David Berten is a founder and partner of Global IP Law Group. He works on all aspects of monetizing clients’ patent portfolios, and directs the firm’s litigation efforts. Mr. Berten works out of Global IP’s Chicago office.
Mr. Berten has been the principal IP advisor on several of the largest patent transactions in history, with transaction value in excess of $7.5 billion.
- Mr. Berten led Global IP’s representation of Nortel Networks regarding the monetization of Nortel’s patent portfolio. Global IP’s representation culminated in a record-setting sale of $4.5 billion for Nortel’s important telecommunications patents to a consortium that included Apple, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM, and other companies.
- Mr. Berten was the primary IP advisor to Alcatel-Lucent regarding the companies successful $2.6 billion secured debt financing, which was secured in part by Alcatel-Lucent’s more than 40,000 patent assets.
- Mr. Berten advised the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee on patent matters in the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy proceeding. Kodak’s restructuring included a transaction involving more than 3,000 patent assets for approximately $525 million.
In addition to Fortune 500 clients, Mr. Berten also represents smaller companies and independent inventors in their patent monetization efforts and leads the firm’s litigation efforts.
Prior to founding Global IP Law Group, Mr. Berten was an associate at Kirkland & Ellis, and a partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott and Competition Law Group. His representations concentrated heavily in intellectual property matters including patent litigation involving medical devices, advanced thermal barrier coatings, financial products, vehicle navigation systems, genetic markers, machine vision systems, bar code systems, and cellular-based data entry devices. His litigation experience includes involvement in many European actions, including Oral and Opposition Proceedings with the European Patent Office and Dutch patent infringement actions and appeals.
Mr. Berten has received numerous peer-reviewed awards. He has been named one of the top IP Strategists in the world by IAM Magazine every year since 2011, and was selected as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America (and one of 15 in intellectual property) by Lawdragon. He is AV (highest) rated by Lexis-Nexis/Martindale-Hubbel and has been named as an Illinois "Super Lawyer" (top 5%) in intellectual property litigation every year since 2005. In 2009, he was elected a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a member of Trial Bar for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Mr. Berten holds a JD (cum laude) from the University of Wisconsin Law School where he served as an Articles Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review, was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif, was a member of the National Moot Court team, and was chosen as Best Oral Advocate by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Mr. Berten attended the University of Virginia School of Architecture and holds a degree in Urban Planning.
Mr. Berten has devoted a significant amount of time to the pro bono representation of asylum seekers and is recognized for his expertise on that subject. He has served as a member of the Leadership Council of the National Immigrant Justice Center since 1997, and was a member of the Advisory Committee to the ABA Commission on Immigration from 2005 to 2009. Mr. Berten received a pro bono award from the ABA in 2000, the Midwest Light of Human Rights award in 2004, and the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Edward J. Lewis II award in 2005.
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