Armond Wilson marks 5th anniversary

When Michelle Armond and Douglas Wilson first crossed paths two decades ago at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., they were young, eager law clerks working for the same judge.

Their backgrounds could not be more different. Armond, a free spirit hailing from sunny California, and Wilson, a traditionalist rooted in the heartland of Texas. Despite these differences a unique camaraderie was formed.

"Doug and I were clerking for Judge Richard Linn," Armond said. "After I went back to California and he went back to Texas, we both practiced intellectual property law at a couple of different firms. Then, about five years ago, we both decided we were looking to do better for our clients and ourselves and decided to open our own firm."

Since its inception on April 24, 2019, Armond Wilson has grown into a distinguished and well-respected firm. With offices in Newport Beach and Austin, Texas, the firm has broadened its presence to serve clients nationwide.

"Michelle was my first and only choice when I started thinking about doing something different," Wilson said. "Michelle is one of the smartest and most effective lawyers I know. She was the obvious and first choice when I thought about co-founding a successful firm."

The duo has served as lead counsel in matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and overseen more than 50 inter party reviews (IPR) before the U.S. Patent Office's Trial and Appeal Board and 20 appeals at the Federal Circuit. They said their approaches to cases complement one another.

"We are in some ways very similar," Armond said. "We're both great in court, skilled writers, move quickly, plus we have a track record of working effectively as a team. When we put our heads together, something truly magical happens."

One of those instances involved the firm's early and decisive victory over Google in separate IPR and covered business method (CBM) processes in opposing a client's patent on video streaming technologies. That led to a $26 million jury verdict for their client in a concurrent lawsuit. Google v. VideoShare. Nos. IPR2020-0l631 & CBM2020-00027 (PTAB Mar. 24 & Apr.7.2021).

After five years, the attorneys said they have reached the size they need to be to be able to handle the matters they want to handle.

"We don't have any plans to grow a lot more. We've already jumped from our initial two people to eight people. Clients come to us because they want Michelle and I to work personally on our cases and get them great results," Wilson said. "We're happy to continue with our winning formula."

Armond echoed Wilson's thoughts:

"The secret to our success is being small because you can't easily scale the results we're getting. We've handpicked our team. If we have to choose between growth and getting good results, we're going to pick good results every time. Often that means we have to turn down work, but we need to take care of our existing clients and our team first and foremost."