Peter Chen

About Peter Chen

I am a Senior Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP in its Palo Alto office and am co-chair of the firm\'s Patent Office Trials practice group. We represent PTAB petitioners and patent owners, and my experience as a Lead APJ at the PTAB enables me to devise and execute IPR and PGR strategies for both patent holders and patent challengers, in technology and life sciences industries. Our group has won IPRs at final decision for petitioners and for patent owners, and successfully argued for institution on behalf of petitioners notwithstanding the Fintiv factors, and won denials of institution on behalf of patent owners.From 2013-17, I was an APJ with the PTAB and presided over nearly 200 IPRs and CBMs. As a Lead APJ in 2015-17, I was part of PTAB\'s senior management team and advised the Chief Judge and the Silicon Valley Regional Director on policy and operations matters. Prior to being appointed to the PTAB in 2013, I practiced intellectual property law for almost 30 years at law firms and in-house, in federal and state courts in 20 states and at the US International Trade Commission. I\'m the only former PTAB APJ with over 20 years of equity partner experience in major international law firms and General Counsel experience in start-up and publicly traded tech companies.I\'ve handled over 75 patent cases in district courts, with technologies including hardware, software and Internet, biotechnology and medical devices. I\'ve also been involved in nearly 30 trade secrets cases and numerous copyright cases. I have over 125 days of trial and arbitration experience and have litigated more than 20 TROs and preliminary injunctions. Guest lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Law, 2015-24; Stanford Graduate School of Business, Santa Clara University School of Law, 2004-06.Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, No. Co-inventor on US Patents Nos. 8,468,050 and Stanford Buck/Cardinal Club, 2013-present; Executive Committee, 2024-present.Stanford Associates, 2013-present.USA Masters track and field, 12-time All American sprinter and jumper. Ranked 3rd nationally and 13th worldwide in M65-69 age group, 2024. Bronze medal, 2014 USA Masters National Championships; bronze medal, 2013 National Senior Games. 8-time Pacific Association champion.US Masters Swimming, Stanford University. Small wave surfer and other ocean sports.

Experience

1. Senior Counsel

   Covington & Burling LLP

   Mar 2017 — Present · Palo Alto, CA, US

   Patent litigation at the PTAB, ITC and district courts. Palo Alto office hiring committee, 2018-20. Super Lawyers, 2021.Pro bono matters include representation of gun control organizations, domestic violence survivors, Green Card applicants, military veterans, non-profit investigative news organizations.

Education

• Stanford University

  BS/MS

• University of California, Davis - School of Law

  JD

  1980 — 1983

• Stanford University

  BS/MS, Biological Sciences

  1976 — 1980

Skills

• Patents
• Intellectual Property
• Copyright Law
• Trade Secrets
• Management
• Appeals
• Litigation
• Arbitration
• Patent Litigation
• Trials
• Licensing
• Venture Capital
• Biotechnology
• Ipo
• Private Equity
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Patent Law
• Trademarks