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    Tom Chen

    Of Counsel

    Orange County

    Tom Chen focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and Section 337 investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

    Tom joined Orrick after serving for several years as an investigative attorney in the Office of Unfair Import Investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission, where he was lead counsel representing the public interest in numerous Section 337 investigations involving allegations of patent infringement, trade dress infringement, and false advertising. During his tenure as an investigative attorney, Tom successfully first-chaired numerous evidentiary hearings and claim construction hearings, and he also was responsible for briefing all procedural and merits issues before the administrative law judges and the Commission.

    Before his government service, Tom was associated with international law firms, where he successfully litigated life sciences patent matters involving large molecule and small molecule therapeutics in patent infringement disputes in district court, inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and patent appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

    Early in his career, Tom served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Alvin A. Schall of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and to the Honorable Leonard P. Stark, then of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

    Tom earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review and the Virginia Journal of Law & Technology, and won numerous internal and external writing awards and competitions. Before law school, Tom completed a master’s degree in biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and pharmacology from Duke University.

      • Representing global green energy industry leader Trina Solar in a multi-forum patent enforcement campaign against competitors Runergy of China and Adani of India as to next generation “TOPCon” photovoltaic technology. Initiated with Delaware District Court action, expanded to Central District of California action, now escalated to U.S. International Trade Commission investigation instituted against infringing solar cells, panels and modules—trial before ITC Judge Bhattacharyya expected in September 2025. Meanwhile, countering validity challenges to the asserted patents before the U.S. Patent Office, with related challenges in China.