Overview
Adam Alper is a leading member of the intellectual property litigation group in Kirkland’s Bay Area office. Focusing primarily on patent and trade secret disputes, and predominantly representing clients in the semiconductor, telecommunications, computer hardware and pharmaceutical industries, Adam regularly litigates high-stakes competitor cases involving concurrent claims of patent, trade secret and copyright violations. These disputes often involve co-pending actions in US District Courts, and before the USPTO PTAB and USITC, that are frequently litigated through the trial and post-trial phases.
Since 2018, Adam has secured over $2.1 billion in damages awards and settlements on behalf of his clients in IP litigations, including $1.75 billion in three separate plaintiff-side jury verdicts won since September 2019: a $855 million jury verdict in October 2020 on behalf of Cognizant against a competitor in a software-related trade secret and copyright case; a $765 million jury verdict in February 2020 on behalf of Motorola Solutions in a trade secret case against a competitor, Hytera; and a $125 million jury verdict in September 2019 on behalf of EagleView Technologies in a patent case against a competitor. On the defense side, Adam has obtained numerous defense-side jury verdicts, including a complete defense jury verdict for Samsung in February 2024 in a multi-patent case brought in Waco, Texas alleging $4 billion in damages, which would have been the largest patent verdict in U.S. history. These verdicts were profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature, and received extensive additional media coverage including in The New York Times, Reuters, and Bloomberg Law. In March 2022, The American Lawyer featured Adam’s years-long jury trial win streak in an article entitled “All They Do Is Win, Win, Win: Dissecting a Trial Hot Streak.”
Adam’s achievements were recently featured in Law360, which named him “MVP of the Year” for Trials in 2020 and 2021, and Adam and his team were named Law360’s “Practice Groups of the Year” in both Trials and Intellectual Property. Adam has been recognized by Chambers USA every year since 2015 in the area of Intellectual Property, with comments that he is “a terrific trial attorney on his feet who stands out for his dedication and commitment to cases” and “a great strategic thinker.” The Daily Journal named Adam to its 2020–2022 “Top Trade Secrets Lawyers” lists and its “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers” lists in 2014 and 2018–2024. Adam was, further, recognized by The Recorder as one of its 2020 “California Trailblazers” and named a “Ground Breaker” in the 2015 Litigation Department of the Year Awards. In the 2019 CLAY Awards, the Daily Journal recognized Adam and the team as “Attorneys of the Year for Intellectual Property” for their successful representation of Cisco in its long-running IP battle: Cisco Systems Inc. v. Arista Networks Inc. He has also been recognized in The National Law Journal’s 2015 IP Hot List for his key role in a precedent-setting patent litigation case involving claims on Wi-Fi technology. Adam was named one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in 2009–2012 and has been recognized in The Legal 500 United States for his patent litigation work since 2011.
Experience
Representative Matters
Lead counsel for TriZetto and its parent company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, in a trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and breach of contract matter case against Syntel, involving healthcare software systems. In the first in-person civil jury trial held in the Southern District of New York since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where all lawyer presentations and witness testimony were presented from inside a plexiglass enclosure in a specially modified courtroom, with jurors, lawyers and the presiding judge wearing masks, the Kirkland team secured a complete victory following a week-long jury trial in favor of TriZetto, which included an award of $855 million in damages. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for Motorola Solutions in trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement case against multi-billion dollar competitor in connection with global dispute over critical wireless technologies. After three-and-a-half month trial, the jury returned a verdict in less than two hours in favor of Motorola on all counts, awarding $765M in compensatory and punitive damages, which was the total amount requested by Motorola. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for Samsung in defense of a multi-patent case brought by Demaray LLC on what it alleged to be foundational patents in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Demaray targeted Samsung’s worldwide sales of computer chips, seeking $4 billion in damages. After a trial in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, the jury rendered a complete victory for Samsung, finding no infringement of all asserted claims on all accused products. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for Apcon, Inc. in defense of a six-patent network technologies case brought by industry-leader, Gigamon, Inc. Accusing every one of Apcon’s products of infringing Gigamon’s allegedly foundational patents, and seeking to shut down Apcon, the claims at issue implicated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. After a trial in the Eastern District of Texas, the jury rendered a complete victory for Apcon, returning a verdict of no infringement of any of the patents, and invalidating every one of the asserted patent claims. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for EagleView Technologies in a five-patent infringement case against a competitor in connection with decade-long dispute. The jury returned verdict a in less than one hour in favor of EagleView on all counts, finding willful infringement and awarding $125M in damages, which was the total amount requested by EagleView. The award was subsequently trebled to $375M. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel in a significant jury trial win for LivePerson, Inc. in its trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against [24]7.ai, Inc. After a four-week trial, the jury sided with LivePerson on every one of its claims and awarded over $30 million in compensatory and punitive damages for trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition, finding also that [24]7’s conduct was willful and malicious.
