Chris Ponder is a Special Counsel in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's Silicon Valley office.
Areas of Practice
Mr. Ponder's practice focuses on complex patent and business litigation that often involves competitors. His litigation experience includes conducting and managing fact and expert discovery, and developing claims and defenses. Mr. Ponder has extensive experience in motion advocacy, and routinely argues motions in federal court. He has taken depositions of high-level corporate executives (including a chief operating officer, a chief technology officer, and a general counsel), as well as expert witnesses. He has worked on several inter partes review proceedings related to active district court litigation.
Mr. Ponder has taken part in jury trials involving patent infringement and other commercial claims. Intellectual property counseling matters have included assisting clients with negotiating and evaluating patent licenses, and evaluating software license agreements, and responding to trademark and copyright infringement issues.
Experience
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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
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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
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GENBAND US LLC v. Metaswitch Networks Ltd. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented GENBAND in competitor litigation involving trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition counterclaims
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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
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GENBAND US LLC v. Metaswitch Networks Ltd. (E.D. Tex.) – Represented GENBAND in patent infringement countersuit brought by a competitor involving telecommunications technologies
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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
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 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
