John McBride
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
John McBride is a trial lawyer whom clients trust with their most complex patent and trade secret cases. He has represented some of the largest technology companies in the world in district court, before the International Trade Commission and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in connection with inter partes review proceedings.
Drawing on his experience in the courtroom and as a former software engineer, John also counsels clients on transactional and strategic intellectual property issues, offering a practical perspective in licensing negotiations, developing intellectual property assets and evaluating patent portfolios for acquisition or litigation.
John frequently works on patent matters that are international in scope and has collaborated with foreign counsel on lawsuits filed in the United Kingdom, Germany, and China. He has handled matters involving a wide range of technologies, including computer operating systems, video games, search engines, cloud services, smartphones, computer memory, networking, cellular communications (4G/LTE), WiFi (802.11), video compression (H.264/H.265), encryption, digital rights management, medical devices, cryptocurrency, financial software, insurance products, CNC manufacturing, power cabling, lasers, inventory management systems and virtual/augmented reality. He also has significant experience with cases involving standard-essential patents subject to fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing obligations.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, cum laude, Harvard Law School, 2007
BA, St. John's College, 1999
- Illinois State Bar
- Defended a major software company in global litigation involving 18 lawsuits. Worked with foreign counsel to obtain complete defense victories in Germany. Achieved favorable global settlement on the eve of first trial in the United States.
- In a patent infringement case involving automation of manufacturing processes, obtained summary judgment that all claims of the asserted patent claimed patent ineligible subject matter.
- Obtained favorable settlement for international electronics company, the plaintiff in global litigation involving dozens of patents related to cellular devices using the LTE standard.
- On behalf of a major video game company, achieved complete defense victory by invalidating patents related to network messaging (confirmed on appeal).
- Obtained victories before the ITC and in district court for a major software company in related matters involving dozens of patents and a breach of contract claim challenging demands for licensing fees for standard-essential patents, resulting in a seminal FRAND decision.
- Achieved "walk-away" dismissals of multiple cases for a major telecommunications company before answers to the complaints were filed.
- John received the Northern District of Illinois Award for Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service for his work as part of a team that obtained a settlement of over a quarter million dollars in a civil rights case filed against Cook County Jail personnel.