Sean Cunningham

Sean Cunningham is a highly experienced patent trial lawyer and the Global Co-Chair & US Chair of Intellectual Property & Technology at DLA Piper. With nearly three decades in practice, he is a Chambers-ranked first-chair patent trial lawyer known for handling complex patent cases in federal district courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC). His practice focuses on representing global technology, medical device, and consumer products companies, with specific expertise spanning technologies like Wi-Fi chips, anti-virus software, and SRAM chips, as well as a range of life sciences and medical device patents.

Cunningham primarily operates on the defense side, representing major operating companies. All four of his tracked appearances are on behalf of defendants, consistent with DLA Piper's recognition as a leading firm in the defense of U.S. District Court patent cases. He has defended global technology companies in coordinated patent assertions across multiple forums and has been lead counsel for clients such as Microsoft, Lenovo, and Motorola.

His notable representations include securing a significant victory for Samsung Electronics Co. in Maxell, Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the Eastern District of Texas, where a $112 million jury verdict was overturned, and claims in two asserted patents were invalidated. Cunningham was also lead counsel for Lenovo and Motorola Mobility in various patent disputes involving ITC, district court actions, and IPR proceedings, achieving a favorable venue transfer. Other achievements include a landmark post-trial ruling on patent damages for his client in Cornell v. Hewlett-Packard, which was cited on the U.S. Senate floor regarding patent damages reform, and winning a full defense jury verdict for a data protection software client where asserted patents were found invalid. He also achieved a walk-away defense victory for NXP Semiconductors in an ITC case involving Wi-Fi chips.

Cunningham possesses extensive experience in post-grant proceedings, regularly appearing in Inter Partes Review (IPR) and other post-grant proceedings. His DLA Piper profile highlights his defense of global technology companies in IPR proceedings, and he is recommended by The Legal 500 for "Patents: Prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)." He was admitted to the California Bar in 1994, following his education at the University of Kansas, where he earned a B.A. in 1991 and a J.D. in 1994.