Two prominent trial lawyers have joined Patterson + Sheridan, the Houston-based intellectual property law boutique: John H. Barr, Jr., and John Allen “Jay” Yates. John Barr, formerly a partner at King & Spalding LLP, focuses his practice on intellectual property, business and energy litigation. Jay Yates, who was previously a partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP, is both a highly experienced intellectual property trial lawyer and a patent prosecution expert.

“We are delighted to have a trial lawyer of John Barr’s stature joining our firm,” says founding partner B. Todd Patterson. “The arrival of John Barr and Jay Yates means that the firm is well-positioned to handle complex litigation for our clients throughout the country. John and Jay represent our increasing focus on litigation as a major service offered by Patterson + Sheridan.”

John Barr is a sixth generation Texan who grew up in East Texas. He has engaged in nearly 30 trials, arbitrations and appeals over his more than two decade career in many different areas of the law. Barr is often hired as lead counsel in challenging patent cases in Texas. Barr and his team received national recognition when they won one of the first defense verdicts in a patent infringement matter in the Eastern District of Texas.

In a particularly significant energy case in West Virginia, Barr was lead counsel in one of the first hydraulic fracturing cases in the country, which his oilfield-service client won on summary judgment. In a product liability matter in Pennsylvania, Barr was able to obtain a directed verdict from the court in favor of his client, a product manufacturer. In appellate matters, John Barr has briefed and argued appeals in both state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in state appellate courts in Texas and Pennsylvania.

John Barr holds a Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Preeminent™ rating. Barr has been ranked as a leading lawyer in intellectual property by Chambers USA since 2010 and has also been recognized as a leading lawyer for energy litigation by The Legal 500. Since 2011, Barr has been named as one of the World’s Leading Patent Professionals by Intellectual Asset Management and has been recognized in the Houston Business Journal as one of the 20 Top IP Litigators in Houston.

Before joining King & Spalding as a partner, Barr was a partner at Bracewell LLP, where he was co-head of the IP Litigation practice. He obtained his B.A. with honors from Sewanee: The University of the South, and his law degree from Texas Tech University.

John Barr says, “Patterson + Sheridan is an innovative and growing firm with tremendous expertise in technology. It provides a great platform to grow our litigation practice and to offer our clients the flexibility and efficiencies of a focused boutique.”

As an intellectual property trial lawyer, Jay Yates has represented clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, with a particular focus on the energy, retail, Internet, e-commerce, banking and software industries. As a patent prosecutor, he has worked on a variety of matters from complex computer algorithms to simple mechanical devices. He has also secured trademarks, licensed intellectual property and coordinated and performed due diligence reviews for mergers, acquisitions and investment transactions.

“One of Jay’s great gifts,” comments Todd Patterson, “is his versatility. He has been involved with almost every possible area of the practice of intellectual property law and has been successful in all of them. We are very pleased that he is bringing his skill and experience to Patterson + Sheridan.”

Before working for Hogan Lovells, Yates spent nine years at Bracewell LLP, where he was elected partner in 2016. Jay Yates earned his B.A. in mathematics and history, magna cum laude, from Rice University and went on to obtain a B.S. in electrical engineering, cum laude, also from Rice. At the University of Cambridge in England, he earned a Master of Philosophy in Engineering degree, and then obtained his law degree with honors at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Nancy F. Atlas Intellectual Property Inn of Court.

About Patterson + Sheridan

Patterson + Sheridan LLP was recognized in 2018 as the largest intellectual property law firm in Houston. The firm has 80 attorneys located in 7 offices in Texas; California; New Jersey; North Carolina; and Japan. The firm celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. Additional information is available at www.pattersonsheridan.com.

Patterson + Sheridan offers a broad range of intellectual property services, including preparing and prosecuting patents, representing clients in litigation, dispute resolution, and post-grant proceedings and actions, and providing counseling and strategic insight to clients in a wide variety of industries. The firm has assisted companies in energy, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, clean technologies, communications technologies, complex software, consumer products, electronics and semiconductor technologies, financial technology and business methods, industrial products, internet-related technologies, medical devices and procedures, nanotechnology and optics.