Biography

Richard Brophy has a proven track record of trying and winning complex intellectual property cases across the United States. He has earned a particular reputation for winning cases by dismantling opposing expert witnesses in deposition and on the stand. His practice encompasses many areas of complex civil litigation, but he focuses primarily on disputes involving patents, trademarks, copyrights and antitrust violations.

Drawing on his expansive background as an aerospace engineer and computer scientist, Richard stands out by distilling complex technical and legal issues in ways that judges and juries can easily understand. Clients routinely praise Richard for his ability to quickly become knowledgeable in the technologies at issue in his cases, and retain him to manage their most complex technical litigation.

In addition to providing strategic defense to clients who become litigation targets, Richard has demonstrated a talent for accomplishing the challenging task of enforcing his clients’ intellectual property. His two most recent trials resulted in multimillion-dollar jury verdicts against his clients’ competitors. One case involved explosives detection equipment used by the TSA and the other involved software used by health care companies to evaluate physician performance.

Richard has experience as a practicing engineer in both aerospace engineering and embedded software engineering, and he is also an FAA licensed pilot.

Education

  • Saint Louis University School of Law  (J.D., 2007)
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  (B.S., 2002)
    • Aerospace Engineering

Admissions

  • Missouri, 2007
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Professional Activities

  • The Missouri Bar
  • Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
  • American Bar Association (Litigation, Antitrust, Intellectual Property)

Charitable and Civic Involvement

  • St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts

Accolades

  • Managing Intellectual Property, IP Stars (2024)
  • Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business, Intellectual Property (2019-present)
  • IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals (2021-present)
  • Benchmark Litigation, Local Litigation Star, Intellectual Property (2021-present); National Litigation Star (2025)
  • Benchmark Litigation, "40 & Under Hot List" (2018-2020)
  • The Best Lawyers in America®; Litigation - Intellectual Property, Litigation - Patent (2019-present); Lawyer of the Year, Litigation - Patent (2023)
  • Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers® (2021-present); Rising Star (2012-2020)

Background

In his previous career as an engineer, Richard provided pilot training and simulation services for the Navy’s F/A-18 program at Boeing Co. and, before that, ensured the security of MasterCard International’s network as a technical consultant.

Prior to joining the firm, Richard was in private practice at a boutique intellectual property firm.

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