Jacob S. Schroeder

Jacob S. Schroeder — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Schroeder is a patent and trade secret litigator with a technology-heavy, electrical/software-oriented practice. Per his Finnegan bio, he has handled matters involving computers, electronics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, and he previously led the firm's electrical practice. His engineering background (a former Cisco software engineer, and a former clerk to Judges Richard Linn and Lucy Koh) aligns with his docket of voice-recognition, data-storage, drone, display, and automotive lighting cases. The sole tracked matter — Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. v. Yechezkal Evan Spero — sits in the automotive/adaptive-headlight technology space, part of a coordinated automaker campaign against Spero's vehicle-lighting patents.

Side preference. The tracked data shows one plaintiff-side appearance (Volkswagen), and the underlying posture is a declaratory-judgment/validity challenge by an operating company rather than an NPE enforcement suit. Web-verifiable work shows a genuine both-sides practice, but consistently for operating companies and technology vendors: plaintiffs Promptu, FlatFrog, and Plantronics; defendants DJI, LG, Motorola/Lenovo, and Intuitive Surgical. He does not appear to be an NPE-side specialist.

Firm context. Partner in Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner's Palo Alto office, where he has spent his entire career (associate to partner, former hiring partner). Note a naming variance: the tracked profile lists "Jacob S. Schroeder," while the matching Finnegan partner is Jacob A. (Adam) Schroeder — same firm and case posture, so I treat them as one person.

Notable cases / outcomes. The marquee result is a $240 million jury verdict for Promptu against Comcast (willful infringement of voice-recognition-for-TV patents, E.D. Pa.), affirmed on appeal (Fed. Cir. 22-1939). Other verifiable results: a complete walk-away/voluntary dismissal for DJI in a drone patent suit; institution of all challenged claims for petitioners NetApp/HPE in 13 IPRs against KOM Software; and Fed. Cir. appeals for Intuitive Surgical in IPRs brought by Auris. In the tracked VW–Spero matter, the underlying IPRs (e.g., IPR2022-01586, IPR2023-00197) yielded final written decisions invalidating Spero's claims, and the Federal Circuit dismissed Spero's appeals as moot in May 2026 — though VW was represented by Sterne Kessler at the appellate stage, so Schroeder's tracked role appears to be the district court phase.

PTAB / IPR experience. Substantial, on both sides of the board: lead petitioner work (NetApp/HPE's 13-IPR campaign), patent-owner defense (Promptu, FlatFrog, Intuitive Surgical), and the Spero IPR campaign tied to the tracked case. IPR practice is a core part of his profile, not an occasional add-on.

Bar / education. J.D., George Washington University Law School (2009, with highest honors); B.S. Computer Engineering, Purdue University (2005); admitted in California, D.C., and before the USPTO (Reg. No. 58,221).