Ferrell Alman is an attorney and registered patent agent in the Van Winkle Law Firm’s Intellectual Property practice. Ferrell’s practice focuses on patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as well as other intellectual property issues.
As an attorney for companies both large and small, Ferrell has experience counseling clients on successful Intellectual Property strategies, including patent preparation and prosecution, licensing, pre-litigation and litigation, patent portfolio due diligence, and trademark and copyright issues. Ferrell has represented clients in numerous technology areas, including cybersecurity and encryption software, wireless data management software, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor design, home security systems and software, file system management software, network security, telecommunications cabling infrastructure, outdoor recreation equipment, and wireless networks.
Ferrell’s practice has included jury trials, bench trials, Hatch-Waxman litigation, and extensive damages analyses involving lost profits, price erosion, market contraction, and reasonable royalties. Ferrell has handled all phases of litigation, including pre-suit due diligence, case dispositive motion briefing, complex damages analyses, discovery, claim construction briefings, expert reports, pre-trial proceedings, jury trials, post-trial motions, and settlement negotiations.
Prior to joining Van Winkle, Ferrell was a member of the patent litigation practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. and Sidley Austin LLP, where he focused on litigating complex patent infringement disputes.
Ferrell is licensed to practice in North Carolina and California and before the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
Practice Areas
Education
- J.D., Washington & Lee University School of Law, 2012; Lead Articles Editor, Washington & Lee Law Review; Roy L. Steinheimer Award for Excellence in Commercial Law
- B.S., Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, 2008
Professional Affiliations
- North Carolina State Bar
- State Bar of California
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
Originally from Mississippi, Ferrell received his law degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in Virginia, where he met his wife, Koral. Ferrell began his legal career in Los Angeles, and spent his weekends exploring the Sierra Nevada mountains. After four years in California, Ferrell moved back to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. In his free time, Ferrell enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with his wife and their two daughters, while trying to keep up with their Border Collie, Indiana Jones.
