Brett Watkins is of counsel in Quinn Emanuel's Houston office. Brett’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation with an emphasis on patent, trade secret, and unfair competition. He has represented clients in matters involving a variety of complex technologies, including computer hardware and software, wireless and wired communications, content delivery networks, integrated circuit design, digital audio coding, and automobile engine control systems.
Brett joined Quinn Emanuel in 2012 after practicing at a prominent intellectual property boutique in Washington, D.C. Brett has represented clients in cases in U.S. District Courts throughout the country, the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- Alibaba
- Barnes & Noble
- Daimler
- Furuno
- Motorola
- Qualcomm
- Sony
- Representing complainant Qualcomm in a patent-based International Trade Commission investigation against Apple.
- Won motions to transfer patent cases filed by Global Equity Management (SA) Pty. Ltd. against Alibaba.com, Inc., Alibaba Singapore E-Commerce Private Ltd., and Alibaba.com Hong Kong Ltd. and against Nimbus Development Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. in the Eastern District of Texas to the Norther District of California. Subsequently won determinations of invalidity in inter partes reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board with respect to all of the patent claims asserted in those actions.
- Representing Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC in defending claims of patent infringement by Blitzsafe Texas LLC in the Eastern District of Texas.
- Representing Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., and Daimler North America Corporation in defending claims of patent infringement by Stragent, LLC in the Eastern District of Texas.
- Represented complainant Sony in a patent-based International Trade Commission investigation against Fujifilm.
- Represented Google in defending a four patent case filed by Mobile Telecommunications Technologies, LLC in the Eastern District of Texas. The parties reached a favorable settlement after claim construction.
- Won motions to transfer patent case filed by Orbital Australia Pty Ltd. against Daimler AG, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. in the Eastern District of Virginia to the Eastern District of Michigan. Subsequently won determinations of invalidity in inter partes reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board with respect to patent claims asserted in that action.
- Represented complainant Furuno in a patent-based International Trade Commission investigation against Garmin, Navico, and Raymarine. The parties reached favorable settlements following discovery.
- Achieved voluntary dismissal with prejudice by plaintiff Rothschild Connected Devices, LLC of patent infringement claims asserted against Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC in the Eastern District of Texas.
- Represented declaratory judgment plaintiff Barnes & Noble against LSI Corporation in the Northern District of California. All claims of infringement were voluntarily dismissed by LSI after claim construction.
- Represented respondent Barnes & Noble in defending claims of patent infringement by Microsoft at the International Trade Commission. The parties reached a favorable settlement after the evidentiary hearing.
- Georgetown University Law Center
(J.D., 2006) - University of Missouri
(B.S., Computer Engineering and Computer Science, cum laude, 2003)
- The State Bar of Texas
- The District of Columbia Bar
- The State Bar of New York
- Registered to Practice Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States Court of Appeals:
- Federal Circuit
- United States District Court:
- Eastern District of Michigan
- Western District of Tennessee
- Eastern District of Texas
- Kenyon & Kenyon LLP:
- Associate, 2006-2012