LITIGATION - Key Persons
Mr. Cahoon is an AV rated attorney and licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer® since 2012. Mr. Cahoon is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the State Bar of Texas, the State Bar of New Mexico and the Colorado State Bar.
Miguel Hernandez is dedicated to protecting clients' ingenuity, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Miguel is a registered patent attorney before the USPTO with experience obtaining patents through ex parte examination and addressing validity issues in post-grant proceedings (having tried an IPR through the final written decision and filing a petition to institute a derivation proceeding). His trademark experience includes obtaining trademarks through ex parte proceedings and addressing validity issues in inter partes proceedings (trying cancelations, opposition, and concurrent use proceedings through final written decisions). Miguel's practice also includes patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation, serving as second chair in district court and the Federal Circuit.
Miguel leverages his keen attention to detail to efficiently obtain optimal results for his clients. While the field of intellectual property contains many nuances and is constantly evolving, clients can rely on Miguel to provide the best path to resolve their matters. Moreover, during his time in law school, Miguel's intellectual property and bankruptcy research experience provide clients with a unique resource to assess their intellectual property agreements with other parties.
Miguel also has versatile technical expertise from his chemical engineering background and previous role as an intellectual property analyst at Texas Tech University's Office of Research Commercialization. His technical expertise includes chemical processes and compositions, microfluidic devices, communications, mechanical devices, software, and medical devices. This technical versatility enables him to quickly understand a client's idea and promptly craft a plan to protect it.
Miguel earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law, where he was a member of the Administrative Law Journal. Before law school, he graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. Miguel is licensed to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Northern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, and District of Nebraska.
Mr. Ortega is a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association, and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Mr. Ortega earned his law degree from Baylor University School of Law. Prior to law school, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. His undergraduate studies also included associate of science degrees in robotics and fluid power systems, computer integrated manufacturing, and industrial engineering.
Mr. Gourley is a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He currently serves on the Board of the Dallas Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas, and he is admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Registered Patent Attorney and a Member
Jeff Degenfelder is a registered patent attorney and a member of the State Bar of Texas. His primary practice areas are intellectual property law and complex litigation. Mr. Degenfelder received his undergraduate education in history and mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University and the United States Naval Academy. He is a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot with extensive flight experience. He graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1996.
His legal practice is concentrated on intellectual property law, with emphasis on patent matters, trademark practice and intellectual property litigation. He has worked with clients in a variety of technology disciplines including electro-mechanical devices, manufacturing and food processing, aviation and transportation devices, medical devices, sporting goods, and petroleum drilling devices and applications. In connection with such representation, Mr. Degenfelder has prepared and prosecuted domestic and foreign patent applications, and has rendered opinions on patentability, validity, right-to-use and infringement of intellectual property. In addition, he has assisted foreign counsel in successfully prosecuting opposition proceedings before the European Patent office.
In addition to patent work, Mr. Degenfelder has had substantial experience in virtually all phases of trademark practice including the preparation of opinions on the availability and registrability of marks and the filing and prosecution of applications for registration at the state and federal level, as well as internationally. Mr. Degenfelder is experienced in handling a variety of trademark disputes, including opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and civil actions arising from trademark infringement, dilution, unfair competition, and piracy of Internet domains. He also provides counsel on a broad range of intellectual property issues including patent and trademark licensing and confidentiality agreements.
Mr. Degenfelder is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association. He coauthored Performance Specifications - Stress Fracture in the Government Contractor Defense? for the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 12th Annual Aviation/Insurance Symposium.
S. George Alfonso has been providing his unique brand of "Concierge Counsel" to clientele in the U.S. and around the world for over twenty-five years. He has represented clients in complex commercial litigation around the country as well as in arbitration (both U.S. and international). Mr. Alfonso has been admitted to practice law in numerous federal district courts and the U.S. Court of International Trade, as well as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has been retained as an international law expert in matters ranging from U.S./Texas corporate compliance and protocol to international divorce and child custody matters in relation to The Hague Treaty. Mr. Alfonso provides representation for U.S. and international clients regarding complex contract negotiations and drafting, as well as problem-solving (dispute resolution) in both pre-litigation and pre-arbitration scenarios, as well as those matters currently in litigation and arbitration. His practice compliments the firm's global intellectual property expertise.
