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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 

Daniel Zaheer advises clients in high-stakes litigation with a focus on patent infringement, trade secret and other intellectual property disputes. Recognized by The Daily Journal as among the “Top Trade Secret Lawyers,” he has been lauded for his creative strategic thinking and client-focused lawyering.

Mr. Zaheer’s practice centers on enforcing intellectual property rights and defending against charges of infringement in a variety of industries, including wireless communication systems, mobile device interfaces, biotechnology and mobile applications. He has obtained nine-figure recoveries on behalf of his clients as a part of successful patent enforcement campaigns and also through assertion of trade secrets. In representation of defendants, Mr. Zaheer has achieved positive results on behalf of his clients, having obtained reversal of nine-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.

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 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

  • The Daily Journal, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers 2021-2022
  • IAM Patent 1000, 2021
SERVICES

Select Engagements

Intellectual Property Litigation

  • 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.
 

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 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

  • The Daily Journal, Top Trade Secrets Lawyers 2021-2022
  • IAM Patent 1000, 2021

Engagements

Intellectual Property Litigation

  • 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.

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)

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

– IAM Patent 1000