Rick represents his clients in nearly every aspect of intellectual property law, including prosecution, litigation, licensing, and post-grant proceedings.
Prosecution
Patents: Rick leverages his training as an electrical engineering, his background in Navy cryptology, and his litigation expertise to prepare and prosecute patent applications in a wide range of technology fields, including: cryptocurrency, blockchain, machine learning, augmented reality, VTOL aircraft, drones, computer architecture, railroad technology, and control systems, among others. He also counsels his clients regarding their international intellectual property portfolios and serves as “outside” in-house IP counsel. His clients rely on him to draft Freedom-to-Operate and Non-Infringement opinions, as well as conduct and analyze patentability searches.
Trademarks: Rick leverages his creativity, as a former musician, and litigation experience to prepare and prosecute trademark applications before the USPTO. His trademark clients rely on him to conduct and analyze trademark and knock-out searches.
Copyright: Rick’s real-world work experience as a software coder and his musical background inform his filing of copyright registration applications and responding to copyright registration refusals from the U.S. Copyright Office.
Litigation
Bolstered by his prosecution expertise, Rick also represents both plaintiffs and defendants in the litigation of patents and trademarks in Federal Court. While in-house, he managed concurrent international patent litigation in several countries, including Germany, China, France, and Italy.
Licensing
Rick drafts and negotiates licenses and other agreements, such as patent license agreements, trademark license agreements, acquisition agreements, non-disclosure agreements, joint-development agreements, and common-interest agreements. He also represents clients in the entertainment industry, by drafting copyright assignment agreements and copyright license agreements, among others. Additionally, Rick applies his copyright knowledge to help clients legally and technically analyze Open Source Software (OSS) requirements and ensure compliance with various licenses, as well as establish OSS policies and procedures.
Post-Grant Procedures
Rick represents clients before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in Inter Partes Review, Reexamination, and Appeal proceedings. He also represents clients before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in Cancellation and Opposition proceedings.
Technical Background
As an electrical engineer, Rick designed and commercialized signal processing and communication systems at companies such as Raytheon and SAIC. He has served in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a cryptologic officer, after having been selected for Direct Commission as an enlisted cryptologic petty officer - prior to which he was enlisted Army.
Awards & Recognitions
Recognized as “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers rating service for 2023.
Recognized as a “Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers rating service for 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Named by IAM Magazine as IAM Strategy 300 - The World’s Leading IP Strategists for 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022.
Named by IAM Magazine as an IAM Strategy 300 Global Leader for 2022.
Voted as one of the Top Attorneys in Fort Worth by Fort Worth Magazine every year since 2017.
Voted as one of the Top Attorneys by 360 West Magazine every year since 2020.
Award for Outstanding Leadership Contribution, American Bar Association - Section of Intellectual Property Law.
Recipient of the Raytheon Achievement Award.
Recipient of the Klipsch Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship.
Publications & presentations
Survey of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies and their legal implications and considerations, differentiating between the two, Speaker, Fort Worth City Club “Lunch and Learn” meeting, 2022
Intellectual property concepts important to be aware in various contexts involving agricultural law. Discussion on the differences in these three protections, when each are used, and what must be done to qualify., Speaker, IP Protection for the Agricultural Industry, Ag Law in the Field Podcast, Episode #76, Law, Agriculture, 2020
A discussion of developments, tactics, challenges, and considerations lawyers and clients should consider when initiating or defending foreign enforcement campaigns., Speaker, Global Trends in Enforcement, University of Texas School of Law 24th Annual Advanced Patent Law Institute, Intellectual Property, 2019
Interactive panel exploring the different ways to secure legal protection for your creativity and innovation., Speaker, Protecting Creativity and Innovation, Global Entrepreneurship Week * FW TX, Entrepreneurs, 2019
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
