Overview
Chris Ponder is a special counsel in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's Silicon Valley office.
Areas of Practice
Chris is a technology lawyer who represents clients in the digital streaming, enterprise software, gaming, medical device, semiconductor, and telecommunications industries. He has significant experience in handling complex intellectual property disputes involving patents, trade secrets, and unfair competition.
Chris has litigated cases in federal district courts in California, Delaware, Texas, and Wisconsin. He has also represented petitioners and patent owners in over thirty proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Chris also assists clients with intellectual property licenses, evaluating commercial agreements relating to technology, and developing policies and procedures to protect intellectual property rights.
Experience
Experience
- Represented leading game developer in an inter partes review proceeding where the PTAB found all challenged claims unpatentable following an unsuccessful IPR challenge by a different game developer
- Represented leading wearable device company in an inter partes review proceeding where the Patent Owner (a Wi-LAN subsidiary) disclaimed the challenged claims after institution
- GENBAND US LLC v. Metaswitch Networks Ltd. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented GENBAND in competitor litigation involving trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition counterclaims
- Elbit Systems Land and C4I Ltd. v. Hughes Network Systems, LLC (E.D. Tex.) –Represented defendants against claims of patent infringement involving satellite communications technologies brought by a major military contractor
- GENBAND US LLC v. Metaswitch Networks Ltd. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented GENBAND in patent infringement countersuit brought by a competitor involving telecommunications technologies
- GENBAND US LLC v. Metaswitch Networks Ltd. (E.D.Tex) – Represented GENBAND in patent infringement action against a competitor involving VoIP, media gateway, and session border controller technologies
- Ultratec, Inc. v. Sorenson Communications, Inc. (W.D. Wis.) – Represented CaptionCall LLC in competitor litigation involving captioned telephone technology; developed petitioner’s response to plaintiff's secondary considerations evidence in eight co-pending inter partes reviews
- TracBeam LLC v. AT&T Mobility LLC (E.D. Tex.) – Defended AT&T against claims that its services infringe a patent directed to location-based services
- Convolve, Inc. v. Dell,Inc. (E.D. Tex.) – Defended Dell Inc. against claims that certain hard drives shipped with its computer systems infringe a patent directed to switchable hard drive acoustic properties
- MedioStream Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. (E.D. Tex.) – Defended Dell Inc. against claims that its computer systems allegedly infringe a patent that covers transcoding video into a format for optical discs
- Data Network Storage Corp. v. Hewlett Packard Co., (N.D. Tex.) – Represented Dell Inc. in a patent infringement action involving enterprise iSCSI storage systems
- LG Electronics, Inc. v. Whirlpool Corp. (D. Del.) – Represented Whirlpool in a patent infringement action involving refrigerator storage and ice and water dispensing systems
- Assisted client with contracting for independent software support services that comply with their enterprise software licenses
- Provided an opinion to a client analyzing their ownership rights in software works they derived from licensed software
- Assisted client with providing intellectual property disclosures in their shelf offering registration
- Apprised a client of their rights in software code developed for them by a third party contractor
Honors
Honors
Northern California Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2015-2018
Insights
Articles
Game Counsel: Gaming and Esports Blog Posts
Law of the Level Blog Posts
- "Addressing Video Game Claims Under the Phillips Standard at the PTAB," August 26, 2019
- "Converting an IPR Loss into a District Court Win," May 8, 2019
- "Caution to Game Companies: PTAB Continues to Preclude PTAB Challenges That It Views As Untimely," April 10, 2019
- "Failure to Launch: Not Identifying the Proper Parties Can Prematurely End an Video Game IPR Challenge," February 5, 2019
- "Challenges in Filing Successful IPR Petitions for Video Game Patents," January 3, 2019
Intellectual Property Law Blog Posts
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"Left Empty Handed: Valve Shut Down on Written Prior Art, Highlighting Importance of System Art," December 6, 2019
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"Perils of Waiting: PTAB’s Precedential Opinion Panel Designates Two More Decisions Rejecting 315(b) Arguments Regarding Time Bars," September 16, 2019
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"PTAB Continues to Preclude PTAB Challenges That It Views As Untimely," April 12, 2019
Media Mentions
Events
Memberships
Memberships
American Bar Association - Section of Intellectual Property Law
Practices
Education
J.D., University of Houston, 2008, magna cum laude, Articles Editor, Houston Law Review, Order of the Coif
B.S., Computer Science, University of Houston, 2004, cum laude,
Member of the Honors College
Clerkships
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Roy S. Payne of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Admissions
- California
- Texas
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas