Natalie Alfaro Gonzales Discusses the Globalization of Patent Law at University of Texas CLE
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Chambers USA reports that Natalie “maintains a broad IP practice encompassing both contentious and non-contentious patent matters for clients from a wide range of industries, including life sciences and tech.”
“Natalie is an exceptional lawyer and a trusted adviser. She will go above and beyond for her clients – she is passionately engaged and very sharp.”
Natalie is a skilled trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex intellectual property disputes. She has extensive experience litigating patent, trade secret, and other IP cases in federal district courts across the country and handling adversarial proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Natalie’s courtroom success is enhanced by both her ability to connect with witnesses, judges, and juries, and the ease with which she simplifies complex technologies into clear, compelling narratives. As a registered patent attorney with an engineering background, Natalie offers comprehensive IP counsel beyond litigation, including pre-suit investigations, licensing arrangements, and IP agreements.
Natalie has been recognized by Chambers USA and Thomson Reuters for her excellence in intellectual property litigation. Before joining Yetter Coleman, she was a partner at Baker Botts, where she co-led its Energy Tech sector. Following law school, Natalie clerked for Chief Judge Leonard E. Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Natalie is also active in professional and community organizations. She is the immediate past president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, a member of the Texas Minority Counsel Program’s Steering Committee, a Trustee for the Foundation for Advancement of Diversity in IP Law, and a leader within ChIPs—a global community of women in tech, law, and policy. Natalie is a frequent speaker at legal seminars and for many years, taught “Procedure of Patent Litigation” at the University of Houston Law Center.
Natalie and her husband, Chris, have two children and are passionate about improving educational opportunities and outcomes for underserved communities.
Read MoreRepresentative Experience
Patent Infringement Cases
- MicroPairing Technologies LLC v. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas (Western District of Texas) – Defended Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas in a patent infringement case related to in-vehicle electronics systems. Achieved a number of wins throughout the case, including successfully achieving a transfer out of the Waco Division to the San Antonio Division, home to a large Toyota manufacturing facility. These wins ultimately led to successful resolution of the case.
- Convolve v. Dell, Inc. et al. (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended Dell in a patent trial related to vibration reduction in computer hard drives.
- Elbit Systems Land and C41 Ltd. V. Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended Hughes in a patent infringement trial involving satellite communications technologies.
- Berman v. DIRECTV, LLC and AT&T Services, Inc. (Northern District of Texas) – Defended AT&T and DIRECTV in a patent case involving overlay technologies. Successfully achieved a judgment of invalidity for indefiniteness at the Markman phase of the case, resulting in dismissal of all claims with prejudice.
- Blue Spike, LLC v. DISH Network Corporation et al. (District of Delaware) – Represented DISH in multi-patent case concerning licensing and encryption technologies. Successfully resolved case after challenging asserted claims in seven IPRs.
- Lamplight Licensing, LLC v. Eaton Corporation (Western District of Texas) – Defended Eaton in a patent case related to power supply systems.
- Textile Computer Systems, Inc. v. Frost Bank (Western District of Texas) – Defended Frost in patent infringement case related to payment technologies.
- Sprint v. Cable One, Mediacom, RCN, and Atlantic Broadband (District of Delaware & District of Kansas) – Defended cable companies in patent infringement cases related to ATM switching and communication technologies. Successfully resolved cases prior to trial.
- Bear Creek v. Mediacom (District of Delaware) – Defended Mediacom in a patent case concerning VoIP technologies.
- C-Cation Technologies v. Comcast Corporation, et al. (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended Cable One and Suddenlink in a patent case related to high-speed data systems.
- Createads v. Mediacom (District of Delaware) – Defended Mediacom in a patent case relating to website services technologies.
- GlobeTecTrust v. Atlantic Broadband, Cable One, Knology, Mediacom, RCN, and Suddenlink (District of Delaware) – Defended a number of cable companies in patent cases concerning optical and cable communication systems.
- EMG Technology, LLC v. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. et al. (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended TD Ameritrade in a patent case related to mobile device technologies.
- TQP Development, LLC v. Cable One, Inc. and TD Ameritrade (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended Cable One and TD Ameritrade in a patent infringement case related to encryption technologies.
- Keranos, LLC v. Analog Devices, Inc. (Eastern District of Texas) – Defended Toshiba in a patent case related to flash memory technology.
Trade Secret Cases
- Utex Industries, Inc. v. Troy E. Wiegand and Garner Denver (Southern District of Texas) – Represented plaintiff Utex in a patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference case between competitors involving specialized seals for fracturing pumps used in the oil and gas field. Utex asserted that Gardner Denver targeted Utex’s employees and product line, and in that effort misappropriated trade secrets, breached a contract, interfered with contractual rights, and engaged in illegal unfair competition. Utex also asserted patent infringement claims. In addition to representing Utex in the district court litigation, also defended Utex against an IPR at the PTAB challenging the validity of a related Utex patent. The district court litigation was favorably resolved on the eve of trial.
- STA Group v. Motorola Solutions, Inc. (Eastern District of Texas) – Represented defendant and counterclaim plaintiff Motorola Solutions, Inc. in a patent infringement case involving counterclaims of trade secret misappropriation.
