W. Sutton Ansley

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

W. Sutton Ansley (also docketed as "William Sutton Ansley"; USPTO Reg. No. 67,828) is a Washington, D.C.–based patent litigator whose practice spans Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission, district court patent litigation, and post-grant proceedings before the PTAB. His publicly described case mix is unusually broad on technology: medical devices, pharmaceuticals (insulin formulations and delivery devices), genomics and life sciences (droplet digital PCR, cell-free DNA), wind turbines and turbofan engines, oil and gas/drag-reducing chemicals and metallurgy, semiconductors, computer architecture, smartphones, cable set-top boxes and video streaming, software (speech recognition, data backup and recovery), and network communications/protocols. There is no indication in his published matters of a Wi-Fi/standard-essential-patent or NPE-defense specialty; his work reads as competitor-versus-competitor disputes over operating products.

Side preference. The tracked docket shows two appearances — one plaintiff-side and one defendant-side, both as lead counsel — so there is no single side. The broader public record confirms that balance, but not in the usual plaintiff/defendant sense: he predominantly represents operating companies asserting their own patents (Altria/NJOY against R.J. Reynolds and Juul) and also defends operating companies accused of infringement (e.g., an athletic apparel company sued on 13 wearable-tech patents; a semiconductor manufacturer in ITC actions filed both by and against it). He is not, on the available record, a regular plaintiffs'-bar or NPE/PAE prosecution lawyer.

Firm context and notable matters. He was at Weil, Gotshal & Manges for roughly a decade (counsel, then partner effective January 2024) and is now a partner in the Patent Litigation group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in D.C., where firm publications identify him in 2025-vintage matters. His most prominent tracked matter is Altria Client Services LLC v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., No. 1:20-cv-00472 (M.D.N.C.), where he "ran the trial" and argued key legal issues: a 2022 jury verdict of $95M+ in past damages for Altria on e-vapor pod patents, plus a 5.25% ongoing royalty (Jan. 2023); the Federal Circuit affirmed in December 2024, and the Supreme Court denied certiorari in October 2025. He also represented the NJOY/Altria side in the Juul vape litigation, including ITC Inv. No. 337-TA-1368 — where the ALJ (Dec. 2024) and the Commission (Mar. 2025) found the asserted NJOY patents valid but not infringed and domestic industry lacking, terminating the investigation without a violation; NJOY appealed and then voluntarily dismissed in July 2025. Other matters include Natera v. CareDx (D. Del., cell-free DNA) and Parse Biosciences v. 10x Genomics.

PTAB / IPR experience. He appears regularly before the PTAB, most often as patent owner's counsel — e.g., IPR2018-01675 (Mylan v. Sanofi-Aventis, insulin devices), IPR2016-01905 (Baker Hughes v. LiquidPower, drag-reducing chemicals), IPR2023-00955 (Parse v. 10x Genomics), IPR2024-00160/161 (Juul v. NJOY), and PTAB proceedings in which the Board upheld the validity of Altria's acquired Fuma patents against Juul's challenges. His bio also cites Federal Circuit and Markman oral argument experience.

Bar / education. J.D., University of Virginia School of Law (2010); B.S. in Physics-Engineering, Washington and Lee University (2007, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa); admitted in the District of Columbia and Texas per his firm profile (some third-party directories list Virginia instead — the discrepancy is unresolved in the sources reviewed).