Overview

Alan is a principal and trial lawyer specializing in intellectual property and unfair competition cases.  Alan has been recognized as one of the Leading Litigators in America, and one of the top practitioners before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Since joining McKool Smith in 2021, Alan has recovered more than $50M for Vervain and Greenthread, two companies founded by renowned inventor Dr. Mohan Rao.  He has also achieved numerous victories on the defense side by obtaining early dismissals, prevailing at the Patent Office, and winning at the Federal Circuit.  Alan has litigated cases throughout the country, and won cases at every stage of litigation, from motions to dismiss to trial.

A veteran of the “smartphone wars,”  Alan has a deep understanding of 5G, LTE, WCDMA, CDMA, WiFi, speech coding, video compression, and other complex technologies.  He has used his technical background to successfully litigate more than 30 telecom cases over the last two decades.   Alan has also litigated numerous matters involving microprocessors, semiconductors, software, e-commerce, and the life sciences.

Alan recently defended SemaConnect in a lawsuit filed by ChargePoint involving electric vehicle charging stations.  After obtaining a complete victory for SemaConnect in district court, he successfully argued the Federal Circuit appeal as well.

Alan regularly advises companies about patent portfolios, IP monetization, damages, and licensing.  He has extensive experience leveraging patent portfolios to develop additional revenue for both large and small companies.

Alan is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.  He regularly advises clients about patent office procedures, and he has successfully argued scores of inter partes reviews (IPRs).

Alan is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Circuit Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association.

Experience

Representative Matters

Prior to joining the firm:

  • Successfully represented Samsung against Huawei in the Northern District of California in cross-licensing dispute involving twenty-two 3G/UMTS and 4G/LTE SEPs, a wide range of competing FRAND defenses and claims, and an antitrust counterclaim asserted by Samsung based on attempted monopolization.
  • Successfully defended SemaConnect, Inc. in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by ChargePoint, Inc.  SemaConnect won a contract to install electric vehicle charging stations as part of the $15 billion settlement of Volkswagen’s vehicle emissions scandal.  ChargePoint sought a TRO to prevent SemaConnect from installing those electric vehicle charging stations. Defeated ChargePoint’s TRO motion within a week of being hired, filed a motion to dismiss ChargePoint’s Complaint within a month, and approximately two months later the Court issued a 70-page decision invalidating all of ChargePoint’s asserted claims.  The Court entered judgment in SemaConnect’s favor.
  • Successfully represented Samsung against Apple in an ITC Investigation involving a Samsung patent which had been declared as potentially essential to the ETSI UMTS (3G) standard.  The ITC found that Apple violated Section 337 through the importation and/or sale of UMTS-compliant products that infringe that patent.  After a full trial briefing on technical and public interest issues, the Commission issued an exclusion and cease and desist order against Apple, that will prevent the importation of the iPhone 3G, 3GS (UMTS versions), 4 (UMTS versions), iPad 3G, and iPad 2 3G (UMTS versions) into the United States after a 60 day Presidential Review Period.  In finding a violation, the ITC rejected all of Apple’s defenses including its assertion that Samsung had allegedly violated certain FRAND obligations with respect to its assertion and licensing of its declared essential patents.  Although Apple has been named a respondent in the ITC, this is the first ITC exclusion order to be issued against Apple, and the first exclusion order obtained by Samsung at the ITC.
  • Successfully represented Dynamic Digital Depth (“DDD”) against LG in a patent infringement matter relating to DDD’s groundbreaking technology for 2D to 3D conversion that is used in consumer products, such as televisions.
  • Successfully defended AOL and MapQuest in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the District of Delaware for 360 View technology.
  • Successfully defended DIRECTV in ITC investigation involving Multimedia over COAX Allliance (MoCA) standard.
  • On behalf of a global telecommunications company successfully resolved IP dispute with Apple involving district court litigations in Delaware and Wisconsin, three ITC investigations, and foreign court proceedings.
  • Obtained early dismissal for AOL and motion to stay and dismissal with prejudice for eBay in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California.
  • Successfully defended major telecommunications carrier in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
  • Successfully defended AOL in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas involving Linux operating system.
  • Obtained early dismissals for AOL, CBS and Dun & Bradstreet in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas.
  • Successfully defended AOL in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida involving digital radio.
  • Successfully defended a global telecommunications company in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the District of Delaware involving AGPS technology.
  • Obtained immediate and complete dismissal for AOL in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia involving dial-up modems.
  • Successfully defended a global telecommunications company in patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas involving touchscreen devices.
  • Obtained summary judgment for AOL in multidistrict litigation against Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing (RAKTL).
  • Successfully defended a global telecommunications company in ITC investigation involving LEDs.
  • On behalf of a global telecommunications company successfully resolved the largest IP dispute in U.S. history.
  • Represented IBM in seminal patent infringement lawsuit against Amazon.com.
  • Successfully defended a major chip manufacturer in ITC investigation of high-speed digital processors.
  • Represented Lucent in patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas involving 3G phones.
  • Represented Kodak in multidistrict litigation involving digital camera technology.
  • On behalf of Motorola successfully resolved IP dispute with Analog Devices involving numerous district court litigations.
  • Successfully defended a major telecommunications company in Eastern District of Texas involving TDMA cellular phones and base stations.
  • Obtained complete jury win and exclusivity period for MOVA Pharmaceuticals in first Paragraph 4 case and successfully upheld verdict before Federal Circuit.
  • Obtained consent decree for Cotton Incorporated for the mark THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES.

Recognition

Rankings & Honors

  • Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a "Litigation Star" (2024)
  • Ranked among the top 250 Attorneys representing patent owners by Patexia's Intelligence Report (2023)
  • Recognized in the guide to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022, 2024)
  • Named by his peers to the list of Washington D.C. Super Lawyers for 2024

Affiliations

Community & Professional Activities

American Intellectual Property Law Association

International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association

Media & Events

Education

J.D., Duke University School of Law, 1997

M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, 1997

B.S., Electrical Engineering, Duke University, 1994

Court Admissions

  • Virginia
  • District of Columbia
  • The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • The U.S. Supreme Court

Bar Associations

  • American Bar Association
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