Other Intellectual Property, False Advertising, and Unfair Competition Cases
- Transformer Protector Corporation v. William Kendrick and Sentry DS, Inc. (Southern District of Texas, Harris County Court) – Represented plaintiff Transformer Protector in a case involving claims of false advertising and breach of contract relating to transformer explosion protection equipment. The case was favorably resolved during trial after Transformer Protector presented its case-in-chief.
- EIG, Inc. v. Tudor Pickering (Southern District of Texas) – Defended Tudor Pickering in a copyright infringement case involving industry- wide energy publications.
- Rothenberg v. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Southern District of Texas) – Defended The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in a copyright infringement dispute.
United States Patent & Trademark Office Proceeding Experience
- Defended inter partes review proceeding challenging validity of patents related to seals for frack pumps.
- Challenged claims in inter partes review of patents concerning licensing and encryption technologies.
Prosecution, Counseling, and Transactional
- Represented and counseled numerous companies in the energy, power, software, and medical industries in connection with their intellectual property assets and various corporate transactions (IPOs, joint ventures, acquisitions, etc.)
- Preparation and prosecution of patents for a number of clients, including major oil field services, software, and medical device companies.
Presentations & Publications
- “Reading Between the (SFFA) Lines: DEI & Law Firms”, SOMOS Latina Lawyers Symposium CLE, April 2024
- Special Guest Speaker, 2024 Women in IP Law Global Networking Event, April 2024
- “Women in IP: Patents, Branding, and Privacy”, Texas Minority Counsel Program, October 2023
- Judicial Panel (Moderator), Houston Intellectual Property Law Association/UHLC IPIL Annual Institute, October 2023. October 2021, and September 2019
- “Filling the Gap: Successful Mentoring Relationships in Modern Work Spaces,” Houston Bar Association Professionalism Committee CLE, January 2023
- “Patent Venue in the Western District of Texas after July 2022,” CLE, October 2022
- “Litigation Funding for Patent Cases”, UT IP CLE, October 2022
- “Applying Antitrust Liability to Standard Essential Patent Conduct,” SBOT IP Section Advanced IP Law CLE, February 2022
- “Innovating for Sustainability and the Energy Transition,” ChIPs Global Summit, October 2021
- “IP Issues to Watch as the Ion Accelerates Houston’s Startup Ecosystem,” Association of Corporate Counsel Houston Annual Symposium, August 2021
- “Clean Energy Technology – Paving the Way for the Energy Transition,” Energy Transition Update, July 2021
- “Protecting Your Hydrogen Investment: Intellectual Property Issues”, Hydrogen Update, June 2021
- “EmpowerHER” Panel of Outstanding Women Leaders in Startup/VC Ecosystem, The ION, May 2021
- “Clean Energy Technology – Paving the Way for the Energy Transition,” Energy Update, Quarter 2, 2021
- “Implicit Bias in the Legal Profession,” HisBA CLE, April 2021
- “The Future of Corporate Venture Capital: Navigating Shifts in Accelerated Innovation,” SXSW, March 2021
- “Mentoring the Next Generation of Hispanic Attorneys,” HisBA CLE, January 2021
- “Strategic Career Management,” LCLD Alumni CLE, December 2020
- “Trade Secret Update,” Houston Intellectual Property Law Association/UHLC IPIL Annual Institute, October 2020
- “Remote to Reopening,” Plug and Play Tech Center, September 2020
- “Corporate Venture Capital and Innovation: Investing to Drive Efficiency,” Kayo Women’s Energy Summit, September 2020
- “Trends in Trade Secret Litigation,” Association of Corporate Counsel Houston Annual Symposium Webinar, August 2020
- “IP Agreements Every Startup Should Know About,” The ION, August 2020
- “Irreparable Harm in Patent Cases,” IPO Damages & Injunctions Committee, May 2020
- “The IP Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Startups,” Landslide, Volume 10, Number 6, July/August 2018
- “TC Heartland: The Supreme Court’s Game-Changing Decision that Will Widely Impact Where and How Patent Infringement Cases Will Be Tried in the Future,” Hispanic National Bar Association’s 2018 HNBA 9th Annual Corporate Counsel Conference, March 2018
- “Willfulness and Patent Opinions,” Houston Intellectual Property Law Association/UHLC IPIL Fall Institute, October 2017
- “Overview of Startup Accelerators and Incubators and Top Legal Issues Facing Startups,” HNBA Annual Convention, September 2017
- “Strategies for Avoiding Divided Infringement Issues in Prosecution,” CLE, October 2016
- “New Developments in IP Damages,” Texas Society of CPAs’ Forensic, Litigation and Valuation Services Committee Annual Conference, October 2016
- “Trademarks and the Constitution: Does the First Amendment Protect Disparaging Trademarks?,” Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Convention, September 2016
- “Requests for Rehearing After IPR Non-Institution Decisions,” PTAB Trials Report, October 2015
- “Commercial Prior Art for Software Patents,” SBOT Advanced IP Law Course, February 2013
- “Commercial Prior Art for Software Patents: When Claimed Methods Are ‘On Sale’,” Landslide, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2012
- “Eastern District of Texas at Forefront of Settlement Agreement Admissibility and Discoverability Issue,” Lexology, January 2011
- “Barring Validity Challenges Through No-Challenge Clauses and Consent Judgments: MedImmune’s Revival of the Lear Progeny,” Houston Law Review, 2008