Thomas W. Sankey

Thomas Sankey is the chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation division of Duane Morris’ Trial Practice Group and the managing partner of the firm’s Houston and Austin  offices. He is also a member of the firm’s Partners Board.

Mr. Sankey has extensive intellectual property and commercial litigation experience, focusing on patents, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, employer/employee disputes and the Lanham Act.

He has represented major telecommunications companies, online banking entities, inventors, electronic device companies, semiconductor companies, pharmaceuticals, banks, medical supply companies, medical R&D companies and others.

He also is board certified in Civil Trial Law by The Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has been inducted into the American Board Of Trial Advocates (A.B.O.T.A.)

Mr. Sankey has represented inventors of digital media portfolios in patent infringement actions brought against numerous infringers, resulting in the recovery of tens of millions of dollars in judgments and settlements. In addition, he has obtained judgments in favor of the patent owners of coin-discrimination technology, including a finding of willful infringement.

Mr. Sankey has represented a Japanese corporation in multiple infringement actions to enforce patents on DVD technology, resulting in the client obtaining tens of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments. He has also Litigated cases arising under the Architectural Work Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA).

Mr. Sankey has handled trade secret cases in the medical device industry, auto parts industry, and oil and gas industry, as well as others.  Mr. Sankey has handled appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court as well as Texas Appeals Courts and the Texas Supreme Court.

Mr. Sankey represents clients in trademark and copyright disputes both before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in various federal district courts. He has tried numerous misappropriation of trade secret cases in both federal and state courts.

Representative Matters:

• Defended a major telecommunications corporation in various patent infringement disputes throughout the U.S.
• Currently defending a medical device company in a patent infringement case.
• Currently defending a major telecommunications company in patent infringement actions.
• Brought an action in the Eastern District of Texas on behalf of a corporate patent holder against major cable and satellite TV providers for infringement of a patent directed to DVR technology, resulting in a multimillion-dollar settlement for the client.
• Defended major corporations in patent infringement actions involving encryption technology.
• Defended several pharmaceutical companies in false marking cases.

Admissions : Texas

Education:

• South Texas College of Law, J.D., 1986
• University of Tennessee, B.A., summa cum laude, 1983

Professional Activities:

• American Board Of Trial Advocates (A.B.O.T.A.)
• National Association of Distinguished Counsel
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Houston Bar Association
• American Association for Justice