David L. Applegate, Esq.
Practice Areas:
Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property, Insurance, Labor & Employment
Biography
David L. Applegate is a partner of Williams Montgomery & John Ltd., chair of the firm’s intellectual property practice group and a member of the commercial litigation practice group. He focuses his practice on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, licensing, and business litigation and arbitration.
Mr. Applegate is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society. He is “AV Preeminent” peer review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest peer recognition for both ethical standards and legal ability.
Mr. Applegate has been named by his peers for inclusion in Illinois Leading Lawyers and Illinois Super Lawyers for both commercial and intellectual property litigation.
Mr. Applegate joined the firm in 2003, after three years with an established intellectual property boutique, ten years running his own firm, and 12 years with two prior intellectual property and commercial litigation firms. Throughout his career, Mr. Applegate has represented corporations and individuals as both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He has taken many cases to verdict as lead trial counsel in both jury and bench trials nationwide and has argued appeals in the Illinois appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Federal Circuits. Mr. Applegate also has extensive commercial arbitration and private mediation experience in both national and international dispute resolution forums, and is a member of the Chicago International Dispute Resolution Association.
Mr. Applegate’s clients include individual entrepreneurs, startup companies, established mid-sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies in the fields of advertising, authorship, arts and entertainment; broadcasting; computer security devices; environmental technologies; financial technologies; industrial turbine technology; medical, dental, orthopedic and orthodontic products; medical and clinical testing devices; trucking and transportation, including air-ride and leaf-spring suspension technology; and Internet domain names.
As examples of cases he has litigated for clients, Mr. Applegate represented Beckman Instruments in a patent, copyright and trade secret lawsuit against a competitor in the scientific instrumentation field, represented MTV Networks in licensing and copyright disputes related to the Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” video, defended Jennifer Lopez and her producers in a federal Lanham Act trademark case, and prosecuted international trademark infringement claims on behalf of Sears Roebuck and Co. and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Education/Bar Admissions
Mr. Applegate received a B.A. in political science, cum laude, in 1975 from Yale University after pursuing a core curriculum in mathematics and science. He received his J.D. in 1978 from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the national moot court team, chaired the Hinton Moot Court Committee and received the Lewis F. Powell Award for excellence in appellate advocacy.
Mr. Applegate has guest lectured at both The University of Chicago Law School and John Marshall Law School in Chicago, has judged moot court at The University of Chicago and Suffolk Law School, and was a patent damages law instructor for the Practising Law Institute from 2005-2009.
Mr. Applegate was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1978 and also has been admitted to the following federal trial and appellate courts:
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (including the trial bar)
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
Professional Activities/Recognition
Mr. Applegate is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society, and is active in numerous professional and civic organizations, including:
- Chicago Bar Association
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Federal Bar Association
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
- Chicago International Dispute Resolution Association
- Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association
- Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
- Republican National Lawyers Association
- American Constitution Society
- Chicago Lincoln American Inn of Court, member and officer
- Richard B. Linn American Inn of Court, member emeritus
Mr. Applegate is past president of Literacy Chicago and its predecessor, Literacy Volunteers of Chicago; a former board member of the Yale Club of Chicago; and the founding member and current chair of the John Fischetti Scholarship Fund Advisory Board of Columbia College Chicago. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Tower Club and is a member of the Business Alliance of the Metropolitan Club of Chicago.
Mr. Applegate has been honored by the judges of the Northern District of Illinois for his outstanding commitment to and results in pro bono representation of indigent clients in employment discrimination, police brutality and excessive force cases.
Representative Cases
Beckman Instruments v. Kallestad Laboratories, Inc., U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota: Achieved settlement on courthouse steps for large upfront payment and extended royalty on behalf of Beckman Instruments following two years of protracted discovery and trial preparation. This patent infringement, copyright infringement and trade secrets lawsuit brought by Beckman against Kallestad Laboratories, a competitor in the scientific instrumentation field, involved nephelometric inhibition analysis techniques.
Boler v. Watson & Chalin, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio: Obtained vacation of adverse judgment and favorable settlement on behalf of client Boler, an innovator in the suspension systems industry. Boler brought this patent infringement lawsuit against industry competitor Watson & Chalin following entry of summary judgment against Boler while represented by another law firm.
