Joseph S Grinstein

Joe Grinstein handles cases in every corner of the country. He combines a passion for getting on his feet before judges and juries with the work ethic necessary to master the facts and the law before “showtime.” Major litigation wins include:

-   Atlas Global Technologies v. TP-Link Technologies Co. Won a $37.5 million verdict for Atlas Global Technologies in its patent infringement case against Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer TP-Link.
-   Finesse Wireless v. AT&T Mobility and Nokia of America Corporation. Won a $166.3 million jury verdict on behalf of client Finesse Wireless LLC against AT&T Mobility LLC and Nokia Corporation of America over patent infringement claims relating to wireless networks. The jury delivered the verdict after three hours of deliberation following a week-long trial in the Eastern District of Texas. The Court later entered judgment in favor of Finesse for more than $181 million.
-   Waymo v. Uber. Represented Uber in one of the most prominent IP trials in years. The case involved allegations that Uber had misappropriated Waymo trade secrets and infringed Waymo patents relating to self-driving car technology. The lawsuit attracted attention around the world, and the trial was covered by an army of journalists and tech bloggers. The case settled during the first week of trial, in the middle of Grinstein’s cross-examination of Waymo’s lead technical witness.
-   DataQuill Ltd. v. ZTE USA Inc. Won a $31.5 million jury verdict on behalf ofDataQuill Ltd. in a patent case over allegations that ZTE (USA) Inc. infringed two DataQuill patents relating to smartphone technologies.
-   PACT Technologies XPP, AG v. Xilinx, Inc. et al. Obtained a $15.4 million verdict on behalf of PACT XPP Technologies, AG, over allegations that Xilinx, Inc. and Avnet, Inc. had infringed two of PACT’s patents via their sale of certain Xilinx-branded Field Programmable Gate Array devices. The Court later entered judgment in favor of PACT for more than $44 million.
-   UniRAM Technology v. TMSC. Obtained a $30.5 million jury verdict on behalf of UniRAM Technology, Inc. in a trade secrets case. UniRAM alleged that defendant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. had misappropriated UniRAM’s trade secrets regarding specialized computer memory devices known as embedded DRAM.

Joe graduated from Rice University with three majors, conferred summa cum laude. He received his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal and won the school’s mock trial competition. After law school, Joe clerked on the Fifth Circuit for the Hon. Patrick Higginbotham.

Updated Oct 2025

• Atlas Global Technologies LLC v. TP-Link Technologies Co., Ltd. et al (E.D. Tex.) Won a $37.5 million verdict for Atlas Global Technologies in its patent infringement case against Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer TP-Link. A Texas jury issued the verdict against TP-Link for infringing five patents for wireless routers that meet an industry standard known as “WiFi 6,” which was developed to provide fast, efficient internet connections for high-density locations such as offices, shopping malls and apartment buildings. Following a five-day trial and just a few hours of deliberations, the jury determined TP-Link owes Atlas $37,481,264 in damages
  
  
• Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies Inc. (N.D. Cal.) Represented Uber in one of the most prominent intellectual-property trials in years. The case involved allegations that Uber had misappropriated Waymo trade secrets and infringed Waymo patents relating to self-driving car technology. The lawsuit attracted attention around the world, and the trial was covered by an army of journalists and tech bloggers.  The case settled during the first week of trial, in the middle of Grinstein’s cross-examination of Waymo’s lead technical witness.
  
  
• Personalized Media Communications v. TiVo (E.D. Tex.) Represented Personalized Media Communications (PMC) in an arbitration to resolve its long-running licensing dispute with TiVo, formerly known as Gemstar-TV Guide International and Rovi Guides. TiVo had contended that, under its licensing agreement with PMC, it had the exclusive right to enforce infringement actions for functionality not performed by the program guide, but rather performed by digital set-top-boxes, such as the delivery of digital programming content. The arbitrator (retired U.S. District Court Judge David Folsom) rejected TiVo’s interpretation and found in favor of PMC on all issues.  Thereafter, Judge Roy Payne entered Final Judgment in favor of PMC.
  
  
• Walmart Puerto Rico Inc. v. Zaragoza-Gomez (First Circ.) Tried a case in federal district court in San Juan, Puerto Rico on behalf of the nation’s largest retailer, regarding the constitutionality of certain provisions of Puerto Rico’s Alternative Minimum Tax. Grinstein was involved in all aspects of the case, including examining both sides’ constitutional and tax experts at trial. When the district court issued its opinion, it declared the challenged AMT provisions to violate the dormant commerce and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution, in addition to the Federal Relations Act.  The district court then enjoined further enforcement of these AMT provisions. There is a significant jurisdictional hurdle to challenging state (or commonwealth) taxes in federal court, so this ruling was a rare instance in which such a tax has been held unconstitutional by a federal district judge. Puerto Rico then appealed the district court’s ruling.  Grinstein argued the appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The First Circuit upheld the injunction and affirmed the district court in full.

• Appellate
• Arbitration
• Commercial
• Commercial disputes
• Dispute resolution
• Entertainment
• Intellectual property
• Plaintiff

• J.D. - Yale Law School    
• B.A. - Rice University    
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham - United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

• Southern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel (2023)    
• American Bar Association    
• Houston Bar Association    
• Nancy F. Atlas Intellectual Property American Inn of Court

• Texas