Natalie Alfaro Gonzales

Practice Areas

Natalie Alfaro Gonzales practices in all areas of intellectual property law, including patent and trade secret litigation, patent prosecution, and IP and technology transactions.

Career

Natalie represents both patent owners and defendants in patent and trade secret litigation matters involving a variety of technologies and industries, including energy, life sciences, automotive, telecommunications, retail, financial services, e-commerce, and software. Her litigation experience also includes copyright infringement and Lanham Act actions, as well as contested matters in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including inter partes reviews. Natalie practices before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, and managing patent portfolios involving a wide array of technologies.

Natalie advises clients on the IP-related aspects of corporate and technology transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, joint development arrangements, licensing, contracting and employment arrangements. Natalie assists clients in crafting and negotiating agreements relating to IP ownership, IP transfers, confidentiality, software development and other commercial arrangements, including MSAs and SaaS agreements.

As a registered patent attorney with a full-service IP practice, Natalie works closely with her clients to provide a holistic approach to IP management, including protecting, enforcing, and defending IP rights.

Natalie co-leads the firm’s Houston partnerships with startup networks The Ion and the Rice Clean Energy Accelerator, and has experience helping emerging companies with their IP and transactional legal needs. Natalie is a member of the firm's Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Natalie is also deeply involved in her community, including serving as President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, on the Steering Committee for the Texas Minority Counsel Program, as a Trustee for the Foundation of Advancement of Diversity in IP Law, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

Following graduation from law school, Natalie served as a law clerk to the Honorable Leonard E. Davis of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Professional Memberships

State Bar of Texas; United States Patent and Trademark Office; United States District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas; Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center; Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, President; Foundation of Advancement of Diversity in IP Law, Trustee; Texas Minority Counsel Program, Steering Committee; Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, 2018 Fellow; Hispanic National Bar Association;

Intellectual Property Owner's Association; Houston Intellectual Property Law Association; Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, Member of Bench Bar Planning Committee;

Women Lawyers of the Eastern District of Texas, Advisory Board; Association of Former Law Clerks of the Eastern District of Texas; ChIP's Women in IP, Texas Chapter Leader and Global Summit Committee;

SOMOS Latina Lawyers; Minority IP Lawyers Association; Houston Bar Association

Publications

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https://www.bakerbotts.com/people/g/gonzales-natalie-alfaro?tab=thought-leadership

Personal

J.D., University of Houston Law Center 2009

magna cum laude

Articles Editor, Houston Law Review

Order of the Coif

Order of the Barons

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas 2006

Pi Tau Sigma

Terry Foundation Scholar