William A. Munck

William A. Munck is the managing partner of Munck Wilson Mandala.  He is a member of the executive committee and chairs the firm’s technology/intellectual property law group. Mr. Munck has more than 29 years of experience counseling clients regarding development of market-focused offensive and defensive intellectual property portfolios. His technical expertise is in the hardware, software, firmware, gaming,  wired/wireless communication, energy, defense and medical device/healthcare fields.

Mr. Munck is known as an attorney who will never give up the fight for his clients. He has been listed among the prestigous Dallas 500 consecutively since 2020 and he is honored in many other leadership roles in the legal community. In 2010, he was named as one of the top defenders in the North Texas region by the Dallas Business Journal and he has been the leader of one of the strongest intellectual property legal teams in North Texas.  D CEO magazine refers to Mr. Munck’s law firm as a “Dallas intellectual property law powerhouse.”

Mr. Munck’s practice emphasizes long-range corporate strategies for the domestic and foreign procurement, management and enforcement of intellectual property rights; defense against third-party infringement claims, including prosecution of IPR, reexamination and other third-party proceedings; analysis, development and rendering of legal positions and opinions; and negotiation of technology transfers and related intellectual property issues associated with private and public financings, mergers, acquisitions, and industry and patent troll licensing matters.

Mr. Munck began his career with a full-service Texas-based law firm and a prominent New York IP litigation boutique. He also worked for several years as a lead software engineer and project manager with Axiom Systems, Inc. in New York, where he managed a design team responsible for designing and developing an industrial laboratory control system.

Mr. Munck is highly ranked by Chambers and Partners USA in intellectual property law. Clients interviewed by Chambers refer to him as “the go-to guy for litigation, prep and prosecution,” adding: “You can get hold of him 24/7, particularly in a crisis,” and: “He understands the business use of the patent.”

Mr. Munck has been selected by his peers annually as a Texas Super Lawyer and a Best Lawyer in America in intellectual property.  In 2017, Mr. Munck was added to the list of Distinguished Alumni by his law school, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.

In the community, Mr. Munck is involved with Hunger Busters, a non-profit organization focused on providing meals for food-challenged students in the Dallas ISD.  He serves on the executive committee of the organization and he has also served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and on the executive committee for the Dallas chapter.  Mr. Munck is actively involved in local and national bar associations and he is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Texas Bar Foundation and Life Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation.

Representative Matters

• Numerous technology clients in preparation and prosecution of domestic and foreign patent applications, and related intellectual property matters;
• Semiconductor manufacturer to investigate third-party infringement claim, determined non-infringement and invalidity of subject patents, rendered legal opinions regarding same, and provided deposition testimony;
• Vending company in assertion of patent infringement claim in the Eastern District of Texas, and defended reexamination proceeding with the United States Patent and Trademark Office;
• Vending company in five patent infringement actions relating to vending machines in West Virginia district court and on appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, secured stay pending final outcome of reexamination proceeding, and developed and asserted patent infringement counterclaims;
• International pharmaceutical company in two patent infringement cases against a generic manufacturer in the Northern District of Texas;
• Telecommunications developer in negotiation with an international telecommunications equipment provider of jointly developed and jointly owned intellectual property rights;
• Wireless hardware manufacturer in negotiations with patent licensing entity regarding purportedly standards-based patent rights; secured points-based discounts reducing proposed licensing fees to only negligible amounts;
• Medical device company in defense of action to declare patents not infringed or invalid;
• Advanced optoelectronic company in a patent infringement and trade secret action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas;
• Government contractor in a trademark and unfair competition dispute in Federal Court in Florida.

Education

Associations & Memberships

American Bar Association

New York State Bar Association

State Bar of Texas
Intellectual Property Law Section

Dallas Bar Association
Intellectual Property Law Section

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Dallas-Fort Worth Patent and Trademark Association

Computer Law Association

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Executive Committee Member, Dallas Chapter, 2010-present
Board of Directors, 1999-2005

STARTech Early Ventures, L.L.P.
Advisory Board, 1997-2004

U.S. Lacrosse, North Texas Chapter
2005 – 2011

Honors & Awards

The Dallas 500 – The Most Powerful Business
Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth by D CEO Magazine
2020-2022

Best Lawyers in America, Woodward White, Inc.
2006-2022

Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters
2003-2021

Top Attorneys for Patent Prosecution, Patexia
2017-2021

Diversity & Inclusion Champion, Texas Legal Awards, Texas Lawyer
2020

IP Stars, Managing Intellectual Property Magazine, Patent Star
2019-2022

Chambers and Partners USA Guide: America’s Leading Business Lawyers (Intellectual Property)
2004-2021

IAM Patent 1000 Global Leader
2021 – 2022

IAM Patent 1000 Recommended Professional
2020-2022

Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine
2019, 2021

Distinguished Leader, Professional Excellence Awards, Texas Lawyer
2017

Distinguished Alumni, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

Top 100 Super Lawyers in DFW
Thomson Reuters
2012, 2015 and 2016

Top Intellectual Property Lawyers, Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition
2008-2012

Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America

American Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Dallas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow

Best Lawyers® 2020 Sports Law “Lawyer of the Year” Dallas/Fort Worth

Bar Admissions

Texas, 1993

New York, 1994

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia

U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

Weathering The Storm of False Marking Claims
Law 360, June 11, 2010

Make sure you’re protected: Protecting intellectual property from employees
Smart Business, June 2008

New rules: The new patent office rules create hubbub
Smart Business, December 2008

Safeguarding Your Assets: How You Can Protect Your Intellectual Property
Smart Business Dallas, April 2007