Attorney Advertising. This profile is independent editorial content produced by Awesome Attorneys and is not a paid placement. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship. See our Methodology and Publisher Disclosure below.

Pizarro Allen: The San Antonio IP Firm Co-Founded by a Lockheed Martin Aerospace Engineer Turned Patent Attorney

Court Allen spent his early career as an aerospace engineer at General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin before becoming a patent attorney — and he co-founded Pizarro Allen with Derrick Pizarro, a mechanical engineer turned IP litigator who has co-authored the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Federal Circuit Yearbook on patent law developments alongside veteran San Antonio patent attorney Gale R. Peterson.

Origin and Background

Pizarro Allen PC is located at 270 North Loop 1604 East, Suite 300, San Antonio, TX 78232, confirmed through the firm’s own website and its San Antonio North Chamber of Commerce listing, with appointment-based satellite availability in Austin, Corpus Christi, and Bryan-College Station. Shareholder Derrick A. Pizarro earned his Juris Doctor from Baylor University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is admitted before the USPTO, the Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern Districts of Texas, and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal Circuit and Fifth Circuit. Shareholder Court Allen earned his Juris Doctor from Baylor University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and worked as an aerospace engineer at General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin before his legal career; he practiced at a large multidisciplinary law firm before co-founding Pizarro Allen.

Practice Concentration

The firm covers patent and trademark prosecution and maintenance, IP and technology contract drafting and negotiation, intellectual property portfolio development and commercialization, due diligence and deal negotiation, and substantive patent enforcement strategy, serving clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 enterprises across biotechnology, aerospace, software, and advanced manufacturing. Both named shareholders are registered patent attorneys with engineering backgrounds rather than litigators without technical training. See this San Antonio Intellectual Property directory for how this engineer-founded prosecution and transactional boutique compares to litigation-focused firms also serving Bexar County.

Notable Work / Track Record

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published table of settlement or verdict figures for Pizarro Allen, consistent with a practice weighted toward prosecution, portfolio strategy, and transactional IP work rather than litigation. What is independently verifiable is Derrick Pizarro’s sustained publication and speaking record, including co-authoring the Practicing Law Institute’s “Federal Circuit Yearbook: Patent Law Development in the Federal Circuit” alongside veteran San Antonio patent litigator Gale R. Peterson for multiple consecutive years, and repeated speaking engagements at the State Bar of Texas’s Annual Advanced Intellectual Property Law Course going back to at least 2012.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published set of itemized, attributed client reviews for Pizarro Allen across major consumer review platforms, which is typical for a transactional and prosecution-focused IP boutique serving business clients rather than individual consumers.

Beyond the Courtroom

Derrick Pizarro has been quoted in the San Antonio Business Journal explaining Texas’s trade secrets law for local businesses and on actively managing firm intellectual property, and has presented to the San Antonio North Chamber of Commerce. Court Allen participates in the San Antonio Bar Association’s Community Justice Program and is a member of the Federalist Society and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Recognition for This San Antonio IP Firm

Awesome Attorneys did not identify Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification for either named shareholder and does not apply “specialist” language on that basis — and separately notes that TBLS does not currently certify a distinct intellectual property specialty in Texas at all. Derrick Pizarro has been selected to Texas Super Lawyers in Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation, and both shareholders hold USPTO patent attorney registration, a federal credential not every general-practice attorney advertising IP services holds.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Trade secret matters handled by this firm, a topic Pizarro has specifically written and spoken about for local businesses, are governed by the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which requires reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy and independent economic value from non-disclosure to qualify for protection. Patent and trademark prosecution proceed under federal law before the USPTO rather than Texas state law, making USPTO registration — held by both named shareholders — the threshold qualification for that core practice area. None of this is legal advice; a specific patent, trademark, trade secret, or technology transaction matter should be evaluated by a licensed attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Pizarro Allen’s clearest differentiator is a founding team of two registered patent attorneys with genuine engineering backgrounds — mechanical and aerospace engineering, respectively — paired with a sustained record of publication and CLE speaking on patent law developments alongside some of San Antonio’s most established IP practitioners. The honest trade-off is that, as a prosecution- and transaction-focused firm, Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published litigation track record or a base of consumer-style client reviews, and the firm’s satellite-city appointment model means full-time attorney presence is concentrated in San Antonio. For a San Antonio startup, established tech company, or larger enterprise that wants IP counsel with genuine engineering credentials and active involvement in shaping Texas’s patent law CLE curriculum, that combination is a reasonable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Pizarro Allen’s own website (about, services, and recognition pages), the San Antonio North Chamber of Commerce directory listing, Super Lawyers’ attorney and firm directory listings, and the Lexinter Law Directory’s San Antonio intellectual property and trademark attorney listings.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Pizarro Allen PC prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.