Rick McDermott is a partner in the Intellectual Property – Litigation Group. Rick concentrates his practice on complex intellectual property litigation including patent, trademark, copyright and other technology disputes. In addition, Rick counsels clients regarding obtaining, protecting, licensing and enforcing intellectual property. He also is experienced in the preparation and prosecution of patents in the electrical and electromechanical fields.

Rick has litigated a wide variety of patent, trademark and copyright cases through discovery, trial and appeal in numerous courts through the United States. He has litigated patent, trademark and copyright infringement actions in the United States District Courts in California, Texas, Virginia, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as well as in the International Trade Commission. His patent infringement cases have covered such subjects as ultrasound imaging equipment, refrigerants, cellular products and systems, digital imaging technology, direct broadcast satellite systems, electronic maintenance data collectors, plasma arc torches and electrodes, turbulence detection systems, gyratory compactor equipment for the asphalt industry, space dyeing machines, conveyor roller equipment, yarn dyeing equipment and food purification processes. He also has experience in the fields of carbon nanotubes, wireless transmission of digital information, system authentication and security, and electronic payment and pre-pay systems.

Rick is a frequent author and speaker regarding developments in intellectual property law. He is co-author of “An Overview of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Patent Decisions,” printed in Global Intellectual Property Asset Management Report, January 2008, and reprinted in North American Free Trade and Investment Report, February 2008. Rick also is co-author of “Protecting and Enforcing Copyright Rights,” Construction Executive, November 2005, “Sneaky Patents Get Hit,” National Law Journal, May 10, 2004, and “Protecting and Enforcing Your Copyright Rights, for the Architect and Builder,” Architectural Record, January 2004. Rick is a regular lecturer on intellectual property law at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Rick presented “Maximizing Your Intellectual Property in a Minimized Economy” to the Charlotte, NC Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel in April 2009. He was the moderator of “Ethics in a Technological Age” at the Inaugural Spring Symposium sponsored by the Charlotte School of Law, Charlotte Law Review and the Mecklenburg County Bar, in March 2008. Rick spoke on the 2006 E-Discovery Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure at the National Business Institute CLE program in December 2006, on “Document Retention Policies: Preparing the IP Litigation Battlefield” at the Alston & Bird IP Practice Group Annual CLE Program in September 2005, on “Calculating and Proving Patent Damages” at the CLE International Conference in March 2004 and on the topic of “Intellectual Property Mass Torts” at the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Conference in February 2004.

Rick is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. He has served as president of the National Board of Directors of the Marquette University Alumni Association, and currently is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Marquette University College of Engineering and also is president of the Marquette University Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors. The Marquette University Law School Alumni Association honored Rick in 2003 with the Howard B. Eisenberg Award (formerly the recent Alumnus of the Year Award) and in April 2009, the Marquette University Alumni Association honored Rick with the Spirit of Marquette Award. Rick is a member of the Young Leaders Council and the Youth Education Council of the United Way of the Carolinas and is a regular volunteer with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National MS Society named Rick the 2004 Volunteer of the Year. In 2005 and 2006, Rick chaired the Alston & Bird Charlotte office campaigns for the United Way of the Carolinas and the Arts & Science Council. Rick also is the chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Charlotte office of Alston & Bird and is the hiring partner for the Charlotte office of Alston & Bird. Rick also serves on the board of directors of Legal Services of the Southern Piedmont, which provides legal assistance in civil matters to low-income persons in the Charlotte area and in west-central North Carolina, and The Relatives, an emergency shelter in Charlotte, NC, for runaway, homeless and other youth in crisis.

Rick received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Marquette University in 1991 and his Juris Doctor Degree from Marquette University Law School in 1994. He is licensed to practice in Wisconsin and North Carolina and is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and many United States District Courts.