Erik Fountain is a Principal in McKool Smith's Dallas office. Erik’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and patent licensing disputes. He has represented companies, as both plaintiffs and defendants, in a variety of fields, including software, cellular, oil field, automotive, and medical device. Erik has significant experience as a stand-up lawyer, having successfully briefed and argued a variety of procedural, discovery, evidentiary, and dispositive motions in venues across the country. He has tried multiple cases to verdict, where he has examined and cross- examined both fact and expert witnesses. Erik has also successfully litigated commercial and intellectual property disputes to final resolution in a variety of private arbitrations.
Erik has considerable experience in patent licensing disputes. In 2019, he was part of a trial team that prevailed in the first-ever breach-of-FRAND jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas. In that same venue, Erik defended a base-station manufacturer against the assertion of more than 20 patents claimed essential to the 4G/LTE wireless standard. Outside of the courtroom, Erik has advised clients as they negotiate licenses to standard-essential-patent portfolios in a variety of technical fields.
