Donald R. Dunner

Partner

Donald Dunner has worked in all phases of patent law, including prosecution, licensing, litigation, validity and infringement studies, and counseling. He has vast technical experience in the areas of chemical engineering, chemistry, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Dunner has litigated numerous cases in the federal district courts and is best known for appellate practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and its predecessor court, the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. He has had significant success overturning jury and other verdicts handed down by lower district courts, and earned the reputation of being one of the finest litigators in the country. The New York Times reported that he has argued more Federal Circuit cases than any other litigator in the United States.

Mr. Dunner served as chairman of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for the first ten years of the Court's existence and participated in the drafting of the Court's rules (1982-1992). He continuously served as chair or co-chair of the Planning Committee for the judicial conferences of the Court of Appeals and CCPA (1974-1992). 

Highlights

• Most notable cases involved the complete reversal of $80 million jury verdict for Mattel’s Hot WheelsTM toys and the successful argument of the largest ($290 million) patent verdict sustained on appeal in i4i v. Microsoft.
• Former examiner with the USPTO. 
• Served as a law clerk to the Honorable Noble J. Johnson, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
• Professorial lecturer at the George Washington University School of Law, teaching a course on Federal Circuit practice.

Professional Recognition

• Recognized by the George Washington University Law School students as Adjunct Professor of the Year, 2012.
• Featured in The Am Law Litigation Daily as the "Litigator of the Week," January 6, 2011.
• Recognized as a leader in the field of Intellectual Property Law by Chambers USA, 2007-2008; with a special recognition as a Star Individual in IP, 2009-2011.
• AIPLA Excellence Award, 2011.
• Recognized in Benchmark: Appellate, a part of Benchmark: Litigation, The Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys as leading appellate practitioners in the Federal Circuit, 2011.
• Recognized as the leading patent litigator before the Federal Circuit, and as a leading patent litigator nationally and in the D.C. area by Intellectual Asset Management, 2011.
• Named as one of the top 25 pre-eminent patent practitioners in the world by The Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers - Best of the Best, 2010.
• Recognized by The National Law Journal as one of three of The Decade's Most Influential Lawyers in intellectual property, 2010.
• Recognized as a senior figure in the field of intellectual property in Washington, D.C. by Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer, 2010.
• Inducted to Intellectual Asset Management's IP Hall of Fame, 2010.
• Named by Best Lawyers, D.C.'s Intellectual Property Litigation Lawyer of the Year, 2010, 2012; D.C.'s Patent Litigation Lawyer of the Year, 2012; and selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, 1995-2012.
• Listed in the Washingtonian Magazine as a top IP lawyer,” 2007, 2009, and 2011.
• Recognized by Legal Times as one of 30 legal visionaries who have helped shape the legal community in Washington, D.C. over the past 30 years, 2008.
• Inducted into the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, 2004.
• Recipient of the NJIPL Jefferson Medal, 2004.
• Selected as Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1995.
• Member of the Secretary of Commerce's Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform, 1991-1992.
• Member of the U.S. Delegation to the Diplomatic Conference on Revision of the Paris Convention, 1981-1982.
• Member of the President's Advisory Committee on Industrial Innovation, 1978-1979.
• Consultant to the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System, 1974.

Professional Activities

• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (2004-present)
• ABA House of Delegates (2002-present)
• American College of Trial Lawyers (1995-present)
• American Bar Association (chair, Section on Intellectual Property Law, 1995-1996)
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (president, 1979-1980)
• District of Columbia Bar (chair, Steering Committee, Division 14, 1976-1977)
• Bar Association of the District of Columbia (chair, Section on Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, 1964-1965; Board of Directors, 1965-1966)
• National Council of Patent Law Associations (secretary, 1963-1966)

Select Publications

• Coauthor. "2009 Patent Law Decisions of the Federal Circuit," American University Law Review, April 30, 2010.
• Coauthor. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: Practice and Procedure, Matthew Bender, 1976-present.
• Coauthor. Patent Law Perspectives, Matthew Bender, 1982-1988.