Douglas A. Cawley

Douglas A. Cawley is a highly experienced patent litigator and a Principal in the Dallas office of McKool Smith. His practice focuses predominantly on intellectual property litigation, particularly patent and ITC/Section 337 litigation. Cawley has handled major intellectual property matters across the United States and globally for over 40 years. His work spans various technology areas, including secure Internet communications and VPN technology, document production systems, point-of-sale activation technologies, and wireless communication technologies like voice over LTE (VoLTE). He also has experience with patent disputes involving set-top boxes.

Cawley has a strong preference for representing plaintiffs, having been recognized as a "Plaintiff Trailblazer" by The National Law Journal. He has secured more than $1 billion in patent infringement verdicts for his clients, demonstrating a track record of success against major corporations. Of his four tracked appearances, three were on the plaintiff side, with one on the defendant side.

Throughout his career at McKool Smith, Cawley has been lead counsel in numerous high-stakes patent disputes. Notable outcomes include a $106 million jury verdict for VirnetX Inc. against Microsoft Corporation concerning VPN technology, which later settled for $200 million and a licensing agreement. He also played a key role in securing a $200 million jury verdict for i4i Inc. against Microsoft over a document production system patent, a verdict that was affirmed by the Federal Circuit for $290 million and upheld by the Supreme Court. Additionally, Cawley obtained a $156 million jury verdict for TGIP Inc. against AT&T Corp. regarding point-of-sale activation patents and achieved significant victories for TiVo's Rovi Corp. against Comcast in multiple International Trade Commission (ITC) investigations, leading to an import ban on infringing set-top boxes. He was also involved in securing a $368 million verdict for VirnetX Holding Corp. against Apple and a $173 million verdict for ParkerVision against Qualcomm.

While Cawley's practice prominently features ITC litigation, the available information does not specifically highlight extensive experience in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings such as IPRs or PGRs. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, AIPLA, and various bar associations, and graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and with high honors from the University of Texas.