Ryan A. Hargrave is a seasoned intellectual property and commercial litigator with over a decade of experience representing clients in high-stakes disputes before federal and state courts nationwide and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She excels in handling technically intricate matters across a broad range of technologies and industries, including pharmaceuticals, wireless networking, cellular networking, and downhole oilfield tools.

Ryan guides clients through every stage of litigation—from pre-filing investigation and discovery strategy to trial, post-trial briefing, and appellate advocacy. Her strategic courtroom acumen has resulted in notable verdicts and settlements, earning her consistent recognition on the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list every year since 2014, as well as the Best Lawyers in America (Litigation – Intellectual Property) in 2025.

Ryan earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center, where she served as an editor for the Houston Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barons. Before entering law, she earned a B.S., magna cum laude, in Biochemistry from UT Dallas and conducted advanced synthetic chemistry research to develop novel electrochemically active molecules.

Prior to Skiermont Derby, Ryan was a principal at McKool Smith in Dallas.

Ryan is admitted to practice in the State of Texas and all Texas federal district courts.

Entangled Media LLC – Represents Entangled Media in a patent infringement action against Dropbox relating to file storage and data sharing systems.

VIZIO – Represents VIZIO in a patent infringement action against Multimedia Technologies relating to television user interfaces.

AptarGroup, Inc. – Represented Aptar in a patent infringement action against 3M and Merck relating to metered dose inhalers.

American Airlines – Represented American Airlines in a patent infringement matter relating to systems and methods for data management.

MUSC Foundation for Research Development & Charleston Medical Therapeutics – Represented MUSC and Charleston Medical Therapeutics in a patent infringement action against AstraZeneca regarding use of the pharmaceutical Crestor® to treat inflammation.

VirnetX Inc. – Represented VirnetX Inc. in patent infringement suit against Apple related to systems and methods for efficiently creating secure communications. Following a week-long trial, the jury found VirnetX’s patents valid and awarded VirnetX a verdict of $368 million in damages for Apple’s infringement.

Ericsson – Represented Ericsson in a patent infringement lawsuit against Intel, Acer, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Netgear, and D-Link regarding 802.11n wireless technology. Following a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas, a jury awarded over $10 million to Ericsson for the defendants’ infringement of Ericsson’s patented technology.

Deepwater Horizon MDL Litigation – Represented Halliburton and Sperry Sun, with focus on the development of expert and technical matters, in the MDL litigation related to the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon blowout.

Bedrock Computer Technologies – Represented Bedrock in a patent infringement suit against Google involving methods for efficiently removing expired data from information storage and retrieval systems. Following a six-day trial in Tyler, Texas, the jury found the patent infringed, valid, and awarded a royalty to Bedrock.