Alden Harris

I'll research this attorney to verify professional background and firm context before writing.

Good material so far. Let me dig into the specific tracked cases and any prior firm history or education.

Alden Harris — patent litigation practice summary

Focus areas. Harris is a Houston-based patent litigator and partner at Heim, Payne & Chorush LLP whose practice centers on electrical and computer engineering, telecommunications, and biochemistry, per his firm and Best Lawyers profiles. His B.S. in Physics (Texas A&M) and his own PTAB pro hac vice declaration describe roughly a decade of work in wireless communications and wireless networking — consistent with the tracked Wi-Fi/standards matter (Atlas Global v. TP-Link) — while his other tracked matters involve mobile application development and testing software (Wapp Tech) and autonomous-driving/vehicle sensor technology (Granite Vehicle Ventures v. Tesla). So the docket spans standards-based wireless, software, and automotive/mechanical-adjacent technologies rather than pharma.

Side preference. On the three tracked appearances he is predominantly plaintiff-side: two plaintiff matters (Atlas Global, Granite Vehicle Ventures) and one defense-side matter (Capital One, labeled Counsel). That mix is consistent with his firm's stated practice of representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent and antitrust litigation nationwide, rather than with a pure NPE/PAE or pure operating-company defense practice. Note the tracked list is a small subset — his public docket appears substantially larger than three matters, but I could not verify that with the sources available.

Firm context and notable matters. He has been at Heim, Payne & Chorush (Houston IP boutique) for his litigation career as reflected in public records; no prior firm is reliably sourced. Before joining the firm he clerked for the Hon. Roy Payne in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Marshall) and served as an acting law clerk to Judge Rodney Gilstrap during a period when the Marshall Division handled a large share of U.S. patent filings. Most prominent tracked result: Atlas Global Technologies v. TP-Link, where the Heim Payne & Chorush team (Michael Heim, Eric Enger, Harris, Blaine Larson, Wills Collier) helped the patent owner defeat TP-Link's dismissal/transfer motion and secure a 2023 jury verdict of over $37.5 million that the Federal Circuit reportedly affirmed in full. In Granite Vehicle Ventures v. Tesla (E.D. Tex., Judge Gilstrap, filed Dec. 2024), where the tracked data lists him as lead counsel, Tesla moved to partially dismiss and to transfer to N.D. Cal., and later petitioned for IPRs; the Federal Circuit denied Tesla's mandamus petition concerning the deputy director's non-institution decisions. The Wapp Tech matter involves Wapp's mobile app development/testing patents asserted against Capital One, Apple, and Frost Bank, with Capital One raising § 101 eligibility and filing an IPR.

PTAB/IPR and bar/education. He does appear in PTAB proceedings, though not as a registered practitioner: his May 2023 declaration states pro hac vice admission in IPR2023-00863 (Atlas Global as patent owner) and a prior pro hac vice grant in IPR2020-01201 (Unified Patents v. MasterObjects), where he served as backup counsel to registered practitioner Michael Heim. Admitted to the State Bar of Texas (bar no. 24083138); also admitted in the Federal Circuit, E.D. Tex., S.D. Tex., N.D. Tex., W.D. Tex., D. Colo., and D.N.M. J.D., University of Texas School of Law (2012), where he was an Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review; B.S., Texas A&M (2009). He was named Best Lawyers' Houston "Lawyer of the Year" for Patent Litigation (2025) and has appeared in Benchmark Litigation's 40 & Under rankings — awards rather than case outcomes, but they corroborate an active trial-level practice.

Caveats: the Federal Circuit affirmance and the Granite IPR/mandamus developments are drawn from firm announcements and litigation reporting rather than from opinions I reviewed directly; no patent-bar registration, prior firm, or publication record for Harris was found.