John Schiltz represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial cases throughout the United States. He has significant litigation experience in state and federal courts as well as arbitrations across a broad spectrum of practice areas including breach of contract, patent, trade secrets, antitrust, cryptocurrency, class actions, product liability, unfair trade practices, shareholder litigation, and other complex commercial disputes.
Schiltz has secured many landmark wins for his clients, who range from Fortune 100 companies, universities, and technology startups to small businesses, individuals, and inventors. His work has resulted in him being selected for Lawdragon’s “500X – The Next Generation of Leading Lawyers,” among other accolades.
In a recent bet-the-company case, Schiltz represented LightGuide, Inc. in its successful willful patent infringement action against Amazon.com, Inc., concerning projected augmented reality and warehouse robotics technology. Schiltz was instrumental in retaining venue against Amazon in the Eastern District of Texas (read more here , here, and here), defeating Amazon’s later-filed declaratory judgment action (read more here), and guiding the litigation strategy through motion practice, claim construction briefing, and fact discovery. The case was dismissed when Amazon entered into a settlement agreement with LightGuide prior to Markman and the close of fact discovery and agreed to dismiss all three of its inter partes review petitions prior to any of them being instituted by the PTAB.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2026 | Commercial Litigation |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Commercial Litigation |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2024 | Commercial Litigation |
| Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2023 | Commercial Litigation |
In a major trial victory, Schiltz won a $50.3 million jury verdict on behalf of Green Mountain Glass in its patent infringement lawsuit against Ardagh Glass, Inc., when a federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware found Ardagh (f/k/a Saint-Gobain Containers) willfully infringed upon Green Mountain’s patent No. 5,718,737 for technology that allows glass manufacturers to use recycled glass of mixed colors. Schiltz then helped protect the verdict on appeal, briefing and securing a full affirmance of the judgment at the Federal Circuit. A final payment of $64.5 million was later made to Green Mountain.
Schiltz currently represents The Research Foundation for The State University of New York against Inpria Corporation and JSR Corporation in the Northern District of New York, alleging breach of contract, correction of inventorship, and various state law claims concerning the inventorship, ownership, and right to practice and license metal oxide EUV photoresist technology and intellectual property valued at $2.4 to $4.3 billion.
Schiltz joined Susman Godfrey after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable David M. Ebel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review and the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Prior to law school, Schiltz taught high school mathematics as a Teach for America corps member in Kansas City, MO.