recognized Among Top IP Law Firms in Managing Intellectual Property™ 2018 IP Stars
July 3, 2018 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2018 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 25, 2018 - Leydig and Six of its Attorneys Selected Among World's Leading Patent Practitioners by IAM Patent 1000
June 11, 2017 - Leydig Attorneys Named 2017 Illinois Super Lawyers
January 18, 2017 - Leydig and Five of its Attorneys Selected Among World's Leading Patent Practitioners by IAM Patent 1000
June 7, 2016 - Leydig Attorneys Named in Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars 2016 Lists
December 4, 2015 - Leydig and Five of its Attorneys Selected Among World's Leading Patent Practitioners
June 15, 2015 - Leydig Attorneys Named in Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars 2015 Lists
January 16, 2015