Constantine L. Trela, Jr.

Constantine L. Trela, Jr. is a patent litigation attorney primarily focusing on appellate matters, particularly before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. His practice areas include patent and intellectual property rights appeals and ITC Section 337 investigations. The cases in which he has appeared indicate a focus on software and technology-related intellectual property disputes.

Operating exclusively on the defendant's side in tracked cases, Mr. Trela defends operating companies, most notably Microsoft Corporation. He has consistently served as counsel for Microsoft in significant patent disputes.

Mr. Trela is a Partner at Sidley Austin LLP, where he co-chairs the Supreme Court and Appellate practice group in the Chicago office and is a national leader of the firm's national Supreme Court and Appellate practice team.

His notable representations include successfully arguing for Microsoft in Eolas Technologies Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. at the Federal Circuit, which resulted in the reversal and remand of a substantial patent infringement judgment. He also served as Appellate Counsel for Microsoft in Uniloc USA, Inc. et al. v. Microsoft Corporation and counsel in VirnetX Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation. More recently, he successfully argued for Microsoft in appeals before the Federal Circuit in Improved Search LLC v. Microsoft Corporation (2020) and FG SRC LLC v. Microsoft Corporation (2021), both resulting in affirmed judgments. He also represented Microsoft as counsel of record in a denied petition for a writ of certiorari before the Supreme Court in FG SRC LLC v. Microsoft Corporation. Information regarding his experience in PTAB or IPR proceedings is not readily available.

Mr. Trela earned his B.A. from Northwestern University in 1976 and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 1979. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1979 and is admitted to practice before numerous U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.