James L. Davis, Jr.

James L. Davis, Jr. is a prominent patent litigation partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, where he serves in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the Silicon Valley office. He joined Sheppard Mullin as part of a 21-attorney intellectual property group from Ropes & Gray LLP in September 2025. His practice focuses on high-stakes intellectual property disputes in U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Federal Circuit, and USPTO proceedings.

Mr. Davis's practice spans a broad range of technologies, including semiconductors, analog circuits, wireless technology (including standard essential patents or SEPs), consumer electronics, network security, and medical devices. He represents both intellectual property owners and challengers. The sole tracked case, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Headwater Research LLC, saw him serve as lead counsel on the plaintiff side. However, his firm profile indicates extensive experience defending clients against infringement allegations and challenging patents, alongside enforcing intellectual property rights.

He is recognized as one of the most active PTAB practitioners in the country, having litigated over 250 post-grant proceedings, including inter partes reviews (IPRs) and ex parte reexaminations. Notably, he led the strategy that resulted in the Federal Circuit's precedential decision concerning obviousness-type double patenting in In re Cellect. His significant case experience includes securing a favorable resolution in the Eastern District of Texas for a Korean consumer electronics company following dispositive motions and IPR institutions against alleged cellular SEPs. He also successfully defended a leading American retail corporation by invalidating over 100 asserted claims at the PTAB and winning reversal and vacatur at the Federal Circuit, leading to a dismissal with prejudice. Additionally, he achieved findings of non-infringement and invalidity in a four-patent ITC investigation related to mesh networks.

Mr. Davis earned his B.S. degree, with honors, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois. He is admitted to practice in California.