Joseph James Raffetto

Specialty / focus. Joseph J. Raffetto is a partner in Hogan Lovells US LLP's Intellectual Property, Media & Technology group in Washington, D.C., focused on high-tech and automotive patent litigation — standard essential patents (SEPs)/FRAND, connected cars, autonomous driving, electrification, and mobility, plus trade secrets and IP transactions. A trained engineer (B.E. computer engineering and B.S. mathematics, Vanderbilt, 2004; J.D., Washington & Lee, magna cum laude, 2007), he is admitted in Virginia (2007) and D.C. (2008) and registered with the USPTO (Reg. No. 66,218). Public records show him at Hogan Lovells since at least 2011 (associate, later partner), with no prior firm identified.

Side preference. The tracked case list shows one appearance, on the plaintiff side: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC v. Yechezkal Evan Spero, where Raffetto represented Mercedes-Benz. That caption reflects Mercedes as the plaintiff/challenger in its coordinated IPR and declaratory-judgment campaign against Spero's lighting patents. His broader, verifiable docket footprint is predominantly defense-side for operating companies — he appeared for Mercedes-Benz as defendant/appellee in Spero v. Mercedes-Benz USA (Fed. Cir. Nos. 25-1470, 25-1472, 25-1473) and as petitioner in Mercedes' IPRs. He has also appeared plaintiff-side for the NPE Neo Wireless in Neo Wireless LLC v. Mercedes-Benz USA (E.D. Mich., MDL 3034). The practice is thus dual-side but weighted toward protecting automotive/tech operating companies.

Notable matters and outcomes. In the Spero dispute, Raffetto helped Mercedes invalidate claims of three adaptive-headlight/illumination patents across roughly a dozen IPRs (including IPR2023-01026, -01027, -01034, -01039, -01040); the PTAB found challenged claims unpatentable, and the Federal Circuit affirmed by Rule 36 judgment on May 14, 2026. In Neo Wireless v. Mercedes-Benz, a six-patent LTE/connected-car suit within MDL 3034, the parties settled in June 2023 and the case was dismissed with prejudice. Other verifiable IPR work includes lead petitioner counsel in ARRI v. Rotolight (IPR2021-01498) and participation in Mercedes-Benz v. Daedalus Prime (IPR2023-01333) and Astera v. ElectraLED (IPR2025-01022).

PTAB / IPR experience. Raffetto appears regularly before the PTAB, typically as petitioner's counsel for operating companies challenging SEP-adjacent and automotive technology patents, and his firm bio notes defense work in the first-ever instituted post-grant review. He also co-authors SEP/FRAND commentary (e.g., an ASUS/InterDigital FRAND decision for Concurrences, 2020). Recognition is limited to peer listings (Super Lawyers Rising Star 2014–2021; Legal 500 US 2020); no verdict or published merits opinion naming him individually was identified beyond the Rule 36 affirmance above.