Richard W. “Trey” H. III

Richard W. Hess is a partner in the Houston office of Susman Godfrey, where he handles a wide array of complex civil litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. His practice is not confined to a single technology area, but encompasses general commercial disputes, class actions, and intellectual property. In the patent sphere, he has represented clients in the software sector, as demonstrated by his work for Intellectual Ventures.

The authoritative case list tracks Mr. Hess’s work on the plaintiff side, representing patent assertion entity Intellectual Ventures I LLC as part of the trial team against Symantec Corp. This aligns with his firm biography, which notes his representation of both plaintiffs and defendants in various business disputes. His role in the Intellectual Ventures case involved asserting software patents related to antivirus and anti-malware security technologies against an operating company.

Mr. Hess has been a partner at Susman Godfrey for his entire tracked patent litigation career and previously served as the firm's General Counsel. The case of Intellectual Ventures v. Symantec is his most prominent tracked matter. In that litigation, the Susman Godfrey trial team secured a $17 million jury verdict finding Symantec had infringed two patents. However, the judgment was ultimately reversed in post-trial proceedings and on appeal to the Federal Circuit, which held the asserted software patent claims invalid as being directed to an abstract idea.

Mr. Hess is admitted to practice in Texas, as well as numerous federal district and appellate courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Information regarding his experience in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is not readily available in public sources.