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Daniel Zaheer
Lawyer
San Francisco
150 California Street, 19th Floor
San Francisco, California 94111
+1 415 582 4751
daniel.zaheer@kobrekim.com
vCard Download 
San Francisco
150 California Street, 19th Floor
San Francisco, California 94111
+1 415 582 4751
daniel.zaheer@kobrekim.com
vCard Download 

A co-founder of the Kobre & Kim IP team described as a “powerhouse” by Intellectual Asset Magazine, Daniel Zaheer has advised clients in matters ranking among the highest value patent infringement, trade secret, and intellectual property disputes.  Mr. Zaheer has obtained victories totaling more than US $1.5 billion on behalf of clients, including the second largest existing trade secret judgment in US history.  He has been recognized time and again as a leading trial litigator, oral advocate, and strategist in the field, having been named a “Top Trade Secrets Lawyer” and “Top IP Lawyer” by the Daily Journal, "Litigator of the Week" by The American Lawyer, and “Client Choice Winner” by Lexology.

Mr. Zaheer’s practice centers on enforcing intellectual property rights and defending against charges of infringement in a variety of industries, including artificial intelligence, wireless communication systems, renewable fuels, biotechnology and mobile applications. He has obtained some of the most significant intellectual property results of the last decade, having secured multiple nine-figure recoveries on behalf of his clients in patent enforcement campaigns and trade secrets cases. In representation of defendants, Mr. Zaheer has obtained reversal of nine- and ten-figure decisions in multiple actions involving allegations of trade secrets theft as well as in other complex commercial disputes. 

Prior to joining Kobre & Kim, Mr. Zaheer practiced at Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP. Earlier in his career, Mr. Zaheer served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Mr. Zaheer also served as deputy city attorney for the City and County of San Francisco and practiced at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP.

Mr. Zaheer’s cases of note include:

* Propel Fuels v. Phillips 66 Co. – On behalf of renewable fuels pioneer Propel Fuels, obtained a $604.9 million jury verdict for trade secret misappropriation as co-lead trial counsel and then obtained an additional $195 million in court-awarded exemplary damages as lead oral advocate and brief writer. Zaheer then obtained a ruling from the trial court denying all of Phillips 66’s post-trial motions, thereby securing a final total judgment of $833 million (including then-accrued interest).

* CSIRO Wi-Fi Litigation – On behalf of the Australian government’s national science organization, obtained more than $400 million in payments after a series of litigations enforcing CSIRO’s patent covering the core technology underlying wi-fi. The overall campaign has been recognized as among the most successful single-patent enforcement efforts.

* AI v. Krisp Technologies, Inc. – In ongoing litigation on behalf of leading voice AI innovator Sanas.AI, obtained a ruling from the trial court rejecting a section 101 Alice eligibility challenge to all five challenged Sanas patents—a rare win for AI companies seeking to protect their IP against such assaults.

* Botulinum Neurotoxin ITC Litigation – In a blockbuster dispute called the “Botox War,” obtained ITC ruling rejecting complainant’s central trade secret claim.

* CSIRO Omega-3 Patent Litigation – As lead trial counsel for CSIRO, obtained jury verdict that client’s genetic engineering patents were valid and infringed, and rejecting the defendants’ assertion that client misused their proprietary information.

SERVICES

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Education

  • Stanford Law School, JD (Order of the Coif) (Stanford Law Review, Executive Editor)
  • University of California, Los Angeles, BA

Clerkships

  • Honorable Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • Honorable Raymond C. Fisher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Accolades

  • IAM Patent 1000
  • The American Lawyer "Litigator of the Week"
  • The Daily Journal, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers
  • Recommended - World IP Review Global Trade Secrets 2025
SERVICES

Select Engagements

Intellectual Property Litigation

  • In Propel Fuels Inc. v. Phillips 66 Co., Kobre & Kim won a US $604.9 million jury verdict on behalf of its startup client, an innovator in renewable fuels, following a terminated acquisition by oil major Phillips 66. Secured after a five-week trial in the Superior Court of California, the victory was already the most significant trade secret verdict of the previous three years and the fifth-largest verdict of any kind in 2024. The jury also found Phillips 66’s misconduct willful and malicious— entitling Propel to US $195 million additional exemplary damages and pre-judgment interest per a subsequent order issued on July 30, 2025, bringing the total award to Propel to more than US $833 million with the possibility of an additional award of attorneys’ fees and costs to be added later.
  • Representation of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian government’s science agency and the inventor of the core technology underlying the IEEE 802.11a, g, n and ac wireless LAN standards, commonly known as Wi-Fi. The litigation ranks among the most successful recent efforts to enforce a single patent, resulting in payments to CSIRO totaling US $400 million+. In commending CSIRO’s inventors, the European Patent Office lauded the litigation as “a tremendous success,” stating that “only a few universities around the world are able to successfully commercialize their R&D by patenting their technologies, in particular to the scale of several hundred million dollars. One such exception is CSIRO.”
  • Also represented CSIRO as lead trial counsel in a four-week patent and breach of IP agreement jury and bench trial in the Eastern District of Virginia, concerning a technology called agricultural biotechnology’s “holy grail”: the method for genetically modifying commercial crop plants to produce long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for human health and development. Obtained jury verdict vindicating the validity and groundbreaking nature of CSIRO’s inventions and findings of infringement of all asserted claims.
  • Representation of Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Asia, in global trade secret litigation dubbed “the Botox War,” brought in the International Trade Commission, California federal and state court, and Virginia federal court. Obtained complete dismissals with no liability in the court actions. In the ITC case, successfully reversed all but a fraction of the relief recommended by the Administrative Law Judge and successfully convinced the Federal Circuit to grant an unusual stay of the remainder, after which the claims were quickly settled.
  • Representation of a Netherlands engineering design company in positioning its European and U.S. patent portfolio covering data-center cooling technology, successfully protecting its innovative designs currently in use and slated for installation around the world.
  • Representation in infringement litigation of inventor of mobile consumer and enterprise productivity solution for overcoming network coverage and reliability limitations.
  • Representation of Spanish R&D company Fractus S.A. in several patent infringement actions against the major U.S. cellular carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) and two antenna manufacturers. After a successful trial representation in the Eastern District of Texas, Kobre & Kim obtained a favorable out-of-court settlement for the client resulting in the transfer of its base station antenna technology patent portfolio.
  • Representation of IBM in successful defense of breach of license and copyright claims. Obtained complete dismissal with no liability for client and a sanctions ruling against the opposition.

