Andrew T. Dufresne

Andrew T. Dufresne, Ph.D. — Perkins Coie (Madison, Wis.)

Specialty / focus. Dufresne is a patent litigator working at both the district court and appellate levels, with a self-described emphasis on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (appellate motions, issue preservation, mandamus practice) and post-grant practice before the PTAB. His technical background is a Duke Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology, and his firm profile lists pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food science, electronics and computer software, and fitness/sports equipment among his technology areas; Chambers characterizes him as handling pre-trial patent infringement work for multinational clients. The public docket record bears this out across a range of technologies rather than a single niche: online video streaming and digital rights management (Netflix), online gaming and geolocation-based wagering (AG 18), Ethernet connectors and integrated connector modules (U.D. Electronic), consumer electronics and virtual reality (HTC), LED tube lamps, and intranasal epinephrine formulations (Amphastar/Aegis). No Wi-Fi/standards-essential-patent focus is evident in the record.

Side preference. The tracked case list here is very thin — one appearance, on the plaintiff/patent-owner side, as counsel of record for AG 18, LLC. That single data point is not representative of the practice shown elsewhere in the public record, which skews defense-side: Dufresne has appeared for Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Google in Federal Circuit and district court matters, for HTC America, and for U.D. Electronic as an accused infringer, while also representing patent owners such as AG 18 and Favored Tech as IPR petitioner. In short, he works both sides, with a heavier reported volume on the accused-infringer/defense and patent-challenger side.

Firm context. Perkins Coie is the only firm evidenced in his litigation career; he is a partner in the firm's Madison, Wisconsin office, which now operates under the Ashurst Perkins Coie US LLP branding following the firm's combination. He has no in-house role in the record. He serves on the board of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and is an adjunct professor teaching patent litigation at Marquette University Law School.

Notable matters and patent office practice. Reported results include Digital Media Technologies, Inc. v. Netflix, Inc., where the Federal Circuit affirmed a § 101 invalidity win for Netflix in November 2018 (Dufresne on the Perkins Coie team); U.D. Electronic Corp. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., where the Federal Circuit in May 2022 summarily affirmed summary judgment of non-infringement on Ethernet connector patents after an IPR knocked out one asserted patent; and Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Hulu, LLC (Fed. Cir. 2019) for Netflix/Amazon/Hulu. He was lead counsel for petitioner Favored Tech in Favored Tech Corp. v. P2i Ltd (IPR2020-00478), including a request for Director review, and appeared for Google in Apple Inc. v. Iancu (N.D. Cal. 2020) concerning IPR institution practices. On the life-sciences side, he was on the Perkins Coie team for Amphastar in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Aegis Therapeutics, LLC (IPR2021-01324; mixed final written decision in February 2023; appeal dismissed by agreement in March 2025). In the tracked matter, he appeared for patent owner AG 18 in two parallel Federal Circuit appeals arising from DraftKings' IPR challenges to U.S. Patent No. 9,978,205 (AG 18, LLC v. DK Crown Holdings Inc., No. 24-1821, summarily affirmed April 15, 2026, and DK Crown Holdings Inc. v. AG 18, LLC, No. 24-2078, affirmed May 6, 2026, upholding claim 18). Both dispositions were nonprecedential. PTAB practice is a regular part of his practice — he has appeared as lead or backup counsel across numerous IPR proceedings.

Bar / education. J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (2010); Ph.D., Duke University; B.A., Gustavus Adolphus College. Admitted in Wisconsin and Minnesota and before the USPTO, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, the D.C., Fifth, and Ninth Circuits, and several district courts. He clerked for Judge Alan D. Lourie on the Federal Circuit.

Caveat: the structured appearance data supplied covers only one case, so the side-preference and volume observations above rest on publicly docketed matters and firm/Chambers descriptions rather than on a complete appearance count.