Shival Virmani is the founder and president of Merion Point, an IP advisory and licensing firm. Over his 25-year career spanning government, private practice, and publicly traded technology companies, Mr. Virmani has secured more than $1.4 billion in licensing revenue and negotiated significant transactions with some of the world’s leading companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Ericsson, Google, Amazon, Xiaomi, Huawei, Kyocera, TCL, Sharp, Fujitsu, Texas Instruments, NEC, Panasonic, ZTE and Sony.
Mr. Virmani guides clients through the full IP value chain and lifecycle—from identifying infringement, valuing portfolios, and modeling royalties, to developing a licensing strategy and negotiating license agreements—primarily across the handset, semiconductor and consumer electronics markets worldwide.
Before launching Merion Point, Mr. Virmani led the mobile licensing program at InterDigital. Prior to InterDigital, Mr. Virmani directed licensing businesses at SanDisk (previously acquired by Western Digital) and Rockstar Consortium, and held IP leadership roles at Vonage and Infineon. He began his career at the USPTO in 1996, then moved to the USITC’s Office of Unfair Investigations as an Investigative Staff Attorney before being hired by McDermott Will & Emery, an Am Law 100 firm.
Mr. Virmani has also been recognized in the IAM 300 for various years from 2015-2025. He holds a J.D. from Tulane University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and has an executive certification in finance and accounting from Wharton. He also teaches Patent Licensing & Strategy as an adjunct professor at Villanova University Law School and is a frequent speaker on patent monetization at industry conferences.
At Merion Point, SEP licensing is not an afterthought—it is a core specialty. Founder Shival Virmani has spent more than a decade structuring and executing licensing programs that have generated substantial revenue across cellular, Wi-Fi, video-codec, and memory standards. His experience is defined by results: he has closed high-value transactions with many of the world’s most significant and experienced SEP licensees.
Currently, Mr. Virmani serves on the boards of Neo Wireless, involved in 4G/5G SEP licensing, and OP Solutions, focused on VVC patent development and licensing.
What sets Merion Point apart is its perspective. Having represented and worked closely with leading SEP holders, patent pools, and private-equity funds, Shival brings a balanced, realistic understanding of the business and legal dynamics that drive outcomes. This perspective enables Merion Point to position clients credibly—grounding FRAND arguments in defensible, data-driven analysis that is both commercially sustainable and, when necessary, enforceable.
The firm’s work spans the full lifecycle of SEP licensing. Merion Point provides valuation and royalty modeling expertise, designs and executes global licensing campaigns, and partners with outside counsel to develop enforcement strategies that reinforce negotiating leverage. The practice also advises on SEP declarations and the strategic considerations involved in joining a patent pool.
We don’t posture. We prepare.
There are no shortcuts in patent licensing—and we don’t look for any. While relationships are important, they do not necessarily close deals on their own. More work often needs to be done. At Merion Point we dig deeper than most: dissecting entire portfolios, tracking market and legal trends, and working directly with the decision-makers who move deals forward.
Merion Point blends three disciplines—law, technology, and business strategy—so every recommendation is legally sound, technically grounded, and commercially realistic. We don’t offer opinions for their own sake; we roll up our sleeves and deliver results.
Global Mindset. Human Connection.
Licensing spans borders—and so do the complexities of culture, communication, and decision-making. After negotiating across continents and industries, we’ve learned that solid facts and clear strategy close deals. Glossy decks, baseless spreadsheets, and posturing do not.
At Merion Point, we invest in candid conversations that establish trust and deliver results. Even if a deal doesn’t close today, we want to be the firm stakeholders turn to tomorrow and for years to come.