Helena Kiepura

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Helena D. Kiepura — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Focus areas. Kiepura is a patent trial lawyer whose practice centers on Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where DLA Piper's own bio credits her with litigating more than forty investigations. Her district court work spans semiconductors, computer hardware and software, consumer electronics, beverage-dispensing devices, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas equipment, and medical-aesthetic technology; she describes particular sector experience in high tech, medical devices, and consumer goods, and her technical background includes a degree in biological sciences. The tracked docket is consistent with that profile — the Maxell/Samsung, SoftView, and VB Assets matters all involve consumer electronics and mobile device functionality — though it should be noted the tracked list is dominated by one client (Samsung) and does not, on its own, reflect the pharma, mechanical, and consumer-goods work described in her published bio.

Side preference. She works both sides but skews defense. Of the five tracked appearances, four are defendant-side (Maxell v. Samsung, SoftView v. Samsung, VB Assets v. Samsung, and one untitled matter) against one plaintiff-side matter (Samsung v. Maxell, Samsung's mirror-image offensive action). Legal 500's ITC ranking describes her as "prolific as ITC defence counsel," and her defense work includes NPE/PAE-facing matters such as SoftView and VB Assets and the Intellectual Ventures litigation against Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She is not exclusively a defense lawyer, however: her ITC work for Honeywell (as complainant, against Zebra) and for a beer-dispensing client produced offensive results, including a reported $360 million eve-of-trial settlement for Honeywell.

Firm context and notable cases. Kiepura has been a partner in DLA Piper's Patent Litigation group in Washington, DC, since joining in June 2021 from Kirkland & Ellis; she serves as Vice Chair of the firm's International Trade Commission practice. Her most prominent tracked matter is the Maxell/Samsung dispute: after an Eastern District of Texas jury returned a $112 million willful-infringement verdict against Samsung in May 2025, Judge Robert Schroeder III granted Samsung's motion for judgment as a matter of law, invalidating claims in two of the three asserted patents and finding insufficient evidence of infringement on all three — a result Law.com's "Litigator of the Week" column flagged in November 2025. Other reported results include the Intellectual Ventures v. HPE litigation (five Western District of Texas cases, an IPR, and a Delaware declaratory-judgment win on subject-matter jurisdiction) and the Maxell v. Lenovo/Motorola disputes, where the team obtained a Western District of Texas venue dismissal and transfer to the Northern District of Illinois. Note that firm press materials and third-party rankings list her as part of larger trial teams (Sean Cunningham, Erin Gibson, and others) rather than as sole lead in the Samsung matters.

PTAB/IPR and credentials. She appears in PTAB proceedings but not at the volume of her ITC practice; publicly available records show her as backup counsel for HPE in IPR2022-00906 (Intellectual Ventures II), and her firm bio cites IPR work in the Maxell v. Lenovo and Intellectual Ventures matters. Bar admissions: District of Columbia (admitted November 4, 2011), Illinois, and the USPTO (Reg. No. 64,441). Education: J.D., University of Illinois College of Law; B.S., Cornell University. She is ranked in Chambers USA for International Trade: Intellectual Property (Section 337) and named a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500.

Sourcing caveat: the firm-history and education details above come from DLA Piper's June 2021 lateral-hire announcement, her DLA Piper and AIPLA profiles, Legal 500, and publicly filed PTAB and district court documents. One third-party site (akd.partners) reproduces her DLA Piper biography nearly verbatim, including references to "the DLA team," which suggests a mirrored or syndicated profile rather than an actual change of firm; the tracked case data and every primary firm source I located list her current firm as DLA Piper.