Thomas L. Creel, Esq. has served as an arbitrator specializing in intellectual property and technology disputes for more than thirty years.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Experience
• A JAMS panelist since 2018, Mr. Creel was previously:
• A Partner and Chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Area at Goodwin Procter LLP, 
• A Partner and Co-Chair of the Patent Litigation Group at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, LLP, and 
• A Partner at Kenyon & Kenyon.
• Mr. Creel was a lecturer (patents and trade secrets) at Columbia University School of Law for almost twenty years. 
• He also served as President of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA).
• Authored Books
• Patent Claim Construction and Markman Hearings, treatise (revised yearly), published by Practising Law Institute.   
• Editor, Guide to Patent Arbitration, book, Bureau of National Affairs.
• Education
• Mr. Creel received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Kansas and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
• Bar Admissions
• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other Courts of Appeals 
• Various United States District Courts
• States of New York and Michigan

Mr. Creel’s experience as a seasoned ADR professional and legal counsel spans a diverse array of technologies and legal issues that includes international, cross-border, and domestic cases involving patents, technology, the life sciences and all areas of intellectual property. He has handled dozens of proceedings concerning a broad range of technologies, including biotechnology, computer technology, medical devices, electronics, chemistry, mining and extractives, explosives, polypropylene, copiers, word processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, spinning machines, biosimilars, and branded and generic drug products, as well as abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs). His experience with legal issues includes those relating to patent infringement, patent validity, inventorship, Markman Hearings, copyright, trademark, patent claim construction, trade secrets, and the negotiation, drafting and dispute resolution of licenses. He has been appointed by several federal district judges to serve as a special master in patent litigations to handle discovery disputes, attorney-client privilege issues, Markman Hearings and summary judgment motions, and has also been retained as an independent neutral evaluator.

He has served as counsel to Dutch, German, British, Swedish, Swiss, Korean, Venezuelan, Japanese and Chinese clients in litigation, settlement negotiations, arbitrations and mediations around the world.

After leaving private practice, he established an independent arbitration practice, where he continued to receive complex intellectual property arbitration appointments from the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), and other domestic and international arbitral institutions.

Mr. Creel also leverages his professional television, film, and radio experience as a working actor to help inform non-technical disputes in the media and entertainment industries, including matters involving copyright and trademark ownership, infringement, licensing, contract disputes, production, distribution, and profit and royalty conflicts, as well as rights management disputes. He has acted as counsel for high-profile clients such as film directors and producers, photographers, authors, and a major comic book publisher, and as counsel in a trademark dispute involving a major clothing manufacturer.

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Listed on the approved arbitrator/mediator panels of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC), and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
• Current Co-Chair of ADR Committee, New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA)
• Listed in New York Metro Super Lawyers (Intellectual Property) 
• Listed in Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Experts,  Euromoney Guide to the Leading Trademark Law Experts, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent Attorney

• Speaker: “Applying Theatrical Skills and Techniques in International Arbitration and Mediation,” ABA International Law Section, American University College of Law, Center on International Commercial Arbitration and JAMS, March 29, 2024
• Speaker: “NYIPLA Patent CLE Seminar: From the Arbitrator’s Perspective: A Discussion of Best Practices in IP/Patent Arbitration,” NYIPLA, November 9, 2022
• [PODCAST] “JAMS Neutrals Discuss the Advantages of ADR in Resolving IP Disputes,” with Hon. Elizabeth D. Laporte (Ret.), October 5, 2022
• Speaker: “The ‘Necessary,’ ‘Desirable’ and ‘Maybe’ Language for Alternative Dispute Resolution Clauses and Submission Agreements in Intellectual Property and Technology Disputes,” Licensing Executives Society, September 20, 2022
• Speaker: “Virtual Hot Tubbing – Panel-Appointed Experts: Arbitrators Debate, You Decide,” Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center and the New York International Arbitration Center, November 19, 2020
• Speaker: “WIPO Workshop: Fundamentals and Trends in IP and Tech Mediation and Arbitration,” WIPO and Geogia Intellectual Property Alliance, March 19, 2019
• Speaker: “NYIPLA: One-Day Patent CLE Seminar – Arbitration of Patent Disputes,” NYIPLA, November 15, 2018
• Chair, Annual PLI Seminar, “How to Prepare and Conduct Markman Hearings and Claim Construction”

• Patent Claim Construction and Markman Hearings, Treatise, revised yearly and praised as a “superb treatise” by “a top litigator,” (former Federal Circuit court judge), as “an invaluable guide” whose “[a]nalysis of legal rules … is mixed with sage practical advice” (university professor), and as “an excellent one-stop resource for the law and tactics of claim construction” (well-known litigator), Practising Law Institute   
• Editor, Guide to Patent Arbitration, book, Bureau of National Affairs
• “Are Patents Property That is Protected by the U.S. Constitution?” American Bar Association, Landslide, Vol. 14, No. 2, December/January 2022
• “In a patent claim, does ‘one’ or ‘a’ of something mean only one?” Thompson Reuters Expert Analysis, December 11, 2020
• “Arbitration Questions to Consider in Patent License Disputes,” Law360.com, May 2019
• “Use of Special Masters in Patent Litigation: A Special Master’s Perspective,” American Intellectual Property Law Association, Spring 1998 Quarterly Journal, with Thomas McGahren
• “The Revolution in Preliminary Injunctions Against Patent Infringement,” The John Marshall Law Review, Vol. 24, 1, 1990
• “Patent Systems and Their Role in the Technological Advance of Developing Nations,” Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1985

Background and Education

• Principal; Law Offices of Thomas L. Creel, P.C.
• Partner and Chair of Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Area, Goodwin Procter LLP, New York
• Partner and Co-Chair of the Patent Litigation Group, Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, LLP, New York
• Partner, Kenyon & Kenyon, New York
• Lecturer (patents and trade secrets), Columbia University School of Law
• Law Degree, University of Michigan Law School
• Engineering Degree, University of Kansas