David E. Warden
Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C.
Years In Practice
David E. Warden is an internationally recognized expert in patents, intellectual property, business litigation and arbitration. He is a lawyer, arbitrator, engineer, adjunct professor and businessman.
Mr. Warden has tried many patent, intellectual property and business lawsuits, and is licensed as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. A founding partner of his former firm Yetter Warden & Coleman LLP, Mr. Warden also has been appointed by federal courts as a special master and mediator in patent litigation.
He has been Board Certified in Civil Trial Law since 1989 by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has arbitrated cases under the auspices of ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris) and American Arbitration Association (New York), and has conducted ad hoc arbitrations.
Mr. Warden is licensed to practice law in all Texas state courts, the U.S. District Courts in Texas, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been on the list of Texas Super Lawyers since 2003. He was recognized by attorneys across the United States as one of the Best Lawyers in America for 2015-2017. Before starting his former law firm, Mr. Warden was a partner at Baker Botts LLP.
He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Purdue University. Before attending law school, Mr. Warden was an engineer and district production engineering supervisor for Exxon Company USA. He has been an adjunct professor in both engineering and economics at Rice University since 2006. He speaks French and some basic Mandarin, and is an instrument-rated pilot and a certified scuba diver.
Mr. Warden’s business activities include serving as vice president-corporate development for Excalibur Almaz U.S.A. from 2009 to 2011. He is on the board of directors for Encore Bancshares Inc. and has chaired its audit committee. He also serves on the board of directors for InNexus Biotechnology Inc.; Industry Forum Lead, National Space Biomedical Research Institute; Chinese Community Center; and Comp-U-Dopt Inc.
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
During his legal career, Mr. Warden has represented:
- Limited partners in accounting fraud case against major accounting firm (2007)
- High-net-worth investors against major securities broker in fraud case arbitrations ($100 million settlement, 2006)
- Individuals in suit against major hospital and others for performing unnecessary heart surgeries ($420 million settlement, 2006)
- Video store franchisees in antitrust case against major motion picture studios ($28 million settlement, 2003)
- Major software developer in trade secret theft case (1998)
- Class of limited partners in fraud case against major hotel operator ($440 million settlement, 2000)
- Entities in Saudi Arabia and Yemen against major international oil company for breach of contract ($24 million settlement, 2000)
- First Toyota dealer in Texas in a case against franchisor ($6 million settlement, 1996)
- Major defense contractor in case involving “black program” technology for advanced fighter aircraft (1994)
- Major computer technology company in a case asserting patents for first single-chip microprocessor (1992)
- Major oil company in arbitration to determine fair market value of natural gas at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, under terms of Unit Agreement (1985)
REPORTED CASES
- Christus Health Gulf Coast v. Aetna, 2007 WL 2457803 (Tex.), 50 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1148 (2007
- Eddins v. Redstone, 35 Cal.Rptr.3d 863 (Cal.App. 2005)
- Wright v. Sage, 137 S.W.3d 238 (Tex. App. 2004)
- Cleveland v. Viacom Inc., 166 F.Supp.2d 535 (W.D. Tex. 2001)
- Bareford v. General Dynamics Corp., 973 F.2d 1138 (5th Cir. 1992)
- Hotvedt v. Schlumberger Ltd., 925 F.2d 119 (5th Cir. 1991), 914 F.2d 79 (5th Cir. 1990)
- Hernandez v. Houston Lighting & Power Co., 795 S.W.2d 775 (Tex. App. 1990)
- Houston Lighting & Power Co. v. Wheelabrator Coal Servs. Co., 788 S.W.2d 933 (Tex. App. 1990)
- Southern Co. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Powell, 736 S.W.2d 745 (Tex. App. 1987)
- Kelly v. Lee, 736 S.W.2d 750 (Tex. App. 1987); CTS Corp. v. Dynamics Corp., 481 U.S. 69 (1987)
EDUCATION
- J.D. University of Virginia School of Law (1981) Order of the Coif
- B.S., Purdue University, engineering (1972)
- M.S., Purdue University, engineering (1973)
PUBLICATIONS, SPEECHES & SEMINARS
- “Lunar Mission Profiles for Commercial Space Operations,” 21st International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics (coauthor, October 2009)
- “Intellectual Property Litigation for Trial Lawyers,” University of Houston Law Foundation (2007)
- “Introduction to Intellectual Property Law,” Fudan University, Shanghai, China (2006)
- “Identifying, Preserving, and Defending Trade Secrets,” Journal of Petroleum Technology (2006)
- “Trade Secret and Intellectual Property Litigation In the USA,” Korean Bar Association, Seoul, Korea (2006)
- “Intellectual Property Litigation for Trial Lawyers,” University of Houston (2006)
- “Don’t Settle Your License Away,” 69 Texas Bar Journal 126 (2006)
- “Jury Testing & Selection in the USA,” Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu, Tokyo, Japan (2005)
- “An Overview of Intellectual Property Litigation in the USA,” Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (2004)
- “An Overview of Intellectual Property Litigation Issues,” University of Houston Law Foundation (2004)
- “U.S. Patent Practice: Principles and Particularities for the European Practitioner,” A.S.P.I., Paris (2004)
- “Corporate Governance and Litigation Issues,” Les Grandes Series Fonction Finances, Montreal (2002)
- “Trade Secrets and Patents: Comparison and Contrasts in Royalty Determination,” Les Nouvelles (2000)
- “How to Quantify Trade Secrets Theft,” Managing Intellectual Property (2000)
- “Trade Secret Protection for Software from Conception to Product,” National CLE Conference, Law Educational Institute Inc. (1999)
- “Intellectual Property Litigation: An Overview,” University of Houston Law Foundation (1998)
- “Punitive Damages: Preparing the Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s Case,” Litigation and Trial Tactics Seminar, University of Houston Law Foundation (1997)
- Board Certified in Civil Trial Law since 1989 by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
- Licensed as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
- Best Lawyers in America, 2015-2018
- Texas Super Lawyers, 2013-2017, Thomson Reuters
Houston, Texas 77010
