People
Michael (“Mike”) is among the nation’s leading patent litigators, recognized for his ability to master and clearly explain highly complex technologies to courts, juries, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Drawing on his many years of industry experience in semiconductors and analytical chemistry, he brings exceptional technical fluency to every engagement. Mike has led approximately 200 patent-related matters, with particular depth in patent-heavy dockets in Texas and Delaware, as well as inter partes reviews, ex parte reexaminations, post-grant reviews, ITC investigations, and Federal Circuit appeals. His practice is regularly recognized, including by The American Lawyer (“Litigator of the Week”), Patexia, Best Lawyers in America®, Legal 500, and IAM Patent 1000.
Mike is a first-call resource for many companies for their most significant and complex patent and related matters. He regularly counsels clients across the semiconductor, memory, telecommunications, medical device, networking, and virtualization industries, with a particular strength in developing clear, jury-friendly trial themes. His practice is also distinguished by a deep command of standard-essential patent and FRAND/RAND litigation strategies, applied across a broad range of technologies.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mike obtained nearly ten years of experience in industry, at Motorola focusing on trouble-shooting issues with high-tech instrumentation such as plasma etchers (as a semiconductor process technician) and in oil, gas and environmental labs focusing on mass spectroscopy and related instrumentation (as an analytical research chemist).
Mike has guided clients through all stages of litigation and Patent Office challenges. For litigations: he routinely leads significant multi-patent cases for large technology and medical device clients from the pre-suit investigation stage through jury trials and ITC hearings. For Patent Office challenges: he routinely assists his clients in researching the relevant technology and presenting successful arguments. Mike has achieved great success for his clients across the country, including through developing key claim construction positions, obtaining compelling witness admissions, and presenting arguments and witnesses to court and juries.
Mike has been featured in the Am Law “Litigator of the Week” column multiple times, including for achieving a jury trial win in a heated competitor case and an award of attorneys’ fees, treble damages and injunction post-trial. Mike has also achieved significant pre-trial victories for his defense clients including full exclusion of the plaintiffs’ damages expert reports in separate litigations and a reduction of an adverse jury award to only $1.
Prior to joining King & Spalding, Mike focused on patent litigation at other nationally ranked firms throughout the country.
Mike has four sons who are the joy of his life. Mike also has a passion for pro bono work. Mike volunteers at the Marin County Law Library to assist pro bono clients and recently won $165,000+ in attorneys’ fees after securing a full win for one of his pro bono clients in a judicial foreclosure matter.
J.D., Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, magna cum laude
B.S., The University of Texas at Austin
California
New York
Texas
Law Clerk, Honorable Rodney W. Sippel, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Member, American Bar Association
Member, California Lawyers Association’s Intellectual Property Law Executive Committee
Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association
Member, Houston Intellectual Property Association
Member, Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association
March 17, 2026
Patent Litigator Mike Rueckheim Joins King & Spalding in San Francisco
March 17, 2026
Patent litigation partner Mike Rueckheim joins the firm’s Business Litigation practice group in San Francisco
Represent Micron Technology, Inc. in multiple patent litigation matters and related Patent Office challenges and appeals. Representative cases include:
Unification Technologies LLC v. Micron Technology, Inc. (W.D. Tex.) – represented Micron as well as HP Inc. and Dell Technologies in defending against three patents with accusations against memory technologies. Successfully invalidated each asserted patent claim in inter partes review (IPR) challenges and defended that success on appeal to the Federal Circuit.
Netlist, Inc. v. Micron Technology, Inc. (W.D. Tex., E.D. Tex., and D. Del) – representing Micron in a series of cases involving numerous patents with accusations related to memory technologies.
See more
March 17, 2026
Patent Litigator Mike Rueckheim Joins King & Spalding in San Francisco
March 17, 2026
Patent litigation partner Mike Rueckheim joins the firm’s Business Litigation practice group in San Francisco
Represent Micron Technology, Inc. in multiple patent litigation matters and related Patent Office challenges and appeals. Representative cases include:
Unification Technologies LLC v. Micron Technology, Inc. (W.D. Tex.) – represented Micron as well as HP Inc. and Dell Technologies in defending against three patents with accusations against memory technologies. Successfully invalidated each asserted patent claim in inter partes review (IPR) challenges and defended that success on appeal to the Federal Circuit.
Netlist, Inc. v. Micron Technology, Inc. (W.D. Tex., E.D. Tex., and D. Del) – representing Micron in a series of cases involving numerous patents with accusations related to memory technologies.
See more
March 17, 2026
Patent Litigator Mike Rueckheim Joins King & Spalding in San Francisco
March 17, 2026
Patent litigation partner Mike Rueckheim joins the firm’s Business Litigation practice group in San Francisco
J.D., Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, magna cum laude
B.S., The University of Texas at Austin
California
New York
Texas
Law Clerk, Honorable Rodney W. Sippel, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Member, American Bar Association
Member, California Lawyers Association’s Intellectual Property Law Executive Committee
Member, Federal Circuit Bar Association
Member, Houston Intellectual Property Association
Member, Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association