David Rokach

David Rokach — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

David Rokach is a partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP's patent litigation group (Chicago), whose practice centers on complex electronics and communications disputes. His docket is dominated by standards-based wireless and semiconductor work: GSM/WCDMA cellular and FRAND licensing (Ericsson v. Samsung), DRAM and JEDEC standard-essential patents (Mosaid v. Micron), VoIP and IETF/ITU standards (Sprint v. Big River), graphics processing (Nvidia v. Samsung, ITC), digital imaging, GPS navigation software, e-commerce user interfaces, computer security, and gaming. Across his 11 tracked appearances he has represented defendants in 9 and plaintiffs in 2, reflecting a predominantly defense-side practice for operating companies — Samsung, Sony, Amazon, Nvidia, Micron, Dell, Lenovo, OnePlus, TP-Link, and Capital One — against NPE assertions, although he has also served as lead counsel for a plaintiff (Snapaid v. Samsung).

Rokach has spent virtually his entire career at Kirkland & Ellis; his only tracked matter outside the firm is Velocity Communication Technologies v. Dell, handled at Ropes & Gray. Notable results include Samsung's bench-trial "unclean hands" defense win against Staton Techiya in the Eastern District of Texas (May 2024), a Litigation Daily "Litigator of the Week" runner-up; summary judgment of non-infringement for Nvidia in BIAX v. Nvidia, affirmed at the Federal Circuit (498 F. App'x 998); summary judgment of invalidity in Encyclopaedia Britannica v. Denso, affirmed on appeal; a Federal Circuit reversal of an ITC exclusion order for Samsung (545 F.3d 1340); and § 101 invalidity summary judgment for Sony in Bot M8 v. Sony.

Rokach also appears regularly in PTAB/IPR proceedings; he signed Samsung's stipulation letters in the IPR2022-01078/01098/01099/01106 family against Staton Techiya, coordinating IPRs with parallel district court litigation, and he was named to Lawdragon's 2025 Leaders in Global IP list. Per Martindale, he holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School (2003), was first admitted to the Illinois bar in 2003, and is admitted to the Federal Circuit, Second Circuit, and Northern District of Illinois.