Derek C. Walter

Derek C. Walter is a highly experienced patent litigator with a focus on biological and chemical disciplines, including genomics, diagnostics, DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, noninvasive fetal diagnostic techniques, microfluidics, organ transplant monitoring, and cancer testing. His practice involves high-stakes disputes for clients in the life sciences, biotech, and high technology industries. Walter demonstrates a balanced practice, having represented both plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement matters.

He joined Jones Day as a partner in March 2025, bringing extensive experience from his prior tenure as a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he worked for nearly two decades.

Walter has been involved in several prominent cases, including representing NanoString Technologies, Inc. (later Bruker Spatial Biology, Inc.) as a defendant in the 10x Genomics, Inc. et al. v. NanoString Technologies, Inc. litigation, a global patent dispute over spatial profiling that settled in May 2025, following a $31 million patent infringement award to 10x Genomics in the District of Delaware in November 2023. He also served as counsel for NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc. in NATERA, INC. v. NEOGENOMICS LABORATORIES, INC. before the Federal Circuit. His track record includes securing a $24 million verdict in a case related to prenatal genetic testing methods, a $27 million jury verdict in a microfluidic droplet technology case, and helping to secure the reversal of a $96 million jury verdict concerning DNA sequencing for organ transplant rejection detection. He is also involved in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory v. Guardant Health, Inc., defending Guardant Health against allegations of infringing patents related to DNA sequencing for cancer diagnostic testing.

Derek Walter possesses significant experience before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), representing both patent owners and petitioners. His PTAB work includes successfully defending patents related to PCR instrumentation, DNA sequencing, and diesel exhaust treatment, as well as leading teams that invalidated patents concerning CRISPR gene editing and single-cell genomics. He served as lead counsel for NanoString Technologies, Inc. and Bruker Spatial Biology, Inc. in several IPR proceedings, which were terminated following a global settlement. He is also lead counsel for Petitioner NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc. in IPR2024-00346. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.Sc. from the University of Utah. He is admitted to the State Bar of California and is a registered patent attorney.