Education

  • Yale Law School, J.D. (2015)
  • Stanford University, with distinction, Mathematical & Computational Science, B.S.,Phi Beta Kappa (2012)

Clerkship

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Judge Kent A. Jordan
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Judge Leonard P. Stark

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Adam Adler is a trial and appellate attorney whose practice focuses on constitutional law, intellectual property, and creators’ rights. Adam leverages his training as a computer scientist and author to present complex concepts in ways that are persuasive, entertaining, and easy to understand.

Adam has helped clients navigate complex disputes relating to a wide array of cutting-edge technology, including cryptocurrency platforms, digital security, deepfake applications, and machine learning.

In April 2024, Adam secured a $673 million patent infringement award for Kove IO against tech behemoth Amazon Web Services (AWS). Adam spearheaded Kove’s damages theory, presented the direct examination of Kove’s damages expert, and showed how Amazon obtained over $1 billion in profits from its use of the Kove patents. Adam also cross-examined Amazon’s CEO (Andy Jassy) and CTO as well as its lead engineers.

In October 2024, Adam scored a major victory against Marvel and DC Comics when he persuaded the Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Marvel and DC’s jointly-owned SUPER HERO trademarks. Working on behalf of independent comic creator S.J. Richold, Adam showed how the two titans of the comic industry used a generic mark to bully competitors and stifle competition. Adam’s work on this matter was featured in national news, including on Law.com, the World Trademark Review, and Law360, as well as in mainstream media outlets like Reuters, The Verge, and Gizmodo.

Adam also maintains a robust practice relating to copyrights. In 2023, he secured the repeal of Blackbeard’s Law on behalf of famed underwater videographer Rick Allen. The law—which purported to place Allen’s life work in the public domain—was used by North Carolina to justify large-scale copyright infringement and theft. Adam has also counseled clients on how to avoid liability for alleged infringement, and has successfully negotiated on clients’ behalf with major industry groups, including with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA).

Because of his work, Adam was named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Intellectual Property. Adam was also recognized as a Law360 “Legal Lion of the Week” and featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal and The Daily Journal.

Adam is a thought leader and a prolific writer. As a contributor for Escapist Magazine, Adam authored over 100 articles that use comics, movies, and video games to explain legal concepts to a general audience.  Adam also serves on the faculty at Lawline and is a guest lecturer at George Washington University Law School and the Antonin Scalia School of Law.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Adam teaches introductory moral philosophy to high school and college students, and enjoys juggling, writing, and playing the French Horn.

Representative Matters

Over the years, Adam has delivered results for his clients:

Patent

  • Secured a $673 million judgment for Kove IO against AWS in a patent infringement jury trial. The Kove patents provide foundational technology needed to run Amazon.com and Amazon’s massively used cloud storage infrastructure.  Adam spearheaded and developed Kove’s damages theory, which survived Daubert challenges, summary judgment, and post-trial briefing.

    At trial, Adam presented the direct examination of Kove’s damages expert and showed how Amazon earned over $1 billion in profits from its use of the Kove patents.  Adam also cross-examined Amazon’s CEO, Amazon’s CTO, Amazon’s lead engineers, and the CEO of Square.

After eight days of trial, the jury unanimously concluded that Amazon had infringed each of the claims asserted in the case, and awarded Kove several million dollars more than what Kove requested. IAM highlighted the win as the highest patent jury verdict of the year, and a top-10 verdict from the last decade.

  • Helped obtain an $84.5 million patent verdict for Cirba (d/b/a Densify) in a hard-fought case against VMware. Adam navigated and prevailed on case-dispositive standing issues, briefed and argued claim construction, and obtained favorable outcomes in key discovery disputes.

Copyright

  • Secured the repeal of Blackbeard’s Law on behalf of Rick Allen, famed underwater photographer, videographer, and documentarian of Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR). In 2015, North Carolina enacted Blackbeard’s Law, which purported to place all of Allen’s footage in the public domain, and enabled wide-scale copyright infringement.

Allen sued, and the case went all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. On remand, Adam prepared a Second Amended Complaint. After reviewing the Second Amended Complaint and associated briefing, North Carolina repealed the law, marking a long-awaited victory for Allen.

In Fall 2024, Adam successfully opposed North Carolina’s motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint on sovereign immunity grounds.

  • Advised a startup on how to use AI and machine learning to train voice models without running afoul of copyright and privacy law. Adam also represented the startup in discussions with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA).

  • Represented the International Code Council (ICC) in a copyright dispute relating to the widescale theft, copying, and distribution of ICC’s building codes by a prominent startup.

Trademark

  • Prevailed against media juggernauts Marvel and DC Comics in a petition to cancel SUPER HERO trademarks as generic, abandoned, and anti-competitive.

  • Obtained a favorable settlement for Cloud 9 Comics & More in a trademark dispute between two comic shops with the same name. Adam’s client retains the right to own and use the Cloud 9 Comics name.

Trade Secret

  • Represented Arconic in Arconic, Inc. v. Novelis Inc., a contentious antitrust and trade secret case regarding the theft of trade secrets relating to a process for pretreating automotive aluminum used in Ford’s popular F-150 pickup truck. Adam built out Arconic’s antitrust defense and took key depositions of Novelis executives and damages expert. These led to favorable summary judgment rulings and settlement.

  • Successfully counseled a major seller of digital collectibles in a trade secret dispute.

Rankings & HONORS

Media

speaking engagements

  • “Westlaw Under the Hood: A Simple Explanation of How Big Databases Work,” Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, Washington, D.C.

  • “Calculating Justice: The Role of Math, Physics, and Computer Science in Law,” Andrews University

  • “Prosecuting a Paradox: Time Travel in Criminal Law,” World Bank’s International Finance Corporation

  • “Why do So Many Startups Get It Wrong?,” Yale Law School

  • “Difficult Depositions & You: A Guide to Challenging Discovery,” at Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg

  • “West Viriginia v. EPA: Understanding the Significant Questions Doctrine” at Lewis-Burke Associates

  • “Oracle v. Google: The Transformation of Transformative Fair Use,” at Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg

publications