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Patterson + Sheridan: The Houston-Headquartered Firm Whose Founder Repaired Air Conditioners Before Prosecuting Thousands of Patents

B. Todd Patterson spent his teenage summers installing and repairing air conditioners in Houston’s heat before building a patent practice that has prepared and prosecuted thousands of applications — and a firm the Houston Business Journal has named the largest intellectual property law firm in the city.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

B. Todd Patterson is the founding partner of Patterson + Sheridan, a nationally recognized intellectual property and complex litigation firm headquartered in Houston. His route into patent law started unusually hands-on: encouraged by his father to learn how things work, he spent teenage summers installing and repairing air conditioners, developing the mechanical and electrical instincts that later became the technical backbone of a patent practice. He earned his B.S. from Baylor University and his J.D. cum laude from South Texas College of Law in 1993, and has spent more than three decades advising companies across energy, biotechnology, medical devices, and advanced materials.

Practice Concentration

Patterson serves as lead counsel for several of the firm’s major clients, advising executive leadership on risk, long-term strategy, and aligning intellectual property with broader business objectives. Over his career he has prepared and prosecuted thousands of patent applications and provided IP due diligence on hundreds of high-value mergers and acquisitions, and he has served as an expert witness in multiple intellectual property matters. The firm’s Houston office — the largest of its seven — leverages former USPTO patent examiners on staff and recruits from Texas A&M’s and Rice University’s engineering programs. See this Houston Intellectual Property directory for how this Houston-headquartered national firm compares to boutique and solo IP practices also serving Harris County.

Notable Work / Track Record

The firm’s publicly reported litigation results include a May 2021 jury verdict in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, in which a Texas jury found NCR Corp. owed at least $13 million in a patent suit — a dated but press-covered outcome. The firm reports prosecuting hundreds of patents every year for some of the world’s largest companies, including servicing a multinational telecommunications equipment company out of the Houston office. These are firm-reported and press-reported results; past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published set of itemized, attributed consumer-platform client reviews for Patterson, which is typical for counsel whose clients are multinational corporations rather than individual consumers. The firm’s client-facing practice model — regular in-person visits to clients around the country from the Houston office — is itself a stated service commitment rather than a review-platform metric.

Beyond the Courtroom

Patterson serves on the Baylor University Board of Regents, a documented university governance role beyond his law practice, and is described by the firm as dedicated to mentoring the next generation of IP attorneys within a deliberately collaborative firm culture.

Recognition for This Houston IP Firm

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification for B. Todd Patterson, and separately notes TBLS does not currently certify a distinct intellectual property specialty in Texas. At the firm level, Patterson + Sheridan was named the largest intellectual property law firm in Houston by the Houston Business Journal in 2021 — a list requiring attorneys to spend at least 75 percent of billable hours on IP work — ranked #18 in Harrity Analytics’ list of top patent firms for 2020, and has had multiple attorneys recognized in Best Lawyers in America and its “Ones to Watch” companion list.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Patent prosecution and litigation proceed primarily under federal law before the USPTO and in federal district court rather than Texas state law — including the Western District of Texas’s Waco Division, which became one of the country’s busiest patent venues — while trade secret disputes are governed by the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act. None of this is legal advice; a specific IP matter should be evaluated by a licensed attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

B. Todd Patterson’s clearest differentiator is founding and still leading, from Houston, one of the few IP firms headquartered in this city that operates at genuine national scale — 80 attorneys, seven offices, former USPTO examiners on staff, and a Houston Business Journal designation as the city’s largest IP firm. The honest trade-off is that a firm built for prosecuting hundreds of patents a year for the world’s largest companies is structurally oriented toward institutional clients and institutional pricing, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify a consumer-style review record for Patterson individually. For a Houston company that wants national-scale patent capability with local headquarters accountability, that combination is a reasonable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Patterson + Sheridan’s own website (pattersonsheridan.com, including B. Todd Patterson’s attorney biography, the Houston office page, and firm news announcements), Baylor University’s published Board of Regents biography for Patterson, and the Lexinter Law Directory’s published attorney profile.

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 Patterson + Sheridan LLP or B. Todd Patterson 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.