Steve Maule combines technical knowledge, insatiable curiosity, and a meticulous nature to solve a range of intellectual property problems for clients. Drawing on years of experience as a hardware and software engineer, Steve focuses on clients’ technologies as much as the legal landscape and brings a technical depth that few attorneys can match. From solo founders to Fortune 500 companies, clients turn to Steve when the technology is complex, the stakes are high, and the details matter.

Steve litigates on both sides of the “v” and advises clients across all areas of intellectual property law, including matters involving patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright litigation; inter partes review and ex parte reexamination proceedings; patent and trademark portfolio development; and related technology agreements and transactions.

Before law school, Steve worked as a software engineer for The Boeing Company and L-3 Communications, where he developed software for aircraft simulation and aircraft communication systems, and as a hardware engineer for IBM on blade server development. This background allows him to work directly with engineers, translate technical details into terms judges and juries understand, and evaluate infringement, validity, and damages issues with an insider’s eye.

Steve also teaches the next generation of IP lawyers at his alma mater, the University of Houston Law Center. Each spring, Steve teaches Procedure of Patent Litigation, an upper-level course offered through the Institute for Intellectual Property and Information Law, in which he guides students—from pleadings to post-trial—through the litigation process with real-world anecdotes and hands-on exercises.

Steve has a strong commitment to pro bono legal services and has successfully represented pro bono clients in asylum proceedings, applications for legal guardianship, trademark applications, and expunction proceedings.