Alan Whitehurst

Alan Whitehurst is a principal and trial lawyer at McKool Smith, focusing on intellectual property and unfair competition cases. He is known for his deep expertise in telecom-related disputes, particularly those arising from the "smartphone wars," involving technologies such as 5G, LTE, WCDMA, CDMA, WiFi, speech coding, and video compression. His practice also encompasses litigation related to microprocessors, semiconductors, software, e-commerce, and the life sciences.

Whitehurst has experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent litigation. He has recovered over $85 million for patent owner clients, including Vervain and Greenthread, companies founded by inventor Dr. Mohan Rao. His plaintiff-side work includes representing Greenthread LLC in actions against companies like Dell Technologies. On the defense side, he has secured numerous victories, including early dismissals and Federal Circuit appeals. Noteworthy defense matters include successfully representing SemaConnect against ChargePoint, obtaining a complete victory at the district court level and arguing the Federal Circuit appeal. He has also defended major technology companies such as Texas Instruments and Sony Group Corporation in cases brought by Greenthread.

A significant portion of his practice involves Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, where he is recognized as a top practitioner. Whitehurst is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and has successfully argued numerous inter partes reviews (IPRs), advising clients on patent office procedures.

Whitehurst joined McKool Smith in 2021. He holds a J.D. from Duke University School of Law, as well as a B.S. and M.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Duke University.