Judge Richard Linn

2024 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Federal Circuit

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA–Judge Richard Linn has been selected to receive the prestigious 2024 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Federal Circuit. Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Bill Clinton in 1999, Linn took senior status in 2012. He will receive the award at the Federal Circuit Judicial Conference in May.

Linn received this recognition from his peers not for his work as a judge but for his decades-long commitment to promoting American Inns of Court focused on intellectual property. “It is not hyperbole to say that Judge Linn’s devotion and dedication to the Intellectual Property Inns of Court is unmatched,” write Federal Circuit Judges Sharon Prost and Kara Farnadez Stoll of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who nominated Linn for the award. “[Linn’s] initiative to create and nourish new Intellectual Property Inns across the country has succeeded beyond even his wildest dreams.” The initial goal of the Linn Inn Alliance was not just to bring together existing Intellectual Property Inns but to create 10 new Inns by 2010; today the alliance includes 29 Inns, most of them newly created with Linn’s help. Linn even expanded his efforts overseas, helping to establish the first and only Intellectual Property Inn outside the United States in Tokyo.

Linn is a past president of the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, a member of the Richard Linn Inn, a visiting member of the Honorable William C. Conner Inn, and an honorary lifetime member of the Benjamin Franklin Inn. In 2011, he received the American Inns of Court A. Sherman Christensen Award. In 2014, he received the Honorable William C. Conner American Inn of Court Excellence Award. In 2015, the American Intellectual Property Law Association gave Linn its Excellence Award, its highest honor.

Before becoming a judge, Linn was a lawyer in private practice. From 1997 to 1999, he was a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP. From 1977 to 1997, he was a partner and head of the intellectual property department at Marks & Murase LLP. Earlier in his career, Linn worked as a patent examiner.

Linn earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1965. He earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969.