Contact Information

Connect on Social

Admissions

New York

District of Columbia

Georgia

Admitted to practice before:

  • United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
  • Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia
  • United States Patent and Trademark Office

Credentials

  • J.D., American University Washington College of Law
    • Note and Comment Editor, International Law Review
    • Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic
    • Mock Trial Honors Society
  • B.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • National University of Singapore, Singapore, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Preston, the leader of the firm’s Patent Prosecution & Litigation Group, is a registered patent attorney who litigates intellectual property disputes throughout the US and abroad. Preston has represented clients in US District Court in numerous states, and before the US International Trade Commission (ITC) in Section 337 actions. Preston’s practice is focused primarily on patent, trademark, and trade secret litigation and covers a broad range of technology areas. His cases have involved technologies such as oil and gas well drilling and recovery, computer networks, blade servers, carpet tufting machines, laser printing, nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals, heat transfer labels, outdoor equipment, flooring products, roofing shingles, decorative lighting, personal hygiene products, digital cameras and catalytic heaters.  Preston has frequently represented companies and trade associations whose members have been targeted by non-practicing entities (NPEs). 

Preston has represented both petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review (IPR) and post grant review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the USPTO. In addition to his IP litigation work, Preston has experience representing clients in prosecution and licensing matters. He helps businesses evaluate and protect their intellectual property assets, devise strategies to obtain federal and state IP protection, develop licensing and enforcement policies, and assess potential infringement claims.

He is also involved in the firm’s pro bono activities and has represented clients through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. Preston is a co-author of the Georgia IP Litigation blog.

Honors and Awards

  • Chambers USA Ranked Lawyer, Intellectual Property, Georgia, 2023-Present
  • Recognized in Georgia Super Lawyers (Thompson Reuters) (2014-2023)

Publications

Experience

Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.

  • Acted as lead or backup counsel in over 30 PTAB proceedings, involving an array of technologies, and presented argument at multiple oral hearings.
  • Representing consumer products company in multiple federal district court actions involving patent, trademark, trade dress, and copyright claims.  Disputes have involved the use of Amazon.com’s new Patent Evaluation Express (APEX) proceedings, as well.
  • Represented international energy client in patent infringement action before Judge Albright in the Western District of Texas, resulting in a successful defense verdict.
  • Represented multinational computer technology company in patent litigation against non-practicing entity (NPE) in Northern District of Georgia, including taking multiple witnesses at jury with successful verdict.
  • Represented international oil and gas industry client in trade secret litigation against competitor in Texas federal court, achieving a favorable settlement on the eve of a preliminary injunction evidentiary hearing.
  • Represented multi-billion dollar building products company as first-chair in federal trade secret litigation, achieving a pre-trial, voluntary dismissal of a competitor’s claims.
  • Represented international oil and gas industry client in two separate patent infringement litigations in the Eastern District of Texas. Second-chaired the winning trial teams, obtaining two jury verdicts in our client’s favor that the asserted patents were invalid and not infringed. At a separate bench trial, the team also obtained cancellation of an “incontestable” trademark by showing that the mark was not just descriptive, but generic.
  • Represented oil and gas industry client in multiple parallel proceedings in U.S. district court, UK High Court, German infringement court, and before the USPTO.
  • Represented carpet industry client in patent litigation in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Successfully obtained summary judgment that our client’s patents were valid and infringed by a direct competitor.
  • Acting as first-chair litigator on behalf of a family-owned Asian bakery, obtained a preliminary injunction against a competitor who was infringing the client’s trademarks.
  • Represented a flooring industry client in defending against and defeating a preliminary injunction motion filed by a competitor, and later invalidating the asserted patents through IPR proceedings at the PTAB.
  • Represented multiple operating companies in defending against claims by non-practicing entities (NPEs), both in litigation and in letter-writing, pre-litigation disputes.

Profile insights