Brian Buroker is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice.  Mr. Buroker focuses on intellectual property disputes and licensing, with expertise in patent and trade secret trials and appeals, having tried patent cases, litigated many patent cases to resolution, argued cases at the Federal Circuit and handled complex patent reexaminations, Post Grant Review proceedings and Inter Partes Review proceedings at the U.S. Patent Office.  Mr. Buroker also guides clients through complex transactions involving intellectual property rights, including settlement, licensing, and other IP transactions.

Mr. Buroker has extensive experience in a wide range of technologies, including computer software, electronics, telecommunications, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.  In 2017, IAM Patent 1000 ranked Mr. Buroker as a top Litigation attorney.  Mr. Buroker has been named a 2015 "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.  In 2017 and 2013, he was ranked as a Litigation Star in Washington, D.C. by Institutional Investor’s Benchmark Litigation Guide.  He was also selected by Chambers and Partners in its 2017, 2016, 2014 and 2012 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business Guide as a Leading Lawyer in Intellectual Property in Washington, D.C. and was named a 2012 Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer for intellectual property litigation. He was also recommended by Legal 500 for Patent Litigation: Hi-Tech Electronics/ IT in 2008.

Mr. Buroker has handled patent infringement actions in the most active patent dockets, including the Eastern District of Virginia, Eastern District of Texas, Delaware, Northern District of Illinois, Northern District of California and the Southern District of New York and the United States International Trade Commission.  He has handled numerous IP arbitrations yielding successful results for his clients.  He has also argued and won eight appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  He is a former law clerk at the Federal Circuit, having clerked for Judge William C. Bryson.

Mr. Buroker has advised clients on a wide range of IP transactions as well, including licensing of patents, trade secrets, trademarks and other intellectual property. 

Representative Litigation Matters*

• Counsel for T-Mobile adverse to Intellectual Ventures in a 16 patent action in the District of Delaware (D. Del. 2012-present) in which 15 of the 16 patents have been dismissed with the remaining patent stayed.  Appeals by Intellectual Venture are pending.
• Trial counsel for smartphone manufacturers in multiple matters, resulting in favorable outcomes in E.D. Texas and N.D. Cal.
• Appellate counsel for CLS Bank in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp. (Fed. Cir. 2013) (en banc) and (S. Ct. 2014) .  Convinced the Federal Circuit to hear appeal related to patent eligibility of financial services software patent, resulting in a reversal of the panel decision and an affirmance of the district court victory for client CLS Bank.
• Trial and appellate counsel for The New York Times in Helferich Patent Licensing, LLC v. The New York Times (N.D. Ill. 2013 and Fed. Cir. 2015). 
• Lead PTAB counsel in numerous matters, resulting in favorable outcomes for clients.
• Lead counsel for Plaid Technologies, Inc. in an action brought on seven patents by competitor Yodlee, Inc. in the District of Delaware (2014-2017).  After initial determinations of invalidity and PTAB institutions, the case settled in 2017.
• Lead counsel in arbitrations involving IP licensing agreements.
• Lead trial and appellate counsel for patent holder in Energy Transportation Group, Inc. v. Sonic Innovations, Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 05-422 (D. Del.) and (Fed. Cir.), involving hearing aid patents. The jury returned a verdict for client ETG, finding willful patent infringement and awarded damages of $31 million against two defendants.  Argued the Federal Circuit appeal which resulted in affirming the verdict and pre and post-judgment interest bringing the total award to around $44 million.  
• Lead counsel for Capital One Services, LLC in numerous matters, including Pi-Net International (D.Del.) (pending); N5 Technologies (E.D. Va.) (pending); LML Patent Corp. v. Capital One, et al. (E.D. Tex.) (resolved) and others.
• Trial team counsel in pending matters in the Northern District of California and Delaware involving wireless and smartphone technologies.
• Trial counsel and appellate counsel on dozens of other matters, including being lead counsel on eight appeals that were argued together at the Federal Circuit, including seven reversals of the PTO.

 * Includes matters handled prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Representative IP Transaction/Opinion Matters*

• Negotiated IP agreements in sale of assets by a client to large Internet search company.
• Negotiated settlement agreements in dozens of matters involving licensing of intellectual property.
• Negotiated IP agreements in spin-out of business.
• Opinion counsel on issues of invalidity and infringement.

Mr. Buroker received his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 1996, where he served as an editor of The Georgetown Law Journal.  He graduated cum laude from North Carolina State University in 1992 with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, where he was also a Caldwell Scholar. 

Mr. Buroker is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Fourth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Eastern District of Texas, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  He is also registered to practice at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, "Panel Discussion: Alice Corp Pty. v. CLS Bank" at the Florida Bar 6th Annual Intellectual Property Law Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Feb. 2015)

Speaker, "Alice Arrived and Look What Happened: A review of the Supreme Court’s June 2014 decision and its impact on patents" at the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association Patent Litigation Seminar in Iselin, NJ (March 2015)