Patent litigation attorney
Melissa Richards Smith
115 tracked appearances — 27 plaintiff · 88 defendant.
Specialty & background
Melissa Richards Smith is a partner at Gillam & Smith, LLP, specializing in patent litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Her practice is heavily focused on defending large technology companies. Based on her case history, she frequently litigates matters involving software, wireless communications standards, consumer electronics, and semiconductors. As noted in a 2025 litigation report, Ms. Smith was the single most active attorney in the U.S. representing defendants in patent cases from 2022 to 2024, underscoring her role as sought-after local counsel in a high-volume patent venue.
The provided data shows Ms. Smith has appeared exclusively for defendants, serving as local counsel for major operating companies. Her clients include prominent technology corporations such as Samsung, Amazon, T-Mobile, and Adobe. She has defended these companies against patent assertion entities and other plaintiffs in numerous cases, including Topwire LLC v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS, Atlas Global Technologies LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc., and Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Adobe Systems Inc. While her firm handles cases for both plaintiffs and defendants, her practice is most notable for its extensive defense-side local counsel work.
Ms. Smith has spent her career at the Marshall, Texas-based firm Gillam & Smith. There is no public record of her regularly appearing as counsel in IPR or other PTAB proceedings, as her practice is centered on district court litigation.
Ms. Smith earned her J.D. from Baylor University School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1997.
Firms
Roles
- local counsel69
- Local Counsel29
- Counsel4
- Partner, Local Counsel3
- Partner1
- lead counsel1
- Lead Counsel1
- Lead Counsel, Local Counsel1
- of counsel1
- counsel1
- likely local counsel1
Cases (115)
- Δ defendantAlpha Modus, Corp. v. Lowe's Companies, Inc. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantAtlas Global Technologies LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantAutoConnect Holdings LLC v. Toyota Motor CorporationGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantBeatbot Technology (USA) Co. Ltd. et al. v. Zodiac Pool Systems LLCGillam & Smith · counsel
- Δ defendantBeatbot Technology USA Co Ltd. v. Zodiac Pool Systems LLCGillam & Smith · of counsel
- Δ defendantBishop Display Tech LLC v. BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.Gillam & Smith · Lead Counsel
- Δ defendantCellspin Soft, Inc. v. ByteDance Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffCredo Semiconductor Inc. et al. v. Molex, LLCGillam & Smith · Counsel
- Δ defendantDatacloud Technologies LLC v. Atlassian, Inc.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantDiStefano Website Innovations, LLC v. Bytedance Ltd et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantDynamic Mesh Networks, Inc. et al. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendanteDekka LLC v. 3Balls.com, Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantGeneral Video LLC v. Hewlett-Packard (HP)Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffGREE, Inc. v. Supercell OyKilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
- Δ defendantHeadwater Research LLC v. T-Mobile USA, Inc. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantIoT Innovations LLC v. Monitronics International, Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantLongitude Licensing Limited et al. v. BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMassively Broadband LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffMaxell Ltd. v. OO Electronics Co LTD et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMaxell Ltd. v. OO Electronics Co LTD et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffMaxell, Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMianyang BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. et al. v. Samsung Display Co., Ltd.Gillam & Smith · Lead Counsel, Local Counsel
- Δ defendantMimzi, LLC v. Hyundai Motor CompanyGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantMimzi, LLC v. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantNetwork-1 Technologies, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffNissan Motor Co., Ltd. v. Longhorn Automotive Group LLCGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantOne-E-Way, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantOrthosie Systems, LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantPersonal Audio LLC v. Apple Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantPhenix Longhorn, LLC v. Innolux CorporationGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantPiney Woods Mobility LLC v. Samsung ElectronicsGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantPointwise Ventures LLC v. Penney OpCo LLC d/b/a JCPenneyGillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffSamsung Electronics America Inc et al. v. Telcom Ventures LLCGillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffSamsung Electronics America Inc. et al. v. Network-1 Technologies, Inc.Gillam & Smith
- Δ defendantSamsung Electronics America Inc. v. Massively Broadband LLCGillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffSkysong Innovations, LLC v. Fortinet, Inc.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffSnapaid Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantSnapaid Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffStingray IP Solutions LLC v. Assa Abloy IP ABGillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffStingray IP Solutions LLC v. Vivion Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantTelcom Ventures LLC v. SamsungGillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantTelcom Ventures LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantTopwire LLC v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantUniloc USA, Inc. v. Adobe Systems Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantUntitled caseGillam & Smith · lead counsel
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- Δ defendantVB Assets LLC v. Success Foods Management Group LLCGillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantVB Assets, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantW&wsens Devices Inc. v. Not yet publicly availableGillam & Smith · Partner
- Δ defendantW&Wsens Devices Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Partner, Local Counsel
- Δ defendantWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. [Unknown Defendant]Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. HP Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- π plaintiffWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. HP Inc.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · local counsel
- Δ defendantWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- Δ defendantWilus Institute of Standards and Technology Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., LTD. et al.Gillam & Smith · Local Counsel
- π plaintiffZHUHAI COSMX BATTERY CO., LTD. v. Ningde Amperex Technology LimitedGillam & Smith · likely local counsel