Samuel F. Baxter

Samuel F. Baxter is a distinguished patent litigator, recently retired as a Principal from McKool Smith in May 2026, where he joined in 1995 after serving as a Texas state district judge and district attorney. He is particularly known for his extensive trial work in the Eastern District of Texas.

Throughout his career, Mr. Baxter handled a diverse range of technology areas. His case experience includes patents related to wireless telecommunications (4G LTE, GSM, UTMS standards), mobile email synchronization, DVR technology, display technology, hybrid car engines, computer memory technology, and software features. While his tracked appearances include both plaintiff and defendant roles, his practice was notably strong on the plaintiff side, where he frequently represented patent owners and secured numerous substantial jury verdicts.

Mr. Baxter achieved significant outcomes in several high-profile cases. He secured multi-million-dollar patent infringement verdicts for clients such as PanOptis against Apple concerning 4G LTE technology, Vocalife against Amazon, Paice against Toyota regarding hybrid car engines, and TiVo against EchoStar for DVR technology. He also represented Ericsson in patent disputes against Samsung involving wireless telecommunications standards, which settled confidentially. In one tracked case, Phenix Longhorn, LLC v. Innolux Corporation, where he served as lead counsel for the plaintiff involving display technology, the case concluded via voluntary dismissal in early 2026. Although his direct involvement in Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings is not extensively detailed, his firm, McKool Smith, lists IPR/PTAB disputes as a practice area and has been recognized for its activity representing patent owners at the PTAB. Parallel IPR proceedings were initiated in connection with the Phenix Longhorn case, with the PTAB declining to institute review in one instance due to the ongoing district court litigation.

Mr. Baxter earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1970, following a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1967. He is admitted to practice in the State of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First and Fifth Circuits, and multiple U.S. District Courts within Texas.