Fred I. Williams’ practice focuses on complex litigation and counseling, with emphasis on intellectual property, antitrust, class action and white collar disputes. The majority of his practice is devoted to representing industry-leading companies in cases involving patent infringement, copyright, trade secret, competition, trade regulation and consumer protection claims.
Mr. Williams represents plaintiffs and defendants in preparing and trying cases to judges and juries across the country. He has extensive experience in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and in representing technology companies and financial institutions nationwide. He has represented clients in diverse proceedings in 20 different states, as well as in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Mr. Williams has twice been honored to receive Akin Gump’s Partner Recognition Award for outstanding contributions to the mentoring and professional development of the Firm’s associates and counsel. In 2010, he received the Lester L. Hewitt Award for professionalism and selfless dedication to the Firm’s Intellectual Property practice.
Mr. Williams’ experience includes—
Patent Litigation
- defending the world’s largest telecommunications companies in litigation regarding the invention of smartphone technology (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a major supplier of laptop computers in multiple cases involving WiFi, WiMax, and Bluetooth® wireless technologies (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending the world’s leading Internet company against claims relating to mobile advertising technology (Eastern District of Texas/Northern District of California)
- defending a leading computer maker in litigation relating to the invention of the computer touchscreen (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a leading telecommunications carrier in patent litigation relating to Internet access technology (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending the world’s leading television manufacturer in litigation over forced air heat sink devices (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a laptop manufacturer in litigation regarding ergonomic hardware features (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a computer company in a case involving power management technology (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a technology company against claims relating to wireless server systems (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending the world’s leading data networking company against claims of patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, employee raiding and breach of contract (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a major computer company against claims relating to the incorporation of wireless technologies in laptop computers (Eastern District of Texas/Eastern District of Virginia/Southern District of California)
- defending a personal computer company against infringement claims relating to computer security technology (Southern District of Florida/Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a leading smartphone manufacturer in litigation relating to the invention of camera phone technology (Western District of Virginia)
- defending an international manufacturer of medical devices against infringement claims relating to angioplasty catheters (Western District of Texas)
- defending an international dental ceramics company in patent infringement litigation relating to alkali silicate glass technology (Western District of New York)
- defending a major medical device manufacturer against claims of patent infringement, correction of inventorship, trade secret misappropriation, fraud, breach of contract and deceptive trade practices; prosecuted counterclaims for breach of contract, tortious interference and misappropriation of trade secrets (Western District of Tennessee)
- prosecuting infringement claims relating to balloon catheter technology (Northern District of California)
- prosecuting infringement claims relating to personal computer power management and startup technologies (Northern District of California)
- prosecuting declaratory judgment claims relating to wireless technology patents (Northern District of California)
- defending an automotive manufacturer against patent infringement claims relating to axle suspension systems (Northern District of Illinois)
Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection
- defending national financial institutions in jury and bench trials throughout Texas
- defending one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies in multi-district consumer class action litigation relating to 911 call-processing technology (Northern District of Illinois)
- representing a leading networking equipment company as plaintiff in multi-billion-dollar litigation and arbitration involving claims of monopolization, conspiracy in restraint of trade, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies in national mass tort and consumer class actions (Eastern District of Pennsylvania, District of Maryland, District of Columbia)
- representing a leading consumer lending institution in federal class actions alleging violations of consumer protection laws (Western and Southern Districts of Texas)
- defending a manufacturer in criminal and multidistrict class action antitrust litigation concerning alleged price-fixing in the commercial explosives industry (District of Utah)
- representing a large national financial holding company and its banking subsidiary in significant contract litigation against the United States (U.S. Court of Federal Claims)
- defending a major financial holding company and its insurance subsidiaries in national class actions alleging deceptive sales practices (nationwide)
- representing a name-brand pharmaceutical company in Lanham Act false advertising litigation against generic competitors (District of Minnesota)
Other Significant Representations
- representing a plaintiff telecommunications equipment company in prosecuting breach of contract and intentional interference claims (Travis County, Texas)
- defending a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in breach of contract and bankruptcy-related litigation (Southern District of Texas)
- representing a plaintiff telecommunications company in litigation involving allegations of fraud, perjury, embezzlement and fraudulent transfer (Collin County, Texas)
- representing a major energy company in federal grand jury investigation and related civil litigation relating to natural gas transactions (Eastern District of Texas)
- defending a leading military contractor in criminal prosecution based on allegations of fraud, interference with foreign military sales contract, false statements and conspiracy (Southern District of Texas)
- representing (as court-appointed counsel) criminal defendants and civil rights plaintiffs in pretrial and trial proceedings in state and federal courts.
At Brigham Young University, Mr. Williams was the Glenn Larson Farr Scholar, articles editor of the Brigham Young University Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before all Texas federal courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 3rd, 5th, 11th and Federal Circuits. He is a member of the American Bar Association (intellectual property and antitrust sections) and the Austin Bar Association; a founding life fellow of the Austin Bar Foundation; a life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation; past chair of the Austin Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society; and vice president of the Austin Seminole Club.