People

Overview

Jose Villarreal is a highly experienced patent litigation and trial attorney to technology and growth enterprises. He also advises clients regarding strategic intellectual property portfolio development and licensing, IP transactions, and mergers and acquisitions due diligence.

Jose has represented his clients in litigation matters in federal courts around the country and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He has practiced in Texas for over 24 years and is often called for his knowledge of U.S. District Courts for the Western District of Texas and Eastern District of Texas.

Operating in a broad spectrum of technologies, Jose is experienced in matters involving semiconductor manufacturing and circuits, diagnostic devices, networking and communications, software as a service (SaaS) and customer relationship management (CRM) software, and 3D printing, video games, and autonomous vehicles.

Prior to his legal career, Jose worked in the telecommunications and networking industry. Jose has served on the Conference Planning Committee of the University of Texas School of Law Advanced Patent Law Institute since 2014 and is a founding member of the Yeakel IP Inn of Court led by the Honorable Lee Yeakel, with participation from the Western District of Texas judges and intellectual property bar.

Admission & Affiliations

  • State Bar of Texas
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association, Member
  • American Bar Association, Section of Litigation
  • International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association
  • The Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court
  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center 1997
    cum laude
  • M.Eng., Electrical Engineering, Cornell University 1988
  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Florida 1986
    high honors

Experience

  • Won final judgment in favor of Dow 30 software company in patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and won affirmance at the Federal Circuit.
  • Lead counsel representing nine defendants, including major software, media, computer, financial, and social media companies in a patent litigation involving the first parallel proceedings at the Patent Trials and Appeal Board at the USPTO, the Eastern District of Texas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. As part of the same dispute Jose also served as lead counsel in defendants' interlocutory appeal to the Federal Circuit that reversed the district court's denial of a stay pending a petition for Covered Business Method patent review by the PTAB and setting precedential law. Subsequent to the stay, the PTAB held every claim of plaintiff's patent unpatentable as an abstract idea and also anticipated by prior art. The claims against all defendants were dismissed with prejudice.
  • Served as lead counsel for Dow 30 software company in litigation related to educational software. Successfully represented the client at the district court in claim construction involving functional claims that led to the Federal Circuit’s precedential decision on interpreting 35 USC Section 112 means-plus-function claims that found certain asserted claims invalid. The claims were dismissed against Jose’s clients with prejudice.
  • Represented orthodontics software company in a patent suit relating to orthodontics systems and computer-aided design. After counterclaiming with multiple patent claims and asserting unexpected affirmative defenses, the case settled on favorable terms for the client.

Awards and Community

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White, Inc.) for Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2022-2024

Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer (Thomson Reuters), 2016-2018