John Christopher “J.C.” Rozendaal is a director and chair of Sterne Kessler's Trial & Appellate Practice Group. J.C. focuses his practice on representing clients in complex business and intellectual property litigation, principally in federal court, and he regularly tries patent-infringement cases to juries. He frequently briefs and argues cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and has represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court, both at the certiorari stage and on the merits.
J.C. has litigated patents on a wide variety of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, aseptic packaging systems, golf clubs, optical disc drives, medical ultrasound, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, LCD flat-panel displays, and streaming video technology.
A growing part of J.C.'s practice includes counseling generic pharmaceutical companies on matters related to generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, as well as assisting international companies as they navigate the U.S. patent system. A seasoned litigator, J.C. is particularly adept at explaining complicated technical concepts to juries and judges who have no background in science or technology. Since 2019, he has been named an "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property. In 2021, J.C. became a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, where membership is limited to just one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.
Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, J.C. served as a clerk for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, U.S. Supreme Court.
J.C. earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, Austin, with highest honors. He received a B.A. and M.A. from Oxford University, Brasenose College, with first-class honors and a B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, Plan II, with highest honors.
Education/Alumni:
J.D., The University of Texas School of Law, with highest honors
M.A., Oxford University Brasenose College, with first-class honors
B.A., The University of Texas at Austin, with highest honors
Last updated November 2021
