Ramey

Ramey LLP: An Overview of a Prolific Plaintiff-Side Patent Litigation Boutique

Ramey LLP is an intellectual property law boutique headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 2011 by William P. Ramey III, the firm positions itself as a specialized practice started by attorneys with prior experience at larger law firms. It is a small firm, with the State Bar of Texas listing its size at two to five attorneys. While individual attorneys have received peer-based accolades, the firm is not ranked by AmLaw or Chambers and Partners, consistent with its boutique focus rather than a "BigLaw" scale.

The firm's patent litigation practice is defined by its exclusive and high-volume representation of patent holders on the plaintiff side. An analysis of 24 of the firm's tracked federal court appearances reveals it has solely represented plaintiffs, with no cases on the defense side. This focus is further highlighted by a Lex Machina report, noted by the firm, which identified Ramey LLP as the most active U.S. firm representing patent plaintiffs from 2021 to 2023. The firm primarily represents patent assertion entities (PAEs) in enforcement campaigns. Its clients from the provided case list include entities such as AML IP LLC, Portus Singapore PTE Ltd, and WirelessWerx IP LLC. The technologies litigated in these cases span software, e-commerce, and wireless communications systems.

Ramey LLP is known for filing a significant number of lawsuits on behalf of its clients, often against a wide array of large operating companies. For example, the firm has represented AML IP LLC in separate cases against defendants including Chick-fil-A, Marriott International, and AutoZone. It has also litigated on behalf of Portus Singapore against corporations like Whirlpool and Trane Technologies. The firm's aggressive litigation tactics have, at times, resulted in judicial scrutiny; public reports indicate that the firm and its managing partner have been sanctioned by federal courts for bad-faith litigation and related conduct.

The firm's practice also includes representing clients in post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The patent litigation practice is centrally led by its founder, William "Bill" P. Ramey III, who is listed as lead counsel in all 24 tracked cases and has been selected to the Super Lawyers list for Intellectual Property Litigation for multiple years.