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

  • Defense of the founder of a data center construction, operations and management company in limited liability company agreement and breach-of-fiduciary-duty dispute.
  • Representation of a Native American tribe in gaming agreement dispute and subsequent federal and state appeals.
 
SERVICES

Professional & Community Involvement

  • American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Subcommittee on Patent Exhaustion, Co-Chair
  • California Bar Association, Member
  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Member
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Member
SERVICES

Publications & Presentations

  • Co-author, "The Internationalization of U.S. Trade Secrets Law" (The Daily Journal, October 2022)
SERVICES

Credentials

Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

Education

  • Stanford Law School, JD (Order of the Coif) (Stanford Law Review, Executive Editor)
  • University of California, Los Angeles, BA

Clerkships

  • Honorable Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • Honorable Raymond C. Fisher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Accolades

  • IAM Patent 1000
  • The American Lawyer "Litigator of the Week"
  • The Daily Journal, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers
  • Recommended - World IP Review Global Trade Secrets 2025

Engagements

Intellectual Property Litigation

  • In Propel Fuels Inc. v. Phillips 66 Co., Kobre & Kim won a US $604.9 million jury verdict on behalf of its startup client, an innovator in renewable fuels, following a terminated acquisition by oil major Phillips 66. Secured after a five-week trial in the Superior Court of California, the victory was already the most significant trade secret verdict of the previous three years and the fifth-largest verdict of any kind in 2024. The jury also found Phillips 66’s misconduct willful and malicious— entitling Propel to US $195 million additional exemplary damages and pre-judgment interest per a subsequent order issued on July 30, 2025, bringing the total award to Propel to more than US $833 million with the possibility of an additional award of attorneys’ fees and costs to be added later.
  • Representation of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian government’s science agency and the inventor of the core technology underlying the IEEE 802.11a, g, n and ac wireless LAN standards, commonly known as Wi-Fi. The litigation ranks among the most successful recent efforts to enforce a single patent, resulting in payments to CSIRO totaling US $400 million+. In commending CSIRO’s inventors, the European Patent Office lauded the litigation as “a tremendous success,” stating that “only a few universities around the world are able to successfully commercialize their R&D by patenting their technologies, in particular to the scale of several hundred million dollars. One such exception is CSIRO.”
  • Also represented CSIRO as lead trial counsel in a four-week patent and breach of IP agreement jury and bench trial in the Eastern District of Virginia, concerning a technology called agricultural biotechnology’s “holy grail”: the method for genetically modifying commercial crop plants to produce long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for human health and development. Obtained jury verdict vindicating the validity and groundbreaking nature of CSIRO’s inventions and findings of infringement of all asserted claims.
  • Representation of Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Asia, in global trade secret litigation dubbed “the Botox War,” brought in the International Trade Commission, California federal and state court, and Virginia federal court. Obtained complete dismissals with no liability in the court actions. In the ITC case, successfully reversed all but a fraction of the relief recommended by the Administrative Law Judge and successfully convinced the Federal Circuit to grant an unusual stay of the remainder, after which the claims were quickly settled.
  • Representation of a Netherlands engineering design company in positioning its European and U.S. patent portfolio covering data-center cooling technology, successfully protecting its innovative designs currently in use and slated for installation around the world.
  • Representation in infringement litigation of inventor of mobile consumer and enterprise productivity solution for overcoming network coverage and reliability limitations.
  • Representation of Spanish R&D company Fractus S.A. in several patent infringement actions against the major U.S. cellular carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) and two antenna manufacturers. After a successful trial representation in the Eastern District of Texas, Kobre & Kim obtained a favorable out-of-court settlement for the client resulting in the transfer of its base station antenna technology patent portfolio.
  • Representation of IBM in successful defense of breach of license and copyright claims. Obtained complete dismissal with no liability for client and a sanctions ruling against the opposition.

Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

  • Defense of the founder of a data center construction, operations and management company in limited liability company agreement and breach-of-fiduciary-duty dispute.
  • Representation of a Native American tribe in gaming agreement dispute and subsequent federal and state appeals.

News

Professional & Community Involvement

  • American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Subcommittee on Patent Exhaustion, Co-Chair
  • California Bar Association, Member
  • Bar Association of San Francisco, Member
  • Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Member

Publications & Presentations

  • Co-author, "The Internationalization of U.S. Trade Secrets Law" (The Daily Journal, October 2022)

"Daniel Zaheer has strong expertise in patent litigation, good judgement and superb communication skills. His work product is excellent and it is a pleasure to work with him."

– IAM Patent 1000

 

He “goes up against the biggest firms and wins substantial cases with lean teams.”

– IAM Patent 1000