Erik B. Fountain

Erik B. Fountain is a Principal in McKool Smith's Dallas office, focusing his practice on intellectual property litigation and patent licensing disputes. He handles a diverse range of technology areas, including software, cellular, oil field, automotive, and medical devices. His expertise extends to standard-essential patents (SEPs) and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) disputes, where he has advised clients on negotiating licenses for SEP portfolios. Fountain also possesses a track record in litigating trade secret disputes. He maintains a balanced practice, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent matters.

As a Principal at McKool Smith, where he previously served as an Associate, Mr. Fountain rejoined the firm in January 2024 after a period at Sidley. His tracked case history includes representing Nokia Technologies Oy as plaintiff in Nokia Technologies Oy v. ASUSTek Computer Inc, part of a global SEP licensing campaign concerning video coding technology. He also acted as lead counsel for the defendant Hisense Co., Ltd. in Nokia Technologies Oy v. Hisense Co., Ltd. et al., a case involving H.264 and H.265 video decoding patents, which was voluntarily dismissed after Hisense and Nokia reached a multi-year patent license agreement.

Further demonstrating his experience, Mr. Fountain was part of a trial team that prevailed in the first-ever breach-of-FRAND jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas in 2019. He also successfully represented Nevro in a long-running trade secret and patent dispute against Boston Scientific, which concluded with Boston Scientific paying Nevro $85 million in 2022. While McKool Smith's intellectual property practice includes Inter Partes Review (IPR) and PTAB disputes, Mr. Fountain's personal profile emphasizes his litigation and licensing work in district courts and the ITC, including representing Ericsson in various ITC investigations.

Mr. Fountain earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from SMU Dedman School of Law in 2015, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, and holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University (2010). He previously served as a law clerk to Chief Judge J. Rodney Gilstrap in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.