James R. Batchelder

James R. Batchelder was a distinguished patent litigation attorney, specializing in high-stakes intellectual property disputes. Before his retirement in 2025, he was a partner and senior trial lawyer in Ropes & Gray's intellectual property litigation group. He also held significant leadership roles within the firm, serving as managing partner of the Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices and as a member of the firm's governing policy committee.

Batchelder's practice primarily focused on defending operating companies against patent infringement allegations, consistent with his tracked appearances as defendant's lead counsel. His extensive experience spanned a wide array of technologies, including electronic sale and transmission of media, digital rights management, biometric authentication, digital cameras, embedded servers, software for business applications, mesh networking, telecommunications, security systems, content delivery, and semiconductor fabrication techniques. His notable clients included major technology and commercial enterprises such as Apple, Samsung, HP, SAP, Emerson, Palo Alto Networks, Akamai, Huawei, LGE, and Target. His experience also included matters where clients he represented successfully asserted patents, such as securing a $23 million jury verdict for Collision Communications.

Batchelder was particularly active in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, where he was recognized as a "Legal Lion" by Law360. He notably secured two victories for Apple Inc. before the PTAB and handled more than a dozen PTAB actions for Emerson Electric Co. in a long-running dispute. His experience extended to district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and he achieved significant victories for clients, including a win at the U.S. Supreme Court for Emerson Electric related to mesh networking technology.

He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. Batchelder was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1988, and was also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and Fourth Circuit, among other federal district courts.