Jackson Walker partner Wasif Qureshi was recently quoted by Bloomberg Law about how the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, and the data centers that power them, are reshaping the physical and economic landscape while fueling a new wave of patent and trade secret disputes.

As the development and presence of data centers surge, IP owners are increasingly moving to enforce patents, trade secrets, and proprietary systems they claim underlie data center cooling, power, computing, and infrastructure solutions. In view of the astronomical sums of money being invested into data centers, the resulting uptick in litigation, particularly patent litigation, which can result in large settlements or damages verdicts, stands to put pressure on data center financials and supply chain relationships, and could eventually force data centers to alter how they do business.

In the Bloomberg Law article, Wasif observed that there seems to be enough publicly available technical information on data center infrastructure solutions to give patent holders the ability to bring patent infringement cases against data centers, especially those known to procure equipment from certain suppliers. For example, he noted that: “There’s enough literature out there about the cooling equipment where they can build an infringement case.”

Wasif also explained the strategic planning behind choosing whom to sue—for example, between the data center and the supplier which provides equipment to the data center. When a patent plaintiff targets a supplier, the dispute can be resolved through a settlement and license agreement, which would typically allow the supplier to sell its equipment to its downstream data center customers, which would then in turn also be licensed. As opposed to that “one and done” result, a patent plaintiff may find it more lucrative to directly sue the data centers and obtain multiple recoveries.

To read the full article, view “Data Center Growth Brings Wave of Patent, Trade Secret Disputes.”

Meet Wasif

Wasif Qureshi has been recognized as a Patent Star in Texas since 2014. He focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, particularly patent disputes. Drawing on his engineering background and extensive litigation experience, Wasif represents clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies and has appeared in almost 300 district court and International Trade Commission patent infringement matters. Wasif also leads Jackson Walker’s IP Litigation group. In addition to his IP Stars and various other recognitions at the state and national levels, Wasif has been ranked in the prestigious Chambers USA Guide for Intellectual Property in Texas since 2025.