Rick Matthews

Richard T. “Rick” Matthews concentrates his practice on intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, licensing and related litigation. He has represented companies in intellectual property disputes in over 40 states as a first-chair trial attorney and in bet-the-company litigation. He has extensive experience handling every aspect of litigation through trial and appeal. His cases have spanned federal courts across the country and before the Patent Trial and Board (PTAB), International Trade Commission (ITC), Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), Fourth Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Federal Circuit and Supreme Court.  

While Rick has been practicing patent law since 2003, he is also certified by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Specialist in Trademark Law. Rick has been recognized by Chambers USA for Intellectual Property Law (2019). He has also been named among North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” by Business North Carolina (2014-present); listed in The Best Lawyers in America© for Trademark Law and Patent Law (2017-present); listed in North Carolina Super Lawyers for Intellectual Property Law (2011-2016, 2022); and named among the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 in Intellectual Property for North Carolina by the American Society of Legal Advocates.  

Rick is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia, and he is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Rick received a B.S. in chemistry with a focus in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a J.D. from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University; and a Masters of Law degree in intellectual property law from the George Washington University Law School. He clerked in the ITC’s Office of Unfair Import Investigation, focusing on Section 337 patent cases. In addition, he interned at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for the Honorable Judge Susan G. Braden.