Alan L. Whitehurst

Practice Areas

Alan is a principal and trial lawyer specializing in intellectual property and unfair competition cases. Alan has been recognized as one of the Leading Litigators in America, and one of the top practitioners before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Since joining McKool Smith in 2021, Alan has recovered more than $50M for Vervain and Greenthread, two companies founded by renowned inventor Dr. Mohan Rao. He has also achieved numerous victories on the defense side by obtaining early dismissals, prevailing at the Patent Office, and winning at the Federal Circuit. Alan has litigated cases throughout the country, and won cases at every stage of litigation, from motions to dismiss to trial.

A veteran of the “smartphone wars,” Alan has a deep understanding of 5G, LTE, WCDMA, CDMA, WiFi, speech coding, video compression, and other complex technologies. He has used his technical background to successfully litigate more than 30 telecom cases over the last two decades. Alan has also litigated numerous matters involving microprocessors, semiconductors, software, e-commerce, and the life sciences.

Alan recently defended SemaConnect in a lawsuit filed by ChargePoint involving electric vehicle charging stations. After obtaining a complete victory for SemaConnect in district court, he successfully argued the Federal Circuit appeal as well.

Alan regularly advises companies about patent portfolios, IP monetization, damages, and licensing. He has extensive experience leveraging patent portfolios to develop additional revenue for both large and small companies.

Alan is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He regularly advises clients about patent office procedures, and he has successfully argued scores of inter partes reviews (IPRs).

Alan is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Circuit Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association.

Education