Advises the world’s leading companies at the intersection of technology, innovation and business, from transformative technology transactions to high-stakes Section 337 investigations before the ITC.
Structures and executes sophisticated technology and IP transactions that transform innovation into durable competitive advantage.
Co-leads Akin’s cross-practice AI initiative, advising companies on the development, deployment and commercialization of these transformative technologies in a rapidly evolving legal, regulatory and commercial environment.

David is one of the country’s leading technology lawyers, helping companies build, commercialize, protect and defend the technologies that are shaping tomorrow’s economy. Combining elite International Trade Commission (ITC) advocacy with sophisticated technology and intellectual property (IP) counseling, David brings the technical insight, strategic judgment and commercial perspective needed to solve the most complex technology-driven business challenges.

David co-leads Akin’s cross-practice artificial intelligence (AI) initiative, advising clients on the development, strategic deployment, adoption and commercialization of generative AI, foundation models and other transformative technologies.

David’s Section 337 practice focuses on the fast-paced disputes that can determine market access for innovative products in the United States. He has led more than 40 ITC investigations across every stage of Section 337 proceedings, including institution, trial, appeal and enforcement before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), often alongside parallel proceedings in other forums.

David advises on technology, IP and data-driven transactions involving AI, advanced computing and memory architectures, hyperscale data centers, communications and digital infrastructure, semiconductors, autonomous systems, energy transition, the full oil & gas value chain (upstream, midstream and downstream) and financial technologies, among many other technologies defining the modern economy. He structures domestic and cross-border technology transactions, including platform acquisitions, carve-outs, divestitures, joint ventures, restructurings, strategic alliances, royalty monetizations and IP-backed financings, where technology, IP and commercialization considerations frequently determine transaction and enterprise value.

David is also the founding partner of the firm’s First Generation Lawyers/Social Mobility Firmwide Resource Group, which he continues to co-chair.

Representative Work

Representative Recent ITC Experience

Represented Greentank Technologies Corp. as lead counsel in a three-patent investigation involving Greentank’s oil-vaping cartridges against Shenzhen Smoore Technology Ltd., obtaining a complete victory on multiple independent grounds including non-infringement, invalidity, unenforceability and no domestic industry.
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.
Represented the leading human interface technology company in an ITC investigation involving touchscreen controllers for mobile devices, obtaining a favorable settlement immediately after trial.

Representative Recent Technology Transaction Experience

Advised SLB in its acquisition of the geoscience and petroleum engineering software business portfolio of S&P Global Energy, a leading provider of subsurface software widely used by U.S. onshore and unconventional operators.
Advised 7-Eleven, Inc. in an agreement to acquire 204 stores from Sunoco LP for approximately $1 billion.
Advised Stream Data Centers (SDC) and Stream Realty Partners (SRP) in SRP’s majority stake sale of SDC to Apollo-managed funds, to allow for SDC to scale platform-wide development to meet accelerating demand from hyperscale cloud and AI providers across key Tier 1 and Tier 2 U.S. markets.

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

IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, Leading Private Patent Litigator in Washington, D.C., 2020-2026.
IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists, 2024-2025.
The Legal 500 US, Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission), 2020-2024.
The Legal 500 US, Patents: Litigation (Full Coverage), 2020-2022.

Affiliations and Public Service

Board Member, University of Houston Law Alumni Association.
Member, International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association.
Two-term appointee to the Sister Committee of the City of Alexandria, Virginia.

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, “Trade Secret Cases at the International Trade Commission: Recent Trends and Strategies for Clients,” Akin webinar, May 4, 2021.