Murray, Matthew

Joseph Mueller is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation and Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 2004.

Practice

Mr. Mueller focuses on intellectual property litigation and other complex disputes, in state and federal trial courts and appeals courts, and the International Trade Commission. He has worked on patent and trade secret cases in wide-ranging fields of technology, including:

• recombinant genetics
• semiconductor-chip architecture and manufacture
• software design
• image processing
• medical devices
• telecommunications devices and networks
• email systems
• streaming media, including internet radio
• water-filtration plants
• package-handling machines

In addition to intellectual property, Mr. Mueller's experience extends to a variety of other substantive areas, including constitutional law, tort law, and contract law.

Mr. Mueller has been on a number of WilmerHale trial teams, with a focus on patent-infringement and trade-secret trials.

Mr. Mueller has argued before federal and state appeals courts, including the United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Fourth Circuit, and Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Mueller served as a Special District Attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, where he prosecuted cases involving violent crimes, financial fraud, and many other offenses. While at the Middlesex DA's Office, Mr. Mueller tried a variety of cases to juries and to judges.

In addition to litigation, Mr. Mueller has substantial experience in the analysis of, and development of strategy regarding, intellectual-property licensing issues.

Mr. Mueller has made pro bono service a core component of his practice. He has worked on significant pro bono matters involving issues such as disability rights, political asylum, and detainee rights. He received the Boson Bar Association's 2007 "President's Award" and the firm's 2005 John H. Pickering Award for his exemplary pro bono service.

Mr. Mueller is an adjunct professor of law at Boston College Law School, where he currently teaches Patent Litigation. From 2004 to 2007, he held principal responsibility for the school's international law advocacy programs: the Jessup International Law Moot Court program and the European Union Law Moot Court program.

Mr. Mueller is on the board of directors of Discovering Justice, a non-profit organization focused on youth education regarding the law and the justice system.

Mr. Mueller is the current secretary, and a founding member, of the Boston Intellectual Property American Inn of Court.

Mr. Mueller is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Recent Publications

• "Claims as Pointers: The Statutory Approach to Claim Construction," Journal of Intellectual Property Law, Vol. 12, No. 2, at 501 (2005).
• "Phillips v. AWH Corp.: A Step in the Right Direction, but Not a Final Solution," IP Litigator, Vol. 11, No. 5, at 8 (2005).
• "Of Words and Patents," Boston Bar Journal, November/December issue, at 6 (2005).

Honors and Awards

• Selected for inclusion in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of Boston Magazine as a "New England Super Lawyers Rising Star"