Michael Robert Rueckheim

I'll research this attorney's professional background before drafting the summary.

Let me gather details on specific outcomes and PTAB experience.

Let me verify the Netlist v. Samsung outcome and PTAB record.

Professional Summary — Michael ("Mike") Robert Rueckheim

Specialty / focus areas. Rueckheim's practice centers on complex patent litigation for technology companies, with a technical background in semiconductors and chemistry. He advises clients in the semiconductor, memory, telecom, networking, virtualization, medical device, and consumer electronics spaces, and his firm bio flags a particular focus on standards-based/standard-essential patent issues (e.g., JEDEC memory standards, Bluetooth). Beyond patent infringement, he handles PTAB post-grant proceedings, ITC actions, and related trade secret matters; his earlier experience includes life sciences/pharma and medical device matters. Before law school he spent roughly ten years in industry as a semiconductor process technician at Motorola and as an analytical research chemist.

Side preference. He is predominantly a defense-side litigator for operating companies, consistent with the tracked data (0 plaintiff-side, 1 defendant-side appearance). The bulk of his reported representations are for multinational technology defendants — Micron, Microsoft, Samsung, HP, Dell, and similar clients — including defending against NPE/PAE plaintiffs. He has occasionally represented plaintiffs (e.g., MX3 Diagnostics in a declaratory judgment action), so his practice is not exclusively one-sided, but the emphasis is clearly on defending technology companies.

Firm context. He is currently a partner at King & Spalding in the San Francisco office, joining in March 2026 in the Business Litigation / Trial and Global Disputes practice. He arrived from Winston & Strawn, where he was a partner and chaired the Silicon Valley office's litigation practice (he had followed Kathi Vidal to Winston from Fish & Richardson). Earlier in his career he practiced patent litigation at nationally ranked firms in New York and Texas.

Notable cases and outcomes. His most prominent tracked matter is Netlist, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (E.D. Tex., Judge Gilstrap), where he represents the Samsung defendants; the case has generated an extensive docket of dispositive motions, IPR-related stay briefing, and a Federal Circuit appeal, though I could not verify a final outcome from reliable public sources and the verdict record is sealed. He also represented Micron in the parallel Netlist memory litigation and in related IPRs and appeals; Microsoft in Exafer Ltd. v. Microsoft (W.D. Tex.), where the team won a rare summary judgment of no damages after excluding the plaintiff's damages expert (Am Law "Litigator of the Week," Sept. 2024); DoorDash in Fall Line Patents, LLC v. DoorDash (E.D. Tex., July 2026), a complete defense verdict after plaintiff's claimed damages were cut from ~$1.5B to ~$38M; and Micron/HP/Dell in Unification Technologies LLC v. Micron, where asserted claims were invalidated in IPR and affirmed on appeal.

PTAB / IPR experience. Rueckheim appears regularly in PTAB post-grant proceedings, including numerous IPR matters (e.g., Microsoft v. Lemko, IPR2023-00529) and Federal Circuit appeals defending PTAB wins; he was recognized in the top 100 attorneys in PTAB litigation by Patexia (2025).

Bar / education. B.S. in biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin; J.D., magna cum laude, Washington University School of Law; law clerk to the Hon. Rodney W. Sippel (E.D. Mo.); admitted in California, Texas, and New York; member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the California Lawyers Association's IP Law Executive Committee.

Note: The above is drawn from King & Spalding and Winston & Strawn firm materials, court dockets, and legal press. Some matter outcomes, particularly in the Netlist–Samsung litigation, could not be independently verified and are described only as reflected in public filings.