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Lawyers

David Lisson

Lawyers

David Lisson

Partner
IP Litigation
Northern California

Accomplished trial lawyer, representing technology companies in their high-stakes IP disputes, including patent, copyright, and trade-secret cases.

Technology companies rely on David in their highest-stakes disputes. He has tried cases in courts nationwide and in the International Trade Commission, securing substantial jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of plaintiffs, and pre- and post-trial judgments on behalf of defendants. He also handles appellate proceedings and works closely with clients to resolve business-critical IP matters outside the courtroom.

David heads Davis Polk’s GenAI litigation initiative, focused on developers, enterprise technology companies, and organizations implementing GenAI.

David has been recognized by Chambers USA, IAM Patent 1000 and other publications. In Chambers, clients describe him as a “terrific lawyer,” “great counselor,” and “very, very good strategic thinker.” In IAM Patent 1000, peers noted that he is “simply amazing at plotting trial strategy from beginning to end. In the biggest litigations, his command of so many facts and issues is unrivalled.”

David serves on the board of Open Door Legal.

Experience highlights

  • Representing Comcast in a patent case initiated by WhereverTV, Inc. related to Comcast’s X1 interactive guide.  Following a 6-day jury trial, the court granted judgment as a matter of law of no-infringement for Comcast
  • Represented Magnolia Medical Technologies in a patent case against Magnolia’s sole competitor in the field of Initial Specimen Diversion Devices.  After a one-week trial, the jury found that Kurin infringed Magnolia’s patent, rejected Kurin’s invalidity defenses, and awarded a 17.7% royalty
  • Represented prominent social media company in a copyright case in which the court granted his client’s motion to dismiss in material part
  • Represented Comcast in numerous patent cases initiated by Rovi Corporation and its affiliates in which Rovi asserted 37 patents in multiple federal district courts, the International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit, and the Supreme Court including:
    • Obtained findings of no violation, voluntary termination, or clearance of design-arounds of 19 patents by the International Trade Commission
    • Secured transfer from the Eastern District of Texas to the Southern District of New York and then pre-trial dismissal or summary judgment on 7 patents
    • Obtained Rule 36 affirmance of patent invalidity in the Federal Circuit
  • Represented Comcast in patent infringement cases against Sprint Communications, encompassing over 30 patents asserted in federal courts across the country including:
    • Obtained a jury verdict finding that Sprint infringed three Comcast patents in the District of Delaware, which the Federal Circuit affirmed
    • Secured a complete victory in the District of Delaware through summary judgment as to certain Sprint patents and judgment as a matter of law as to others, which the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed
    • Resolved dispute in the District of Kansas, in which Sprint sought close to $1 billion in damages
  • Represented Transcend Medical, Inc. in a patent case against its sole competitor in the field of Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery, in which Transcend obtained summary judgment of non-infringement and invalidity as to eight of the asserted claims
  • Represented VNUS Medical Technologies in a patent case in which VNUS secured a $45 million jury verdict in its favor
  • Represented Yahoo! Inc. in patent case brought by Xerox Corp. in which Yahoo! obtained a very favorable pre-trial settlement
View more experience

Insights

European Parliament approves AI Act

Credentials

Recognition

Chambers USA – Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation, California

IAM Patent 1000 – California

Managing IP – National and California, Notable Practitioner

Education
Master of the Science of Law (J.S.M.), Stanford Law School
J.D., University of Toronto Faculty of Law
  • Bronze Medal
B.A., History, Yale University
  • cum laude
Clerkships
Law Clerk, Hon. Ian Binnie, Supreme Court of Canada, 2005-2006
Professional history
  • Partner, 2017-present
  • Counsel, 2014-2017
  • Davis Polk since 2007
Qualifications and admissions
  • State of California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, C.D. California
  • U.S. District Court, E.D. Texas
  • U.S. District Court, N.D. California
  • U.S. District Court, S.D. California
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