Derek T. Gilliland

Derek T. Gilliland served as a patent litigator for over two decades before his appointment as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, in April 2022. His practice focused on intellectual property litigation, primarily patent infringement. With an educational background in mechanical engineering, he handled cases spanning various technologies, notably including financial transaction processing and remote image capture, as evidenced by his work on the plaintiff's side in the DataTreasury Corporation cases.

Throughout his career in private practice, Mr. Gilliland consistently represented plaintiffs, with all tracked appearances on the plaintiff side. His firms, including Nix Patterson, were known for aggressively pursuing and securing significant verdicts and settlements for intellectual property owners whose rights had been infringed. This included substantial recoveries in patent infringement matters.

As a partner at Nix Patterson (formerly Nix Patterson & Roach) for 12 years and later at Sorey & Gilliland, Mr. Gilliland was instrumental in high-stakes patent disputes. A prominent example is his role as counsel for DataTreasury Corporation in its extensive patent litigation campaign against major banks, including DataTreasury Corporation v. U.S. Bank et al. This campaign resulted in multi-million dollar verdicts, such as a $95.7 million verdict (enhanced to $115.1 million) and another $27 million verdict (enhanced to $54 million), along with additional millions from settlements. Information regarding his direct involvement in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or inter partes review (IPR) proceedings as an attorney is not specifically highlighted in the available public records.

Mr. Gilliland earned his B.S.M.E. in Mechanical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Texas A&M University in 1993, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Baylor University School of Law in 1998, where he ranked second in his class. He is admitted to practice in Texas and Oklahoma and is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.