John (Jay) Neukom
First-chair trial lawyer who represents publicly traded and large private companies in high-stakes courtroom disputes against direct competitors
Jay serves as lead trial counsel for publicly traded and large private companies in high-stakes courtroom disputes against direct competitors. He has served as lead counsel in over 125 technology disputes in federal and state courts around the country, as well as before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Patent Trial & Appeal Board and in arbitrations before AAA, JAMS, FINRA, ICC and BCICAC.
At the podium, Jay has taken 21 cases to trial verdict or arbitration award. Through judgment and settlement, he has defeated over $3 billion in claims against clients, recovered over $450 million for them and secured contract reformation, IP assignments and injunctions. He has successfully argued appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the California Courts of Appeal.
Experience
Jay’s representations before joining Davis Polk include:
- Lead trial counsel for Grace, defending patent and Lanham Act claims over combustion promoters. 3-week trial, D-Md: judgment for Grace.
- Lead trial counsel for data center operator asserting contract claims over network security. 2-week trial: JAMS award for operator.
- Lead trial counsel for head of R&D accused of trade secret theft by employer. 3-week trial: AAA award of $17,000 (employer claimed $54M).
- Lead trial counsel for real estate fund asserting contract claims. 1-week trial, Miami-Dade: judgment for the fund.
- Lead trial counsel for network security company asserting contract claims against telecom company over data centers. 1-week trial: BCICAC award for the client.
- Lead trial counsel for Fortune 500 company asserting trade secrets against executive. 2-week trial: JAMS award for the company, finding “despicable” behavior.
- Lead trial counsel for Advantest, asserting trade secrets against AEM and Lattice over semiconductor testing. $20M payment to Advantest.
- Lead counsel for Fortinet, defending patent claims by Realtime over data compression. D-Del: Dismissal. Fed-Cir: Affirmed.
- Lead counsel for GAF, defending patent claims by Kirsch over underlayment. ITC: Dismissal. PTAB: All claims invalidated. D-NJ: Dismissal. Fed-Cir: Affirmed.
- Lead counsel for Telegram against Lantah, asserting Lanham Act claims. ND-Cal: Injunction. 9th-Cir: Affirmed.
- Lead appellee counsel for Kia, defending Lanham Act claims asserted by Allstate. 9th-Cir: Affirmed.
- Lead trial counsel for Fortinet, defending patent claims by NPS over network gateways. ND-Cal: Dismissal in exchange for $0.
- Lead trial counsel for networking company defending executive contract claims. Two 1-week trials: Two JAMS awards for company.
- Lead counsel for solar company defending trade secret claims by competitor. Santa Clara: Injunction denied.
- Lead counsel for Spirit (patent, jet engine, dismissal for Spirit), Coty (trade secret, cosmetic formulations, defeated injunction), Regis (trade secret, POS software, defeated injunction), David Yurman (patent, procured injunction), Rothy’s (patent, agreed ban on copied goods).
- Trial counsel for Cisco (jury trial, networking), UniRAM (jury trial, DRAM, $36M judgment), UniRAM (bench trial, judgment for UniRAM); Mass (jury trial, monitor design, $5M judgment), and HTC (ITC, patent, smartphones).
Recognition
IAM Patent 1000 - California
Managing IP – National and California, Patent Star
Daily Journal – “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers,” 2018-2024
Daily Journal – “Top Trade Secret Lawyers,” 2019-2021
Law360 – “Top 40 Under 40,” 2014
The Recorder – “Lawyers on the Fast Track,” 2012
Lawdragon – “500 Leading Litigators in America,” 2023-25
Education
- Executive Editor, Stanford Law Review
Clerkships
Qualifications and admissions
- State of California