Phillip B. Philbin

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

Phillip B. Philbin — patent litigation summary

Focus areas. Philbin is a first-chair IP trial lawyer based in Dallas whose practice spans a broad technology range rather than a single vertical. His firm bios and case record point to virtual reality/gaming software, 3G/4G/5G cellular standard-essential patents, telecommunications, software and data-processing systems (electronic check imaging, call-detail records, website data management), medical devices (a patented surgical method for left-ventricle repair), and mechanical/industrial subject matter (fuel-injection valves, saw-tip chemistry, lamps, exercise equipment). He also has at least one ANDA/pharma invalidity-and-non-infringement matter. He teaches an advanced patent litigation course as an adjunct at SMU Dedman School of Law.

Side preference. The tracked docket data here is thin — two appearances, both plaintiff-side, at Winstead, with one flagged as lead counsel. That plaintiff skew is consistent with recent work such as representing ASUS Technology Licensing Inc. and Celerity IP, LLC as plaintiffs in a 4G/5G FRAND/SEP suit against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas, and with his 2020 laterals being recruited partly to add "plaintiff-side patent infringement capabilities." It should not be read as an NPE/PAE practice, however: his longer record includes substantial defense-side work, including a take-nothing judgment for a defendant in the DataTreasury electronic check-clearing litigation and a patent-exhaustion summary judgment dismissal affirmed by the Federal Circuit. His own firm bios describe representation of "clients on both sides," from large corporations to individual inventors. On the data available, he is best characterized as a patent-owner/enforcement-leaning trial lawyer who also defends operating companies, not as either a pure NPE prosecutor or a pure defense counsel.

Firm context. He is a shareholder at Winstead PC in Dallas and chairs the firm's Business Litigation Practice Group. Before Winstead he spent roughly 30 years (until 2020) at Haynes and Boone, then moved to Thompson & Knight with partners Jamie McDole and Michael Karson; Thompson & Knight subsequently combined with Holland & Knight. He is not in-house.

Notable matters and PTAB work. The most prominent verified result is the February 2017 Dallas federal jury verdict for ZeniMax Media and id Software against Oculus VR/Facebook in the virtual reality dispute — a $500 million verdict that VerdictSearch ranked as the largest U.S. jury verdict of 2017 — which Philbin co-led with Skadden's Anthony Sammi; the district court later reduced the award to $250 million. He also lists a Federal Circuit-affirmed patent-exhaustion dismissal involving electronic toll-collection patents (I could not verify the case name), a take-nothing defense judgment against DataTreasury in Marshall, Texas, a willful-infringement verdict with enhanced damages and injunction for cardiac-surgery inventors, and a smart-meter portfolio enforcement campaign. He does appear in PTAB proceedings, though the verified instance is as backup counsel: in the Bosch/Mercedes inter partes reviews of Westport Fuel Systems' injection-valve patents (IPR2023-00292 and IPR2023-00293), where the PTAB issued final written decisions in February 2025 confirming all challenged claims. That is a meaningful but not high-volume PTAB record.

Bar and education. Licensed in Texas since 1989; registered patent attorney (USPTO Reg. No. 35,979). J.D., Baylor University School of Law (1989); B.S., Trinity University (1986).

Sourcing note: the two tracked appearances in the provided case list are untitled and therefore not matched to specific matters; the case and outcome descriptions above come from Winstead, Haynes and Boone, and Thompson & Knight firm publications, PTAB filings, and court dockets. A reported Fifth Circuit clerkship could not be confirmed in a reliable source and is omitted.