Overview

Dave serves on the firm's Board of Directors and is Chair of the firm’s IP Department, where he oversees a diverse and experienced team of more than 20 attorneys, paralegals, and staff. The Department counsels market-leading companies and institutions on cutting-edge IP issues around the world. 

He focuses his practice in two key areas: 

Strategic IP Solutions for Innovation Leaders: Companies and institutions who desire to be innovation leaders regularly hire Dave to identify and develop solutions that optimally align the company’s IP strategy with its overall business objectives. 
Businesses have benefited through these strategy-based solutions in many ways, including:

Developing IP assets that create real value to businesses

Monetizing IP to increase valuation 

Reducing IP portfolio management costs

Mitigating risks of competitive IP 

Ceasing infringing sales and payment of damages from competitors

IP Enforcement and Dispute Resolution Strategies: Market leaders who have been wronged by domestic and foreign competitors partner with Dave to identify a sound strategy to resolve such disputes in a cost-effective, results-oriented manner. 

Dave was named "Lawyer of the Year" for Patent Law in Cleveland by The Best Lawyers in America®, 2018, and has been named a leader in intellectual property by Chambers USA since 2016.

Representative Cases & Matters

IP strategy solutions for innovation leaders

  • Work closely with clients on developing effective IP portfolio alternative fee arrangements.
  • Developed improved forms and workflows for client IP portfolios to save clients significant time & money.
  • Identified new ways for clients to identify innovations and protocols on how to identify the best forms of protection.
  • Formed client-specific training for key technical, commercial, and legal personnel on important IP issues based on the needs of that business.
  • Devised trade secret policies to ensure the maintenance of key confidential information both internally and externally.
  • Created plan on consolidating worldwide counsel to save significant foreign costs.
  • Worked with clients on developing more sound approaches in protecting new IP innovations based on joint development with third parties.

IP Enforcement and Dispute Resolution Strategies

District Court Experience

  • Litigated dozens of patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, and unfair competition cases all over the country.
  • Obtained $18.3 million jury verdict in software dispute.
  • Led trial team in obtaining jury verdict of willful patent infringement in a chemical patent case.
  • Led trial team in obtaining patent infringement and jury verdict of lost profits in dissolvable magnesium technology against multiple infringers. 
  • Awarded favorable willful patent infringement ruling at a bench trial involving four different consumer product patents.
  • Prevailed at preliminary injunction hearing on behalf of accused trademark infringer involving multi-million dollar claim.
  • Obtained attorneys' fees in trade secret misappropiation dispute.
  • Presented at more than 15 patent claim construction hearings that involved dozens of claim terms in a wide variety of electrical, chemical, and mechanical technologies.
  • Obtained numerous favorable summary judgment rulings in all areas of IP including infringement, non-infringement, no invalidity, no inequitable conduct, affirmative defenses.

Appeals Court Experience

  • Argued patent infringement and invalidity issues before the Federal Circuit that originated from federal district courts as well as from PTAB.
  • Argued trademark and unfair competition issues before the Sixth Circuit.
  • Briefed numerous cases commencing in district court and at the USPTO.

USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Experience

  • Argued before PTAB in numerous inter partes reviews (IPR), inter partes reexaminations, ex parte applications.
  • Successfully represented patent owners and petitioners challenging competitive patents and obtained results at a rate much higher than the overall PTAB grant/denial rate.
  • Successfully represented petitioners challenging competitive patents in obtaining grants of IPR petitions.

Arbitration and Other Litigation Experience

  • Served as mediator in over 100 mediations helping parties resolve disputes. 
  • Arbitrated a wide variety of IP matters before the American Arbitration Association
  • Obtained favorable false advertising findings before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau
  • Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) actions
  • Litigated dozens of USPTO trademark oppositions and cancellations

Honors & Recognition

Selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers (2019) 

Named leader in Ohio Intellectual Property - Chambers USA (2016-2018) 

Named one of the Best Lawyers in America (2016-2024)

Designated "Lawyer of the Year" in Cleveland for Patent Law by Best Lawyers in America (2018)

Selected for inclusion in Ohio Rising Stars (2011, 2013, 2014, 2018)

Credentials

Education

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Case Western Reserve University

Admissions – Court

Admissions – State

Professional & Civic

Professional Activities

American Intellectual Property Law Association-Member, Biotech Committee-Liaison to Amicus Committee

Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association-Chair, Chemical Committee

International Trademark Association

Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

American Chemical Society

Community Involvement

Case Western Reserve Law Alumni Association, Board Member 

Teach for America, Northeast Ohio Advisory Board Member

Produce Perks Midwest, Board Member

Accreditation

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

News & Insights

External News & Publications

"How the America Invents Act impacts your business," Smart Business Magazine, November 2011.

"How to keep your intellectual property safe while not infringing on others’ IP," Smart Business Magazine, November 2010.

"Rethinking patents," Smart Business Magazine, May 2008.

“Despite Laches Defense, Patent Owners Have Little Worries,” 8 Ohio Lawyers Weekly 31, May 31, 2004.

Events

Speaking Engagements

"Approaches to Legal Innovation," Nimble Forum: Legal Innovation, April 2019

“Trade Secret Considerations for Businesses” Presentation, University of Akron IP Symposium, March 2018.

“Supreme Court Update on Patent Cases” Presentation, Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association, September, 2017.

“How to Protect Your IP Assets in China” Presentation, Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association, February 2015. 

"Intellectual Property Strategies to Protect Your Valuable Assets," Executive College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, New Orleans, May 2011. 

"Practical Advice and Legal Strategies to Protect Intellectual Property of the Laboratory and Molecular Technologies," Executive College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, New Orleans, May 2009. 

"Best Practices for Avoiding Inequitable Conduct Issues," Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association, October 2008. 

"Intellectual Property Strategies: Two Case Studies," Executive College on Laboratory and Pathology Management, Miami, May 2008. 

“Post-KSR Strategies in the Chemical and Biotech Fields,” Cleveland Intellectual Property Law Association, November 2007.

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