Lead counsel for Cisco Systems, Inc. against multi-billion dollar network technologies competitor in multiple patent infringement lawsuits before the International Trade Commission and U.S. district courts. After multiple trial victories in Cisco’s favor, the dispute was settled with a public payment to Cisco of $400 million.
Led defense for Energy Labs Inc. in a jury trial against Nortek Air Solutions, in which the jury’s verdict was a complete victory for Kirkland’s client, finding no infringement of six different patents and invalidating a majority of the asserted claims. This was a bet-the-company litigation against a much larger competitor, who sought an injunction against Energy Labs. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Defense jury trial victory for major national cable operator in patent case brought by a patent holding company in the Eastern District of Texas. Represented other major national cable operators in follow-on case brought by same plaintiff which settled after trial victory. Plaintiff alleged infringement by certain standards-certified (DOCSIS) cable modems.
Defended world’s leading supplier of Internet routing and switching products against patent infringement charges in the Eastern District of Texas. Obtained certain favorable rulings from the Court and developed counterclaims for damages against plaintiff, a patent holding company. Matter settled shortly before trial, after the Court denied plaintiff’s motion to dismiss our client’s counterclaims and while plaintiff’s motion to delay its own trial date was pending.
Lead counsel for global Internet company in a multipatent litigation brought in the District of Maryland involving 13 major Internet, technology and telecommunications companies named as defendants. Argued key constructions at claim construction hearing, and won every claim term argued, leading to summary judgment of non-infringement on all asserted claims.
Represented plaintiff in patent infringement action brought in Eastern District of Texas involving LCD technology. Defendant stipulated to infringement after Markman order issued.
Lead counsel for leading electronic design automation tools supplier in patent action brought by patent holding company in Eastern District of Texas. Obtained early dismissal of case from Eastern District of Texas; won summary judgment disposing of case in corresponding declaratory judgment action pending in Northern District of California.
Lead counsel for major Silicon Valley Internet company in defense of trade secret action involving Internet billing technology. After successful motions led to limiting of plaintiff's alleged trade secrets, matter settled on confidential terms.
Clerk & Government Experience
Judicial ExternHonorable Judge William D. BrowningUnited States District Court for the District of ArizonaSummer 1996
Law ClerkDeputy County Attorney Baird S. GreenePima County Attorney's OfficeSummer 1996
Prior Experience
Latham & Watkins LLP, Menlo Park, CA
- Associate, 2000–2004
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, San Francisco, CA
- Associate, Commercial Litigation, 1998–2000
- Summer Associate, Summer 1997
More
Recognition
Named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America,” 2022
Ranked #1 in the New York Law Journal’s list of “Top Verdicts & Settlements of the Northeast,” 2020
Named by Law360 as a Trials MVP of the Year, 2020 and 2021
Team recognized by Law360 as “Practice Groups of the Year: Trials and Intellectual Property.” 2020
Recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a "National Practice Area Star," 2021–2025
Recognized by the Daily Journal as a “Top Trade Secret Lawyer,” 2020–2022
Recognized by the Daily Journal as a “Top Intellectual Property Lawyer,” 2014, 2018–2024
Named to The Recorder’s list of California “Trailblazers,” 2020
Profiled by The National Law Journal as Winning Litigators in:
- Litigators of the Week: Kirkland Team Soars with $125M Win for EagleView
- Litigators of the Week: How This Kirkland & Ellis Team Turned a $6B Threat Against Its Client Into an $855M Jury Verdict
- Litigators of the Week: Kirkland Trio Send a $765 Million Message in Tech Theft Case
- Litigators of the Week: Adam Alper and Michael De Vries of Kirkland & Ellis
Listed in the World Intellectual Property Review’s WIPR Leaders, 2020
Awarded recognition as the “The 23rd Annual California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year” by the Daily Journal at the 2019 CLAY Awards
Listed as The Recorder’s “Litigation Department of the Year: California,” 2015;
Named a California “Groundbreaker” by The Recorder; 2015
Recognized by Chambers & Partners as “America's Leading Lawyers for Business: Intellectual Property,” 2009–2011
Named to the Daily Journal’s “Top 75 Intellectual Property Lawyers,” 2012
Ranked by Chambers & Partners for Intellectual Property: Patent in California, 2015–Present
Continuously recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for Patent Litigation: Full Coverage and International Trade Commission, including for his work in the Trade Secrets (Litigation and Non-Contentious Matters) sector
Listed in the 2020 IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals for Litigation
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 1998California
Courts
- Supreme Court of California
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (pro hac vice)
Education
- University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of LawJ.D.summa cum laude1998
Order of the Coif
Managing Editor, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law
- Stanford UniversityB.A.1994