Leadership
Mr. Alfonso served two consecutive terms as Chair of the Dallas Bar International Law Section ("ILS") and is currently Chair Emeritus of the Section. He is a long-standing member of the European-American Chamber of Commerce. Notably, Mr. Alfonso was one of twelve attorneys selected to the "Appellate Steering Committee" by a prominent nationally recognized law firm that led the "Joint Defense Group" in the substantial and multi-party litigation of Taylor et al. vs. Acxiom et al. (08-41083).
Sharon Hise is a trademark and franchise attorney dedicated to assisting clients with building, protecting, and enforcing their valuable brands. She earned her law degree from the University of North Texas at Dallas while working as a full-time trademark paralegal. Prior to law school, she graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Dallas with a bachelor's degree in Criminology.
Sharon has over ten years of paralegal experience, five of which have been focused exclusively on trademarks and copyrights. Throughout her career, she has assisted clients ranging in size from sole proprietors to multinational corporations. Sharon is well-versed in U.S. trademark law and is also a member of the International Trademark Association's Academic Committee.
Stephen Liu is a patent attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the State Bar of Texas. He practices in the area of intellectual property with an emphasis on prosecution of patents and trademarks, both foreign and domestic, and intellectual property portfolio management. He also provides opinions of counsel. Throughout his career, he has represented clients ranging in size from sole proprietors to multi-national corporations in variety of technology areas that include telecommunications, food processing, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, upstream oil and gas production, power conversion, image processing, fluid management, and mechanical/medical devices.
Mr. Liu earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he was a member of the International Law Review. Prior to law school, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where he also performed graduate-level research in the area of nerve regeneration. Recently, while working full-time, Mr. Liu obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, magna cum laude. He is an author or co-author for several publications including the International Law Review and Tissue Engineering, the pre-eminent biomedical journal dedicated to repair and regeneration of human tissue.
Ted Baroody's practice focuses on intellectual property disputes including patent litigation, Walker Process patent fraud antitrust litigation, trade secret litigation, trademark litigation and other Lanham Act claims, and copyright litigation. Ted has the knowledge and experience to act as lead counsel, co-counsel, or local counsel in the Eastern District of Texas.
He has also been lead counsel in six IPR (Inter Parties Review) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ted also has experience as lead counsel in appeals before the Federal Circuit and Fifth Circuit. In addition to his law degree, which he received from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas (1989), Ted also holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rice University in Houston (1986).
Ted is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (1999), as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is also licensed in the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western federal district courts in Texas, as well as, the Texas Supreme Court.
Ted has significant jury trial experience in patent litigation cases in both the Eastern District of Texas as well as the Northern District of Texas: he was lead trial counsel in a patent infringement suit involving oilfield perforation charges representing the plaintiff before the E.D. of Texas in Marshall in 2017; he participated in a jury trial in the E.D. of Texas (Tyler Division) representing the defendant manufacturer of data compression software and hardware against allegations of infringing multiple patents (plaintiff dismissed case after jury selection); and also in a 3-week jury trial in the E.D. of Texas (Sherman Division) representing the plaintiff concerning alleged infringement of two patents related to web sites and build-to-order; and in a jury trial in the N.D. of Texas (Dallas Division) representing the defendant concerning alleged infringement of utility and design patents for floor lamps.
Ted has also coordinated patent litigation in the courts of the United Kingdom and Germany. He has also participated in an Early Neutral Evaluation of a patent royalty dispute in the UK, and a related formal mediation conducted in London, England before a member of the Queen's Counsel.
Ted has taken well over 100 depositions including numerous experts in the fields of semiconductor fabrication, web site architecture, WAN optimization software, build-to-order, process control, accounting, hazardous waste chemistry, environmental remediation, transportation, patent prosecution, patent damages, and inequitable conduct. The deponents have been located coast-to-coast in the United States, as well as in Canada and Taiwan.
Ted has been involved in the State Bar of Texas, the Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Texas Bar Foundation, the Dallas Federalist Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Mr. Allen is a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the State Bar of Texas. In addition, Mr. Allen is licensed to practice before the Federal and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas, and several federal courts outside of Texas. Mr. Allen earned his law degree from Baylor University School of Law, where he was a member of the Baylor Law Review and served as president of his law school class.