His death scrambles the expected outcome in key cases before the court and, in the longer term, removes the passionate pen the justice often deployed on the side of business.
The latest trial between Apple and VirnetX, which has been taking place over the last week, is a do-over of an earlier 2012 patent clash between the two parties.
Legal analytics company Lex Machina says Apple filed over 200 challenges to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board since 2012, almost 100 more than the second highest filer.