David I. Berl

David I. Berl is a prominent patent litigator and Co-Chair of the Patent Litigation practice at Williams & Connolly LLP, focusing primarily on high-stakes intellectual property disputes in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and energy sectors. His practice is heavily concentrated on pharmaceutical patent litigation, including Hatch-Waxman and Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) cases, often representing brand-name pharmaceutical companies against generic and biosimilar competitors. His case history indicates a strong preference for representing plaintiffs, with six of his seven tracked appearances on the plaintiff side.

Mr. Berl has served as lead counsel in numerous significant patent trials and appellate proceedings before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has extensively represented Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. as lead counsel in multiple BPCIA cases concerning aflibercept (EYLEA®), securing preliminary injunctions against various biosimilar applicants, including Formycon, Mylan, Celltrion, and Sandoz. Other notable representations include acting as lead counsel for Pfizer in Hatch-Waxman litigation concerning its IBrance product, and for Petroleum GeoServices in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings where he successfully argued for the invalidity of three patents asserted by WesternGeco before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

His experience extends to appellate proceedings, having successfully argued before the Federal Circuit, including for Bayer in a patent suit filed by Biogen that resulted in dismissal. He also has extensive experience in PTAB proceedings, serving as lead counsel in IPRs and co-authoring publications on IPR estoppel.

Before joining Williams & Connolly in 2002, Mr. Berl was a litigation associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and clerked for Judge Alvin A. Schall of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He earned his undergraduate degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997 and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He is admitted to the State Bar of California.