Boler v. ArvinMeritor, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Obtained favorable settlement and licensing agreement on behalf of client Boler following motion for summary judgment. The client, an innovator in the suspension systems industry, brought this patent infringement lawsuit against industry competitor ArvinMeritor.
Moves, Inc. v. MTV Networks and Jennifer Lopez, et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Favorably resolved trademark and copyright infringement action against clients MTV Networks and Jennifer Lopez. Case settled for nuisance value at the pleading stage.
Nielsen Media Research, Inc. v. Truck Ads, LLC, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Currently defending mobile advertising startup Truck Ads, LLC against copyright infringement claims based on marketing territory maps. Cross-motions for summary judgment are pending.
Novissar v. Rollprint Packaging Products, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Obtained dismissal or summary judgment prior to trial in multiple trade secret claims brought by terminated former employee against client Rollprint Packaging Products, manufacturer of flexible packaging. Plaintiff’s employment discrimination claims settled following two-week split-verdict jury trial.
Paullin v. PMIC, Circuit Court of Lake County, Ill.: Defended client PMIC, an innovator in the medical coding business, in breach of contract claims brought by a terminated telemarketing manager, and asserted unfair competition claims against terminated manager in multi-week bench trial tried to verdict. Case settled following filing of cross appeals from split-bench trial verdict.
Project Leadership Associates v. Telepathy, Inc., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Obtained stipulated dismissal of all plaintiff’s claims, with prejudice, on behalf of Telepathy, Inc., an established internet domain name business. This trademark and domain name case was resolved within months of its filing due to an aggressive defensive discovery strategy.
Renaissance Marketing Corp. v. MTV Networks, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Settled licensing claims against client MTV Networks following full-day judicial mediation with principals. Dispute involved licensing of Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” video.
Renaissance Marketing Corp. v. Viacom and Viacom International, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Defending Viacom in copyright dispute over “fair use” rights with respect to Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” video. Case currently scheduled for judicial mediation.
Rotary Systems, Inc. v. Hendrickson USA, LLC, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota: Successfully defended Hendrickson USA, an innovator in the trucking suspension systems industry, against wrongful inventorship claims. Detected filing of complaint prior to service and dissuaded plaintiff from filing suit based on faulty pleading and threat of Rule 11 sanctions.
Recycling Sciences International v. Four Seasons Environmental Services, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Achieved dismissal of patent infringement cases versus multiple defenses on behalf of multi-defendant environmental soil cleanup system. Plaintiff’s claims were dismissed based on lack of personal jurisdiction.
Sears Roebuck and Co. v. Sears PLC, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware: Favorably settled international trademark infringement litigation brought on behalf of client Sears Roebuck and Co. Parties agreed to injunctive relief following aggressive multinational discovery strategy involving letters rogatory and foreign law experts at Oxford and Cambridge.
Tonerhead, Inc. v. Retail Inkjet Solutions, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Currently defending Retail Inkjet Solutions, a manufacturer and distributor of inkjet toner refill cartridges, against patent claims by an inventor.
United Financial Technologies v. British American Island Holdings, Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.: Defended international syndicate of real estate investor entrepreneurs in resecission lawsuit and successfully prosecuted counterclaims for breaches of licensing agreements for rights to use patent-pending financial technologies. Case settled at court-ordered mediation with plaintiff agreeing to pay confidential sum of money to defendants.
U.S. Ring Binder, LP. v. Staples, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit: Briefed and argued appeal of summary judgment entered against manufacturer of three-ring binders in patent infringement lawsuit lost at trial by prior counsel. Case affirmed per curiam.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation v. George Elevator, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois: Obtained U.S. judgments against Chinese defendants on behalf of client Westinghouse Electric Corporation in an international trademark infringement action in the United States and China. Judgments for Westinghouse were based on novel theory of extraterritorial application of U.S. trademark law. Also successfully forced defendants to terminate U.S. presence. Ancillary proceedings currently pending in China.
Practicing: Reinsurance, Business Law, Commercial Law, Labor and Employment
