Overview
David Tennant is a partner in the Intellectual Property practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He serves clients in all aspects of IP-related legal work with a particular focus on proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and litigation in district courts.
Mr. Tennant draws on his technical background in electrical engineering and over 20 years of legal experience representing clients spanning a variety of sectors and technologies. This includes semiconductors (process and device), circuits, processors, memory, image sensors, computers, servers, databases, computer networks, software and related systems, consumer electronics and related devices, and mobile products and services.
Mr. Tennant has served as lead counsel for his clients in numerous PTAB proceedings and has a proven track record there. When representing petitioners, he has over a 90% success rate post institution, and Patexia listed Mr. Tennant as the #1 Best Performing Attorney in the PTAB. Mr. Tennant also represents clients in district court litigations, which often concern the same patents challenged in the PTAB.
Mr. Tennant brings knowledge and insight to transactional matters including patent licensing negotiations and often finds clever ways to amicably resolve disputes between parties. Further, clients turn to Mr. Tennant for his strategic guidance on patent infringement, invalidity, and enforceability issues and on establishing, developing, maintaining and leveraging their patent portfolios to maximize value.
Mr. Tennant is a frequent lecturer on all aspects of intellectual property protection. International in experience and outlook, he has spent extended periods of time working abroad with a Japanese client and has served as in-house counsel for a leading Japan-based international consumer electronics manufacturer.
Recognitions
- Patent Star, 2019-2023, Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars
- IAM Patent 1000, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM), 2012-2023
- Number 1 "Best-Performing Attorney" in representing inter-partes review (IPR) petitioners, Patexia Inc., 2023
- Number 2 "Best-Performing Attorney" in representing inter-partes review (IPR) petitioners, Patexia Inc., 2018
Representations
- Wonderland Switzerland AG as a plaintiff in a litigation in the District of Delaware. Successfully obtained a jury verdict of infringement on all patents and a permanent injunction against all infringing products of the defendant Evenflo Company.
- ResMed in 7 IPRs before the PTAB involving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines. Successfully obtained final written decisions finding all challenged claims unpatentable, invalidating over 140 claims across seven patents.
- Meta Platforms in numerous IPRs before the PTAB against Jawbone Innovations, Eight kHz, Angel Technologies, and Wrinkl involving noise suppression, messaging, and other technologies. Successfully obtained final written decisions finding all claims unpatentable. Some cases are still pending.
- Carl Zeiss Meditec (“CZM”) as lead counsel in an IPR before the PTAB with CZM as the patent owner. Prevailed at the institution decision with a full denial of the petition for IPR, achieving a complete victory for CZM.
- Unified Patents as lead counsel in numerous IPRs before the PTAB against patent owners mCom IP, Longhorn HD, Motion Offense, Contemporary Display, and Mobile Pay. All resulted in final written decisions finding all challenged claims unpatentable. Longhorn HD appealed to the Federal Circuit, which affirmed the final written decision.
- CuriosityStream in multiple district court litigations in the District of Delaware. All settled favorably for the client.
- Bayer CropScience in a post grant review proceeding before the PTAB that resulted in a favorable settlement.
- Square as lead counsel in 9 IPRs before the PTAB challenging the validity of 8 patents, and over 100 claims, concerning mobile technology. Successfully obtained final written decisions finding all challenged claims unpatentable, resulting in a dismissal of the underlying litigation and a complete victory for Square.
- American Express as lead counsel in an IPR before the PTAB against patents owner Willam Grecia that resulted in a favorable settlement for the client.
- Toshiba Memory Corporation as lead counsel in an IPR before the PTAB that challenged the validity of asserted claims concerning semiconductor devices. Successfully obtained a final written decision finding all challenged claims unpatentable.
- MSI Computer Corp. as lead counsel in an IPR against Walltex Microelecronics. Successfully obtained a final written decision in favor of MSI. On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed on all grounds thus rendering a complete victory for the client.
- Walmart as lead counsel in 7 IPRs before the PTAB that challenged the validity of asserted claims concerning air mattresses. Successfully reached an amicable resolution for the client.
- GlobalFoundries as lead counsel in 2 IPRs before the PTAB that challenged the validity of all asserted claims concerning semiconductor processing. Successfully obtained final decisions finding all challenged claims unpatentable. On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed on all grounds thus rendering a complete victory for the client.
- GlobalFoundries as lead counsel in 27 IPRs before the PTAB that challenged the validity of 275 claims of seven patents concerning semiconductor devices and processing. Final decisions in all proceedings held all claims unpatentable, resulting in a dismissal of the underlying litigation and a complete victory for the client.
- Technology companies in over 20 patent licensing negotiations adverse to product companies and non-practicing entities (NPEs). Negotiations with product companies involved extensive analysis and assertion of patent portfolios that resulted in amicable resolutions through bilateral cross licensing arrangements. Negotiations with NPEs involved many technologies including streaming including streaming standards, semiconductors, circuits, automotive, memories, processors, etc. All negotiations with NPEs ended amicably including where the parties walked away from any deal.
- A technology company in a confidential international arbitration concerning allegations of breach of patent license. The arbitration settled at an advance stage of the proceeding, before hearing.
- Panasonic Corporation in multiple patent infringement litigations in the District of Delaware relating to liquid crystal display (LCD) and semiconductor memory technologies. The actions settled favorably for Panasonic.
- Panasonic Corporation in patent infringement litigations before the International Trade Commission, relating to semiconductor processes, devices and microprocessors. The actions settled favorably for Panasonic.
- Panasonic Corporation in a patent infringement case in the Northern District of California, relating to digital cameras, image sensors and website security. The actions settled favorably for Panasonic.
Matters may have been handled prior to joining Paul Hastings.
Involvement
- Represented The Shakespeare Globe as plaintiff in a copyright litigation in the District of New Jersey concerning unauthorized sales of The Globe’s performances in the United States. After a lengthy battle, the parties settled favorably for The Globe.