David J. Mahalek

Professional Summary: David J. Mahalek

David J. Mahalek's patent litigation experience is primarily associated with his time as an attorney at the Chicago-based intellectual property firm Niro, Haller & Niro (later Niro Law, Ltd.). During his tenure, he represented patent holders on the plaintiff side. His sole tracked case is an appearance as counsel for the plaintiff, NM, LLC, in a patent infringement suit against The Kroger Co. filed in 2014.

Mahalek was involved as a junior litigation attorney in the notable Intellect Wireless, Inc. v. HTC Corp. and Intellect Wireless, Inc. v. Sharp Corp. patent infringement cases. These cases resulted in significant adverse outcomes for the legal team. In 2012, the district court found the asserted patents unenforceable due to inequitable conduct, a decision affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2013. Subsequently, in 2015, the district court sanctioned Mahalek and other Niro attorneys under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 for unreasonably and vexatiously multiplying the proceedings.

Following these events, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Office of Enrollment and Discipline investigated the matter. In January 2017, Mahalek and the USPTO entered into a settlement agreement that resulted in an 18-month suspension from practice before the USPTO for violations of USPTO ethics rules. The Niro, Haller & Niro firm is now reportedly defunct. There is no readily available public record of Mr. Mahalek's activity in patent litigation or Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings since the suspension period.

According to USPTO records from the disciplinary proceedings, Mr. Mahalek was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2003. No other educational details are available from reliably sourced records.