Parker C. Folse, III

Parker C. Folse, III: Patent Litigator Profile

Parker C. Folse, III was a long-serving partner at Susman Godfrey LLP, where he founded the firm's Seattle office in 1995 after joining in Houston in 1984. He retired from the firm at the end of 2024. While his broader practice included complex commercial and antitrust litigation, he developed a significant focus on high-stakes patent infringement cases. His career reflects a primary focus on representing plaintiffs, a fact supported by the provided case list where he appears exclusively for the patent owner. Although his firm biography notes he represented both plaintiffs and defendants over his career, his more prominent, reported patent cases are on the plaintiff side.

The tracked cases highlight Folse's work for patent licensing entities, specifically Intellectual Ventures (IV). He served as lead counsel for IV in litigation against software and cybersecurity companies Symantec and Trend Micro, involving technologies like email filtering and computer virus screening. In Intellectual Ventures v. Symantec, Folse's team secured a $17 million jury verdict, although the judgment was later reversed on appeal at the Federal Circuit, which found the asserted patents invalid. The related litigation against Trend Micro also saw the patents invalidated. Folse has also litigated smartphone and streaming media patents, including securing a $31.5 million verdict for DataQuill against ZTE in 2015.

There is no significant record of Folse appearing in IPR or other PTAB proceedings. His practice was concentrated on district court litigation and subsequent Federal Circuit appeals.

Folse earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Texas and Washington, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals. Following his graduation, he clerked for Justice William Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court.