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Helena D. Kiepura

Helena D. Kiepura

Partner

Vice Chair, International Trade Commission Practice

Washington, DC
About

Helena Kiepura is a Chambers-ranked IP litigator with expertise practicing in the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). She has litigated over thirty Section 337 investigations, representing clients across a range of industries, including some of the world’s biggest technology companies as well as well-known brands in the food and beverage and household goods space.  

Helena also has a robust district court practice with significant experience on both the plaintiff and defendant side in some of the most popular patent venues, as well as representing clients in trade secret matters and in inter partes review proceedings before the PTAB. 

Helena has been recognized as an Up and Coming lawyer in Chambers USA Intellectual Property International Trade (Section 337), with clients praising her for being “very smart” and “knowing what she is doing at the ITC,” as well as for being “a rising star among ITC practitioners.” She also been ranked as a Next Generation partner in Legal 500 for Nationwide International Trade: Intellectual Property.  

 
Areas of FocusConsumer Goods, Food and RetailHealthcareLife SciencesIntellectual PropertyTechnologyPatent LitigationInternational Trade Commission
Bar admissionsDistrict of ColumbiaIllinoisUnited States Patent and Trademark Office
CourtsSupreme Court of the United StatesUnited States Court of Appeals for Veterans ClaimsUnited States District Court for the Northern District of IllinoisUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of TexasUnited States District Court for the Western District of TexasUnited States District Court for the District of DelawareUnited States District Court for the Southern District of TexasUnited States District Court for the District of MassachusettsUnited States District Court for the Northern District of California

EXPERIENCE

  • Honeywell v. Zebra – USITC; Western District of Texas; Eastern District of New York. Helena was counsel for Honeywell in a large scale patent dispute involving over forty patents asserted in the United States and worldwide. Acting as ITC counsel in the first-filed case in the campaign, Helena litigated the case to the brink of trial and obtained several favorable pre-trial rulings. Helena and the DLA team ultimately obtained a settlement of $360 million for Honeywell on the eve of the ITC trial. 
  • Maxell v. Lenovo Group Ltd., Lenovo (United States) Inc. and Motorola Mobility LLC – USITC; Western District of Texas; Northern District of Illinois. Helena was counsel for Lenovo and Motorola in a wide-ranging set of patent disputes in multiple ITC proceedings, multiple district court actions, and multiple IPR proceedings. Helena and the DLA team obtained a favorable ruling for Lenovo and Motorola dismissing the Western District of Texas litigation for improper venue and transferring the case to the Northern District of Illinois, Motorola’s home venue. In the ITC case, the Staff supported Lenovo and Motorola on all asserted patents and recommended a win for Lenovo and Motorola.  
  • Intellectual Ventures v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. – Western District of Texas; District of Delaware. Helena represented Hewlett Packard Enterprise in a series of five district court cases in the Western District of Texas, an IPR proceeding, and a declaratory relief action filed by HPE in the District of Delaware, which resulted in a favorable opinion in Delaware on subject matter jurisdiction in declaratory relief actions. 
  • Certain Thermoplastic-Encapsulated Electric Motors, Components Thereof, and Products and Vehicles Containing Same (I and II) – USITC. Helena and a DLA team represented a group of respondents in an ITC investigation involving automobile motors by securing the dismissal of the first investigation due to lack of standing and also obtained a favorable claim construction ruling resulting in the voluntary dismissal of that group of respondents from second investigation.
  • Represented a beer company against a competitor in parallel ITC investigations involving countertop beer dispensing devices. The client obtained a limited exclusion order and cease-and-desist order after winning at a five-day trial before the ALJ and defeating an appeal before the Commission. The competitor dismissed its own offensive case less than two weeks before the scheduled trial and one week after conclusion of trial
  • Represented complainants in an ITC investigation involving luxury vinyl tile flooring and obtained a general exclusion order to exclude infringing flooring products beyond those associated with named respondents
  • Represented defendants in a patent infringement case in the District of Delaware involving razor blade coating technology and secured a favorable Markman ruling resulting in the dropping of several asserted claims and obtained a favorable settlement immediately prior to trial
  • Represented respondents in an ITC investigation involving RFID vehicle identification and toll collection technology
  • Represented a leading computer, mobile device and media player company before the ITC in a significant trial victory for the client resulting in the finding of infringement in two of the client’s patents
  • Obtained a favorable ruling on appeal for a veteran before the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims regarding claim for denial of veterans’ benefits for total disability individual unemployability
  • Successfully appealed a denial of benefits for a Korean War veteran exposed to ionizing radiation
Education
  • J.D., University of Illinois College of Law
  • B.S., Biological Sciences, Cornell University

Awards

  • Chambers Global
    • Up and Coming, USA International Trade: Intellectual Property (Section 337) (2023)
  • Chambers USA
    • Band 5, Nationwide International Trade: Intellectual Property (Section 337) (2023)
    • Up and Coming, Nationwide International Trade: Intellectual Property (Section 337) (2022)
  • The Legal 500 United States
    • Next Generation Partner, Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission) (2021 - 2022)
    • Recommended, Patent Litigation: Full Coverage (2022 - 2023)

Seminars

  • Presenter, “Year in Review: Notable Section 337 Developments, 15th Annual Practitioners’ Think-Tank on ITC Litigation & Enforcement, March 2023
  • Presenter, “Overview of Section 337 Investigations at the ITC,” 2022 AIPLA Spring Meeting, May 2022
  • Panelist, "2020 Donald K. Duvall Memorial Panel: Section 337 Year in Review," 2020 ITC Trial Lawyers Association Annual Meeting, November 2020
  • Presenter, "Assessing the Intricacies of Obtaining General Exclusion Orders," American Conference Institute Practitioners’ Think-Tank on ITC Litigation & Enforcement, August 2020
  • Presenter, "Commission Review and Federal Circuit Appeals," ITC Trial Lawyers Association Fall Meeting, November 2019
  • Presenter, "The Fast and the Furious: Strategies for Bringing and Defending Cases at the ITC," May 2019

Media Mentions

Memberships And Affiliations

  • International Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association - Executive Committee; Mock Hearing Program Committee
  • AIPLA – International Trade Commission Committee, Chair

My latest insights

News

DLA Piper appoints Helena Kiepura to Vice Chair of the firm’s International Trade...

3 March 2022 .3 minute read

News

Jennifer Librach Nall and Helena Kiepura join DLA Piper's Intellectual Property and...

2 June 2021 .5 minute read

Connect

Phone

+1 202 799 4333
(Work, Washington, DC)
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