James L. Etheridge

James L. Etheridge is a prominent patent litigator and the founder of Etheridge Law Group, where he serves as managing partner. His practice is primarily focused on patent disputes, leveraging his background as a seasoned technical attorney. Before establishing Etheridge Law Group in 2008, he spent thirteen years as General Counsel and Vice President of Strategic Relations for a multinational Silicon Valley company, providing strategic advice on intellectual property and business matters.

Mr. Etheridge's patent litigation experience predominantly involves representing plaintiffs, as evidenced by his 11 tracked appearances exclusively on the plaintiff side, often for patent assertion entities (PAEs) such as Uniloc USA, Inc. and Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.. His cases frequently involve software, digital rights management, wireless messaging, communication systems, and networking/cloud computing technologies, as seen in disputes against major technology companies like Sony, Electronic Arts, McAfee, Ubisoft, Adobe, Twitter, and Emerson Electric.

Notable cases include his representation of Uniloc entities in significant patent infringement lawsuits. For instance, in Uniloc USA v. Microsoft Corp., the Federal Circuit reinstated a jury's infringement verdict for Uniloc USA. More recently, a multi-year wireless messaging patent dispute in Uniloc v. Sony concluded with a dismissal with prejudice by joint stipulation in February 2024. Additionally, in Uniloc USA, Inc., et al. v. LG Electronics USA, Inc., et al., the Federal Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal, holding the asserted claims directed to a patent-eligible improvement in computer functionality.

Mr. Etheridge also possesses substantial experience in post-grant proceedings. He is recognized for his active role in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), having personally handled over 185 IPRs and 50 appeals at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He was ranked as a 3rd Most Active Attorney representing patent owners in IPRs in the 2022 Patexia IPR Intelligence Report. His firm, Etheridge Law Group, is noted for handling over 250 IPRs and has achieved victories, including defeating multiple IPR petitions filed against WSOU Investments' patents by Salesforce and ZTE.

James L. Etheridge is admitted to practice in Texas. He earned his Juris Doctor from USC Gould School of Law in 1991, an MBA from Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business in 2006, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1981.