R. David Donoghue is a patent trial attorney and partner with Holland & Knight’s Intellectual Property Group in Chicago.  Recently featured on Chicago Lawyer‘s “40 Under Forty” list for Illinois attorneys, Dave has established himself as a skilled patent trial attorney and trusted counselor to his retail and supply chain clients.

In his most recent patent trial, Dave and his team won a full plaintiff’s verdict, including willfulness, in a trial between competing retail product manufacturers and distributors.  After trial, the Court trebled the damages and awarded plaintiff all of its attorney’s fees.

In his most recent Federal Circuit appeal, Dave represented retailer Boston Proper and argued on behalf of Boston Proper, Nike, Aeropostle and Dick’s Sporting Goods.  After Dave’s oral argument, the Federal Circuit affirmed the trial court’s early summary judgment of noninfringement against patent troll Furnace Brook.

Dave’s other publication, the Chicago IP Litigation Blog, was created in 2006 and recently earned the Chicago Bar Association’s Herman Kogan Media Award for an outstanding series of posts about Chicago’s Local Patent Rules.

Before joining Holland & Knight in 2008, Dave was a founding member of the Technology Licensing and Litigation team at Delphi Technologies, the world’s largest automotive supplier, where he handled U.S. and international patent litigation and licensing matters.  Dave’s experience as in-house patent litigation counsel shapes both how he litigates and how he counsels and cares for his clients.  Dave is keenly aware of how legal issues are viewed and evaluated in a corporate setting based upon his Delphi experience.

Though patent litigation is relatively new to many retailers, it is a significant and growing concern for all retailers, as well as the members of the retail supply chain.  Retail Patent Litigation is a guide to help retailers understand patent litigation and how to effectively and creatively drive their individual cases to positive resolution.

As an Adjunct Professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Dave teaches legal research and writing and intellectual property courses.  He also developed and taught a course on federal district court litigation practice at Solo Practice University.

Dave’s teaching skills extend beyond the classroom, he routinely speaks to groups of all sizes on an array of intellectual property topics, with a particular focus on patent litigation issues and ways to protect your company from the cost and distraction of intellectual property litigation.  Here are examples of Dave’s recent and upcoming presentations:

  • Moderator, “Strategies for Dealing with Non-Practicing Entities,” 3rd Annual IP Trademark, Copyright & Licensing Counsel Forum, an ALM/Corporate Counsel event, The Harvard Club, NYC, September 14-15, 2011
  • “Staving Off Patent Trolls & Protecting Your Budget,” West Publishing CLE Program, July 2011
  • “Controlling Patent Litigation Costs From Inside & Outside,” Rocky Mountain IP & Technology Conference, June 2011
  • “Defending Against Patent Trolls Without Killing Your Budget,” Food Marketing Institute Legal Conference, June 2011
  • “What Every Litigator Needs to Know About Joint Defense Agreements,” ExecSense CLE Program, May 2011
  • “False Patent Marking: Crafting Your Defense as the Law Evolves,” ALI-ABA CLE Program, October 2010
  • “Online Legal-ease: Fair Use, Copyright and Content Aggregation Issues in the Digital Age,” Publishing Business Conference, March 2010
  • “Practical Tips for Defending False Patent Marking Litigation,” Michigan State Bar Spring CLE, March 2010
  • “Northern District of Illinois Local Patent Rule Roundtable Discussion,” Applied Discovery Roundtable, November 2009
  • “Be Pareto Efficient: Control of Social Media, Do Not Let it Control You,” Marketing Strategy and the Law teleconference, November 2009
  • “Seven Steps for Reducing Intellectual Property Budgets & Increasing Effectiveness,” BrightTalk IP Litigation Summit, October 2009
  • “Protecting & Promoting Your Brand With Social Media,” ALI-ABA CLE Program, September 2009

Dave earned a B.S.E in Aerospace Engineering magna cum laude from the University of Michigan and his J.D. cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as the Current Developments Editor for the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.