Two Former PTAB Judges Join Covington's Patent Office Trials Practice

Two Former PTAB Judges Join Covington's Patent Office Trials Practice

March 30, 2017

SILICON VALLEY—Former Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judges Peter Chen and Scott Kamholz have joined Covington’s Patent Office Trials Practice. Mr. Chen and Dr. Kamholz are the only former PTAB judges to enter private practice who have overseen Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) trial proceedings from institution through final decision.

Peter Chen joins as a partner in Silicon Valley after serving as a Lead Administrative Patent Judge at the PTAB’s Silicon Valley Regional Office. Mr. Chen presided on nearly 200 inter partes review and Covered Business Method patent proceedings. As a member of PTAB’s management team, he assisted three Chief Judges during 2015-17 with formulating and executing PTAB policy involving AIA trial procedures and Board operations. As a Lead Judge, he supervised and mentored other APJs and represented the PTAB in over 30 speaking engagements. Prior to his service at PTAB, Chen was a first-chair intellectual property litigator and handled over 75 patent infringement cases. Mr. Chen also served as general counsel and intellectual property counsel at technology companies in Silicon Valley, and he is a registered patent attorney.

Resident in Washington, Dr. Kamholz combines his experience as an Administrative Patent Judge at the PTAB and background in medicine, biophysics, and engineering to advise clients in the life sciences sector on a variety of complex patent litigation matters and PTAB proceedings. He has assisted clients in dozens of PTAB proceedings since returning to private practice. During his time at the PTAB, Dr. Kamholz handled more than 120 inter partes review and Covered Business Method proceedings under the AIA. As one of the first judges to preside over AIA trials, Dr. Kamholz wrote many widely cited opinions that established basic principles for PTAB proceedings, mentored numerous other judges, and spoke extensively on AIA trial procedures.

“Virtually all significant patent litigation matters involve co-pending IPRs, so having a strong Patent Office Trials practice with a deep bench of senior attorneys is critical to the future of our patent litigation practice,” said Andrea Reister, chair of the firm’s Patent Office Trials Practice. “We are thrilled to add Peter and Scott to our team as we expect the demand for Patent Office trials to continue to grow in the coming years, and their experience in the high tech and life science sectors will benefit our clients tremendously.”

Mr. Chen received his B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Kamholz earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami, his J.D. from Boston College Law School, his M.D. from the University of Miami School of Medicine, and his Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Miami.