Michael T. Morlock

Michael T. Morlock — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Michael T. Morlock is a partner in the Atlanta and Winston-Salem offices of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, where he has spent his entire patent career (earlier as associate, of counsel, and counsel). His practice is centered on patent litigation and strategic prosecution in the electronics and software industries, with recurring work in mobile-device, gaming/software, display, financial-services, and consumer-product technology. He holds a B.S. from Georgia Tech (2005) and worked as a research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute on electronic warfare and defense avionics before law school, and a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law (2008). He is admitted in North Carolina (2008), Georgia (2018), the Eastern District of Texas (2012), and before the USPTO (Reg. No. 62,245).

Morlock works both sides of the docket — his ten tracked appearances split 6 plaintiff-side / 4 defendant-side. He has led plaintiff-side enforcement for operating companies (GREE, adidas AG) and defended operating companies and patent owners against NPE and third-party challenges (DataTreasury v. FIS; Zodiac Pool Systems against Unified Patents; Samsung-related IPRs). His most prominent matter is the GREE, Inc. v. Supercell Oy campaign in the Eastern District of Texas (Judge Gilstrap): Morlock was a member of the Kilpatrick trial team that obtained two willful-infringement verdicts totaling more than $100 million (an $8.5 million verdict in September 2020 and a $92 million verdict in May 2021, the latter covering six patents asserted against "Clash of Clans," "Hay Day," and "Clash Royale"), while also defending GREE's patents in parallel PTAB proceedings. On the defense side he served as district-court counsel for FIS in DataTreasury's remote check-imaging suits (the related CBM invalidations were led by Finnegan) and appeared for Samsung entities and MRI, respectively, in the IPR appeals that the Federal Circuit resolved in Manufacturing Resources International v. Squires (Nos. 24-2224, 24-2228, 24-2300), affirming PTAB obviousness rulings in 2026.

PTAB/IPR work is a defining feature of his practice. Kilpatrick's profile identifies him as a member of its PTAB litigation group with "extensive experience in trials before the PTAB," and he has appeared as petitioner and patent-owner counsel in numerous IPRs/PGRs — including Motorola Mobility v. Arnouse (all claims invalidated as anticipated, 2014), Sipnet v. Straight Path IP (all challenged claims invalidated, 2014), Motorola Mobility v. Lumintec (IPR2022), Hisense v. Brightplus display-technology IPRs (IPR2023), the B/E Aerospace v. C&D Zodiac defense campaign (IPRs/PGR 2017–2022), and adidas footwear IPRs (IPR2015-00700; IPR2017-00125). Recognized by IAM Patent 1000 (2024–2025) and a North Carolina Super Lawyers "Rising Star" (2014–2021), his record runs from early AIA post-grant wins through the GREE verdicts and recent Federal Circuit appeals. One caveat: his exact role and outcome in the tracked Unified Patents v. Zodiac and DataTreasury v. FIS matters could not be fully verified through public sources, so those should be characterized by docket role only.