Jeffrey P. Armstrong

Jeffrey P. Armstrong is a patent litigation attorney with Akerman LLP, based in Chicago, where he serves as a Partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group. He joined the firm in March 2021. His practice encompasses a broad range of complex technologies, including communications, consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, automotive systems, clean technology, and medical devices. Mr. Armstrong's experience also includes patent prosecution at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), counseling on patent, trademark, trade secret, unfair competition, and copyright issues, and advising clients on licensing and transactions.

His litigation experience primarily involves defending operating companies. This is reflected in his tracked appearance as backup counsel for Sonos, Inc. in Unified Patents, LLC v. Sonos, Inc., and further supported by his firm's description of his work defending networked multimedia systems manufacturers, medical device companies, and telecommunications operators in district court litigation.

Mr. Armstrong has significant experience in post-grant proceedings, including ex parte reexaminations and inter partes reviews (IPRs) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Notably, his work includes representing a networked multimedia systems manufacturer (Sonos) in district court litigation and post-grant proceedings, successfully defending the validity of patents related to wireless media playback systems and secure wireless networking in ex parte reexamination proceedings. He was also involved in the broader Sonos v. Google patent dispute, where Sonos secured a $32.5 million jury verdict for infringement of multiroom speaker technology in 2023, and later prevailed on multiple patent claims asserted by Google.

Before his legal career, Mr. Armstrong held engineering, management, and consulting positions in the telecommunications industry with companies such as Nortel Networks, Corvis Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Defense, focusing on optical networks and communications technologies. He earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2007, where he was an Associate Editor for the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, and holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University (1996). He is a registered patent attorney with the USPTO.