Michael J. Summersgill

I'll research this attorney before drafting the summary.

Let me verify his current firm and the tracked case.

Let me verify the Fish & Richardson affiliation and the specific tracked case.

Michael J. Summersgill — patent litigation practice summary

Specialty / focus. Summersgill's practice centers on high-stakes technology litigation, principally patent disputes, with a secondary emphasis on trade secret and general commercial litigation. Reported technology areas span semiconductors and wireless/transceiver technology (Intel), life sciences and diagnostics (Quest Diagnostics, Natera, Biora, Roche in the Ravgen NIPT litigation), agricultural equipment (AGCO/Precision Planting v. John Deere), automotive (Ford), software/networking (Akamai), and consumer electronics/GPU technology (NVIDIA, TP-Link). His tracked appearance in this dataset — DataServe Technologies LLC et al. v. General Motors LLC — is consistent with that pattern of defending large operating companies in patent suits.

Side preference. The tracked data shows a purely defense-side profile: 0 plaintiff, 1 defendant. Web-searchable practice descriptions reinforce this as a defense-oriented practice representing operating companies — Intel, Ford, Bank of America, Akamai, Quest Diagnostics, Natera, NVIDIA, AGCO, TP-Link — typically against NPE/PAE or competitor plaintiffs rather than prosecuting for patent owners.

Firm context (discrepancy noted). The authoritative case list attributes his DataServe v. General Motors appearance to Fish & Richardson, where he appears as additional counsel. Publicly available sources, however, describe him as a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Boston as of 2024–2025, where he has practiced since 1996 and served as a first-chair trial lawyer. I could not locate a source confirming a move to Fish & Richardson, so the tracked record and the public firm profiles cannot be fully reconciled from available sources. Treat the Fish & Richardson association as reflecting that single tracked appearance only.

Notable cases and outcomes. Reported results include: a defense win for AGCO/Precision Planting in a Delaware action in which John Deere asserted thirteen patents; a summary judgment/dismissal-with-prejudice win for Biora Therapeutics in the Ravgen NIPT litigation (contrasted with a $372M judgment against a similarly situated defendant); a summary judgment win for Akamai against MediaPointe (17 of 24 claims held indefinite, plus non-infringement); a favorable Intel resolution in a multi-patent wireless transceiver case after pre-trial motions and the first day of trial; and a defense verdict/trade secret counterclaim win for Ford in Eagle Harbor Holdings v. Ford. He also represented NVIDIA in related ITC, German, and W.D. Tex. actions.

PTAB / IPR experience. He appears to have substantial IPR experience. Pro hac vice declarations and PTAB orders confirm appearances in multiple IPRs, including Intel v. ParkerVision (IPR2020-01302, IPR2020-01265), a series of Precision Planting v. Deere IPRs (IPR2018/2019-0104x–0105x), and earlier CBM and IPR matters for Intel. His firm biography states he has argued numerous IPR petitions before the PTAB.

Bar / education. J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School (1996); B.A., summa cum laude, Political Science, Middlebury College (1992). Admitted in Massachusetts and before the Federal, First, Second, and Ninth Circuits and several district courts, per his PTAB pro hac vice declarations. He also served briefly as an Assistant District Attorney for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2002.

Note: All case outcomes above are drawn from firm-published descriptions and trade press (Life Sciences IP Review, World IP Review) and should be independently verified; the Fish & Richardson/WilmerHale firm discrepancy is unresolved from available sources.