Fenwick’s David Hadden Named Top IP Lawyer for Fifth Consecutive Year
Fenwick litigation partner David Hadden has been honored by the Daily Journal as one of the top intellectual property lawyers in California in 2022. This is the fifth consecutive year he has received this recognition. The annual list recognizes California lawyers who have made significant contributions to intellectual property law in the past year.
Hadden represents several of the world’s leading technology companies. A top trial lawyer, his growing record of resolving cases by securing summary judgment—a rarity in patent litigation—as well as his successes at trial and at the Federal Circuit, have made him the go-to counsel for patent litigation involving complex technologies.
The Daily Journal noted Hadden “combines a strong background in theoretical physics with his litigation skills to represent tech companies in complex cases.”
Hadden was quoted, conceding: “Theoretical physics is not directly applicable to most cases, but beating your head on a 26-dimensional space gives you some confidence that you can understand the new technology that’s often at issue in my work.” He continued, “Amazon’s Alexa, when you look under the hood, it’s very complex. Neural networks are a fun thing to try and teach a jury about.”
The publication noted a current case Hadden won in defense of Amazon that may reach the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2020, Hadden secured several victories on behalf of Amazon.com, Amazon Web Services and 80+ Amazon Web Services customers against PersonalWeb, which had asserted that those customers infringed several of its patents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed.
In April 2021, PersonalWeb “petitioned the high court for certiorari over the way the Federal Circuit panel cited the obscure Kessler preclusion doctrine to dispose of the case,” according to the Daily Journal.
In the opposition, Hadden and colleagues added “PersonalWeb is an especially undeserving petitioner given the district court’s findings (in awarding the sanction of attorney fees) of the weakness of its infringement case and its litigation misconduct.” Hadden told the Daily Journal, “At the end of the day, we win regardless.”
In 2022, Hadden was one of six Fenwick lawyers named among the top 100 best performing and most active patent litigators in the country, according to Patexia in its second annual Patent Litigation Report. He was also named one of the most active patent lawyers representing defendants.
He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, from IAM Patent 1000, Legal 500 and others. In 2021, Chambers USA honored Fenwick as a leading firm in California and New York for intellectual property and patent litigation.
Hadden’s 2022 Top IP Lawyer profile is available through the Daily Journal (subscription required).