Heptig Law Group specializes in intellectual property law with an emphasis in patent, copyright, trademark, and unfair competition litigation. We also have significant experience in M&A, venture and other private capital raising, joint-venture formation, licensing and other transactional matters for technology driven businesses.
Protect your business
Intellectual property rights permeate almost every aspect of any business today, and often constitute the core assets of an enterprise. As a result, businesses must recognize, incubate, and develop their intellectual property assets. Once developed, those assets must be protected, and then used to enhance and grow the business and, if necessary, protect its position in the marketplace. This is what we do for our clients.
Grow and Sell your business
We also have considerable experience in assisting clients in capital raising, acquiring synergistic technologies and other businesses, and all forms of private exits.
J. Pat Heptig founded Heptig Law Group in 2007, specializing in patent, copyright, trademark, and unfair competition matters. Throughout his career, Mr. Heptig has represented and counseled a broad spectrum of clients, from entrepreneurs and small businesses to large public and privately held corporations. He has been litigation counsel in patent infringement cases involving video game technology, cellular telephone technology, telecommunications, data processing, fintech software, medical devices, laser sintering materials, dental materials and instruments, and oil well drilling technology, to name a few. He has also handled litigation matters involving trademark infringement, right of publicity, copyright infringement, unfair competition, and theft of trade secrets. He has extensive experience in federal courts and agencies throughout the United States.
Mr. Heptig’s practice also includes non-litigation matters, such as patent and trademark prosecution, technology licensing, transactional matters, including venture formations, asset sales and purchases, venture and other private capital raising, and outside-general counsel work.
Mr. Heptig is a native Texan, born and raised in Fort Worth. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1984, graduating with magna cum laude honors, with an emphasis on semiconductor technology. Mr. Heptig paid for college by working in the oil fields of West Texas. After college, Mr. Heptig worked as an engineer in the design and manufacturing of semiconductor integrated circuits, such as microprocessors and memory devices, at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Dallas Semiconductor.
After seeing how crucial intellectual property rights are to the high-tech industry, Mr. Heptig studied law at Columbia Law School in New York City. He graduated from Columbia Law School with his J.D. in 1995, with Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar honors. After law school, he immediately came back to Texas to join Vinson & Elkins, LLP in the Dallas. He later joined Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C., in Dallas, where he became a partner of the firm. In 2005, Mr. Heptig joined the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, as partner to form its Dallas intellectual property office.
After 12 years in the big law firms, Mr. Heptig formed his own intellectual property law firm in 2007. Since then, Mr. Heptig and his firm have been voted by his peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for the past 15 years (2007–2022), as one of the “Best Law Firms” in DFW area (for intellectual property law) for the last 7 years (2014-2021), and most recently as the Best Lawyers® 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” in Dallas-Fort Worth for Intellectual Property Litigation.
In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Heptig has experience in computer system design and computer software development. He has also developed and founded companies specializing in computer security products, data encryption technology, and intellectual property portfolio management.
EDUCATION
- Columbia University School of Law (J.D., with honors, 1995)
- Texas A&M University (B.S. Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, 1984)
HONORS AND AFFILIATIONS
- Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in Dallas-Fort Worth for Intellectual Property Litigation for 2022
- Recognized as one of Best Lawyers® “Best Lawyers in America” (2007–2022)
(Litigation - Intellectual Property) - Heptig Law Group has been recognized as one of Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms in America” (2014-2021)
(Nationally and Dallas–Fort Worth Area for in Trademark Law, Copyright Law, and Litigation - Intellectual Property) - Texas Bar Foundation
(Life Fellow)
