Paul J. Skiermont

Paul J. Skiermont is a highly experienced trial lawyer specializing in patent litigation and inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. His practice at Skiermont Derby LLP encompasses complex science and technology disputes across a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and life sciences, telecommunications, aerospace, speech recognition, natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. He also handles cases involving computer hardware and software, e-commerce, and medical devices.

Mr. Skiermont primarily represents patent owners and plaintiffs, with six of his eight tracked appearances being on the plaintiff side. However, he also has experience defending companies accused of patent infringement and in IPRs as counsel for patent owners and petitioners. Before co-founding Skiermont Derby LLP, which formed through a merger in 2016, Mr. Skiermont was a founding partner at Skiermont Puckett LLP and previously a partner at the nationally recognized litigation boutique Bartlit Beck LLP.

His notable cases include serving as lead trial counsel for IPA Technologies, Inc., securing a $242 million jury verdict against Microsoft for infringement related to its Cortana virtual assistant, a case that settled prior to post-trial briefing. He also acted as lead trial counsel for the patent owner in a case against Apple involving a natural language processing patent related to the Siri personal assistant, which settled favorably for $25 million. Earlier in his career, he prevailed in a multi-billion dollar patent infringement lawsuit for Pratt & Whitney concerning A380 aircraft engines and successfully defended Bayer in an antitrust class action related to the antibiotic Cipro. He has also been involved in cases invalidating pharma patents to enable generic drug entry.

Mr. Skiermont possesses substantial experience in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings, including inter partes reviews, having defended asserted patents from multiple IPR attacks and representing both patent owners and petitioners. He is admitted to practice in Texas and Illinois, and before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Eighth Circuits, and various U.S. District Courts. He earned his law degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and finished in the top 5% of his class.