David Aaron Nelson

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David Aaron Nelson — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Focus areas. Nelson's practice is patent infringement litigation centered on electronics and computer technology, consistent with his B.S. in electrical engineering (Stanford, 1987). Reported subject matter includes wireless and telecommunications standards (3G protocols), semiconductors, network security, storage/RAID architecture, encryption and secure data storage, and software. His firm biography lists client work for Qualcomm, Nokia, IBM, Motorola, Symantec and TSMC, and notes trials in the Eastern District of Texas, District of Delaware, Northern District of California, Eastern District of Virginia and the ITC. This is a technology-side rather than life-sciences practice; no pharma or Hatch-Waxman work appears in the sources reviewed.

Side preference. The tracked data is thin — one appearance, on the defendant side (0 plaintiff / 1 defendant) — so it should not be read as a full picture. Web sources indicate a predominantly defense-side practice for operating technology companies (Google, IBM, Symantec, Motorola, Samsung, Blue Coat, KeyMe), with occasional offensive work for patent owners (e.g., Qualcomm asserting patents against Apple; a video-server patent tried to a 7% royalty verdict). He also has unrebutted ITC defense experience. No evidence was found of a plaintiff-side NPE/PAE assertion practice.

Firm context. Nelson is a Chicago-based partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Co-Chair of the firm's National IP Litigation Practice. Before joining Quinn Emanuel in early 2009, he was at Latham & Watkins (associate 1995–1999, partner 2000–2009), per his firm biography and contemporaneous legal-press coverage of the lateral move.

Notable matters. Reported results include: a jury finding that Apple infringed three Qualcomm patents (S.D. Cal. 2019); a Samsung win against Apple in which the jury rejected Apple on the two primary patents and awarded under 5% of the amount sought; a defense verdict for Blue Coat against Finjan that reduced exposure from roughly $50 million sought to under $500,000; a Symantec Delaware jury verdict of non-infringement and invalidity on all asserted claims; a defense win for Motorola in Apple's ITC action, affirmed by the Commission; an indefiniteness invalidity ruling for IBM/Trusteer affirmed by the Federal Circuit; a defense verdict for KeyMe in E.D. Tex. (Judge Gilstrap) on 18 asserted claims; and a complete E.D. Tex. win over Acacia followed by a granted attorneys' fees motion. In the tracked matter, Google LLC v. Security First Innovations, LLC (the parallel E.D. Va. case is Security First Innovations, LLC v. Google LLC, No. 2:23-cv-00097), SFI — a non-producing entity — asserted secure-data-storage/encryption patents against Google Cloud and Google Drive; the district court stayed the case pending IPR, and in December 2024 denied SFI's motion to lift the stay as to the '140 patent. Nelson's role is listed as senior national co-counsel.

PTAB / IPR. The tracked Google matter turned substantially on IPRs (e.g., IPR2024-00213 and -00215), and Nelson's profile describes Federal Circuit argument experience. However, the IPR petitions in that matter appear to have been filed by other counsel of record, and the sources reviewed do not show Nelson as a routine PTAB practitioner in his own name. He should be described as an IPR-informed district court trial lawyer rather than a frequent PTAB advocate, pending further verification.

Bar / education. Admitted in Illinois (1992); J.D., Northwestern University School of Law (1992); B.S., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (1987). Ranked IAM Patent 1000 Gold (Illinois, litigation) 2024–2026 and Chambers USA Illinois IP Band 1.