Robert Appleby

Robert Appleby is a highly experienced patent litigator and a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice encompasses intellectual property litigation, including patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and related contract, unfair competition, and antitrust claims in both state and federal courts. Appleby's technological focus primarily spans "electrical arts," such as internet data networking, wireless telephony, audio and video compression, optical amplifiers, internet browsers, and software. He also possesses experience in design patent litigation.

While adept at representing both plaintiffs and defendants, his tracked case appearances and extensive publicly noted work demonstrate a strong preference for defending operating companies. He has represented major technology companies like Samsung, IBM, Intel, and Apple Inc. in high-stakes patent disputes. Notable defense successes include securing a jury verdict of noninfringement and patent invalidity for cellular service providers, an outcome recognized as "Defense Verdict of the Week" by The National Law Journal, and obtaining summary judgment of patent invalidity for TIBCO Software. He was also recognized as a runner-up for "Litigator of the Week" for achieving an "unclean hands" defense win for Samsung in a patent litigation concerning its Bixby AI feature.

Among his significant case work, Appleby was Lead Counsel for Samsung Electronics Co. in VB Assets, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., a case involving VoiceBox NLU patents related to Samsung's Bixby 2.0 voice assistant. This case concluded with a split dismissal, indicating a potential licensing resolution. He also boasts a record of success representing plaintiffs, including securing a $1.53 billion jury award for Alcatel-Lucent in an audio-compression patent infringement case against Microsoft, and a $357 million verdict in a user-interface patent trial, both for Alcatel-Lucent. His appellate experience includes successfully vacating and reversing a multimillion-dollar jury verdict for Osram Sylvania.

Appleby is also active in post-grant proceedings, appearing as counsel for petitioners in Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), including for Intel Corporation and in connection with patents asserted against Samsung. He is admitted to the New York bar (1995) and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center (1994), an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester (1991), and a B.S. in Computer Engineering, with High Honors, from Rochester Institute of Technology (1988).