Baker Botts L.L.P.

Intellectual Property

Partner

Department Chair - Intellectual Property (Firmwide)

Christa is the Firmwide Co-Chair of Baker Botts’ IP Department, a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee, and member of the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Christa has a full-time patent practice, with the ability to advise on a number of different issues -- working together with her clients to be a true counselor. With an electrical engineering background and keen business sense, her ability to communicate with anyone, from clients, opposing counsel, inventors, or patent examiners alike, in a clear and digestible way, underscores her commitment to being a true partner at every stage of the process. She provides guidance on patent procurement, patent portfolio development, patent litigation, and patent licensing – particularly involving telecommunications, blockchain, electronics, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, software, personal mobility, and other cutting-edge technologies. As an adjunct professor at SMU’s Dedman School of Law, Christa teaches patent licensing and enforcement course, in addition to patent prosecution courses. She is a regular speaker on IP and diversity and inclusion issues in the legal industry.

State Bar of Texas, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, The Honorable Barbara M.G. Lynn American Inn of Court, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (Fellow)

JD, SMU Dedman School of Law (Order of the Coif, cum laude); BS in Electrical Engineering, Rice University; Adjunct Professor, SMU Dedman School of Law; Board of Directors, SMU; Board of Directors, SMU Dedman School of Law; 2021-2022 President, Junior League of Dallas;

Publications IP/Antitrust Policy Changes are Afoot in the Biden Administration’s SOJ, October 2021; Black Lawyer Speaks: Stories of the Past, Hopes for the Future, Ep. 4, Bloomberg Law Podcast, January 2021; UK Supreme Court delivers landmark ruling on SEPs and FRAND licensing, September 2020; Willing to License? Guidance from Germany on the interaction between SEP Licensing Negotiations and EU Competition Law in Sisvel v. Haier, July 2020