Michael G. Rhodes

Rhodes is one of the go-to guys for Facebook Inc. when it comes to defending against patent infringement claims – he’s already won a pair of major defense verdicts in his client’s favor.

Ranging from the social media giant to Oculus VR, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, eBay Inc. and NVIDIA Corp., Rhodes has taken on more than 70 patent cases.

In 2016, a Federal Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that Facebook didn’t infringe a data acquisition and search patent. Rhodes and his team convinced a judge in 2013 to shoot down claims of patent infringement over Facebook’s “Like” button along with other sharing services. Rembrandt Social Media, LP v. Facebook Inc., No.14-1812 (Fed. Cir. 2016).

He attributed part of the victory by presenting a minute-long animation made for the jury that depicts a photo sharing process step by step, including where the alleged infringement happened and ultimately how it’s an original process.

Because of that and other similar techniques, Rhodes refers to his role as an intellectual property litigator as more of a storyteller.

“You have to describe a story of some kind,” he said.

Rhodes added that he tries to shape stories as if he’s the dumbest person in the room; if he doesn’t understand it, no one will.

“What we do ultimately it’s just communication using all the storytelling devices; character development, tension.”

The biggest case currently on Rhodes’ plate is another Facebook matter set to go to trial next spring.

“The case involves allegations that Facebook misappropriated trade secrets relating to data centers — large facilities that house thousands of servers to handle the enormous processing loads that a company like Facebook generates,” he wrote in an email.

— Arin Mikailian