J. Stephen Ravel

J. Stephen Ravel was a highly experienced patent litigator known for defending major technology and financial institutions. He passed away in 2023 after a distinguished career spanning over 35 years in litigation at both trial and appellate levels.

Ravel's patent litigation practice primarily focused on representing defendants, with five out of six tracked appearances on the defense side. He defended clients in matters involving a wide array of technologies, including semiconductors, memory, data storage, smartphone functions, point-of-sale payment and security systems, medical devices, multi-mode security, and mobile and online banking. His representative cases included defending Dell Technologies Inc., Cirrus Logic, Inc., Intel Corporation, and Sony Group Corporation in various Greenthread LLC patent suits, and Dell Technologies Inc. in a Gaea LLC case. He also appeared as of counsel for Wells Fargo & Company in DataTreasury Corporation v. Wells Fargo & Company, marking his sole plaintiff-side appearance in tracked patent cases.

Throughout his career, Ravel was a Partner at Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, primarily based in Austin, Texas. While specific outcomes for his patent litigation cases are not widely publicized, his firm profile highlighted his extensive experience across various complex litigation areas, including significant successes in other fields, such as obtaining Federal Court approval for an electric plant over environmental objections and achieving a $10 million recovery for a major MCI subcontractor. He was also a member of the Patent Standing Orders Working Group for Judge Alan D. Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Public records did not readily identify his direct appearances in inter partes review (IPR) or post-grant review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Ravel earned his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 1981 and a B.A. magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1977. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1981.