Represents clients in intellectual property (IP) disputes at the International Trade Commission (ITC), in federal court, and in proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Co-leads the firm’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) practice and counsels clients on the implications of judicial decisions, legislative action and disruptive technologies such as AI, along with the impacts and risks to their business, products and customers.
Provides guidance for innovative IP-based domestic and global transactions.

David Vondle’s practice focuses on complex IP disputes, particularly in Section 337 investigations at the ITC in Washington, D.C., and providing strategic IP counsel on significant corporate transactions. He co-leads Akin’s cross-practice AI practice as well as the firm’s First Generation Lawyers/Social Mobility Firmwide Resource Group.

David has extensive experience as lead counsel in patent cases having critical commercial value for technology companies relating to hardware and software, satellite and wireless communications, clean technology, data storage systems, semiconductors, medical devices, and consumer electronics, among others. He has successfully represented U.S. and foreign companies in more than thirty ITC investigations through trial, appeal, and proceedings before the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In addition, he represents clients at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and in federal and state courts.

He also advises buyers, sellers, investors, and creditors on domestic and global transactions involving IP, including acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and joint ventures involving numerous technologies and industries. His experience further includes IP-driven transactions and royalty monetizations involving 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, authentication solutions, autonomous vehicles, aerospace and air mobility, augmented and virtual reality, drones and unmanned aircraft systems, vehicle protection systems, data-driven over-the-top (OTT) advertising and content on streaming video services, payment and financial services, logistics, agribusiness, nutritional products, as well as in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.

David also advises clients on the implementation of programs to protect trade secrets and other confidential information for clients developing innovative and valuable technology.

As part of his dedication to pro bono work, David and his team received an award from Akin for the Pro Bono Firmwide Transactional Matter of the year in 2020.

Representative Work

Representative ITC Experience

Represents Greentank Technologies Corp. as lead counsel in three-patent investigation involving Greentank's oil-vaping cartridges against Shenzhen Smoore Technology Ltd.
Represented 3M as lead counsel in a three-patent dispute involving 3M’s ground-breaking shielded ribbon cable technology against Amphenol Corporation. Just before the start of the trial, Amphenol entered into a consent order addressing all accused products.
Obtained a complete victory for a leading consumer electronics company where the complainant asserted five patents related to video processing technology that would have excluded virtually all of the client’s products from the United States. The parties settled after the ITC affirmed a determination of no violation.
Represented the leading human interface technology company in an ITC investigation involving touchscreen controllers for mobile devices, obtaining a favorable settlement after trial.
Represented a leading consumer electronics company in an ITC investigation relating to televisions and television tuners, obtaining a complete win at trial that was affirmed in its entirety by the ITC. The complainant subsequently withdrew its appeal to the Federal Circuit.

Representative District Court Litigation

Represented 3M Company in the Central District of California, asserting false advertising and counterfeit sales of 3M’s industry-leading personal protective equipment (PPE), including its N95 respirators, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team secured a complete victory for 3M, obtaining a permanent injunction and other relief against a company marketing and selling counterfeit 3M PPE.
Represented 3M in defense of a three-patent patent infringement case filed by BD Technology Partners in the District of Minnesota. The technology relates to smart air filter patents. The case is in the early stages of litigation.
Represented one of the world’s leading Internet and software companies in patent litigation involving a variety of software technologies.

Education
J.D., University of Houston Law Center, cum laude, 2002
M.S., Ohio State University, 1999
B.S., North Carolina State University, magna cum laude, 1996

Bar Admissions
California
District of Columbia
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Recognitions

The Legal 500 US, Patents: Litigation (Full Coverage), 2020-2022.
The Legal 500 US, Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission), 2020-2023.
IAM Patent 1000—The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, leading private patent litigator in Washington, D.C., 2020-2023.
Recognized by the Federal Circuit Bar Association with the Pro Bono Advocacy Award, 2012 to 2014.

Affiliations and Public Service

Member, Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies Committee for the Intellectual Property Owner’s Association (IPO)
Member, James Smithson Society of the Smithsonian Institution.
Member, International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association.
Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association. International Trade Commission committee.
Appointed to the Sister Sisters Committee of the City of Alexandria, Virginia in 2020 and re-appointed in 2022.

Speeches and Publications

Presenter, “Managing the Emergence of New AI Tools Affecting IP and Copyright Law, and the Hurdles to Obtaining Patent Rights for Invention,” American Conference Institute's AI Law, Ethics and Compliance Conference, October 31-November 1, 2023.
Presenter, “Insights into Recent Domestic Industry Decisions and the Increasing Role of the Economic Prong Requirement,” American Conference Institute's ITC Litigation & Enforcement Conference, June 7, 2022
Presenter, “Evaluating the Implications of Trade Secret Jurisprudence at the ITC,” American Conference Institute’s ITC Litigation & Enforcement Conference, July 27, 2021.
Presenter, “Trade Secret Cases at the International Trade Commission: Strategies for Using the ITC for Trade Secret Protection and Recent Decisions,” Philadelphia ACC, July 20, 2021.
Presenter, Trade Secret Cases at the International Trade Commission: Recent Trends and Strategies for Clients, Akin webinar, May 4, 2021.
Presenter, Trends in Use of the ITC for Non-Traditional, Non-Patent Purposes, American Conference Institute’s Think Tank on ITC Litigation and Enforcement, August 24-25, 2020.
Presenter, Corporate Challenges – Innovation and Patents, Federal Circuit Bar Association Global Series, October 14-16, 2019.
Presenter, Beyond Patents: U.S. Steel and the Next Wave of Section 337 Cases, American Conference Institute’s Think Tank on ITC Litigation and Enforcement, June 26-27, 2019.
Presenter, Patent Administration and Validity Processes, Federal Circuit Bar Association Global Series on Innovation and IP Leadership, April 29, 2019.
Presenter, Innovation and Patent Systems: Global Review, Federal Circuit Bar Association Global Series, October 10-12, 2018.