James R. Batchelder

A seasoned veteran with almost 35 years of experience, Ropes & Gray LLP intellectual property litigation partner James R. Batchelder has successfully represented some of the world’s top technology companies, such as Apple, Samsung and TiVo, in high-stakes patent litigation cases in U.S. federal district courts and the International Trade Commission.

In 2022, he served as lead counsel for more than 17 clients, including Emerson Electric, Godo Kaisha IP Bridge, NetApp, Forescout Technologies, SAP, Teradyne and Collision Communications.

While representing Teradyne in a copyright infringement case, Batchelder and his team brought the suit against its competitor, Astronics, with additional claims relating to an Astonics campaign to steal customers from Teradyne by inducing breach of contract, interfering with contractual and business relationships and engaging in unfair competition. Teradyne Inc v. Astronics Test Systems Inc et al., 2-20-cv-02713 (C.D. Cal., filed Mar. 23, 2020).

His team successfully opposed multiple motions to dismiss filed by Astronics, and in June 2021, the court issued a claim construction order adopting Teradyne’s proposed constructions for all five disputed terms and rejecting Astronic’s arguments that certain claim terms were indefinite. A case trial is scheduled for December 2023.

“This case is significant to Teradyne because it seeks to put a stop to years of bad acts by its competitor, Astronics, that have allowed it to sell competing products at lower prices by stealing Teradyne’s technology to circumvent the significant cost of independent development,” Batchelder explained. “There’s relatively new authority in this space, so it leaves a lot of room for interesting issues to arise.”

Batchelder completed his law studies at UCLA School of Law in 1988 and credits his intellectual property professor as the influence that helped guide him toward the practice.

“I thought of it as a great opportunity to have a career where you kept learning every day,” Batchelder said. “The great thing about IP is every case presents a new technology and something to get up to speed on. And you tend to learn not from a textbook, but from inventors and people who are very dynamic and interested themselves, which for me, makes it a real joy to do every day.”

—Devon Belcher