Supreme Court & Appellate: IP

Akin is uniquely situated to blend that wealth of IP experience with a nationally recognized appellate practice. Our honors include:

• Rating in the top three appellate practices nationwide by Corporate Counsel.
• Law360’s Appellate Practice of the Year.
• Mainstay on The National Law Journal’s “Appellate Hot List” as one of the nation’s top appellate firms since the award’s inauguration in 2008.
• National ranking by Chambers and Legal 500 as a leader in the field.
• Tier 1 in the U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers joint ranking of America’s Best Law Firms.

The firm’s appellate practitioners regularly lead representations in the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit on the most cutting-edge IP issues facing companies today. Our integration of technical know-how and top-flight appellate advocacy skills ranges from a collaboration with IP trial counsel on strategy and tactical matters to ensure all applicable arguments and appropriate records have been made, to deploying our extensive and hands-on experience on appeal in the Federal Circuit, to seeking or preventing Supreme Court review.

Our deep, broad and high-quality experience in the intricacies of IP law and of Federal Circuit/Supreme Court advocacy regularly leads clients from around the country to engage us on the most complex and critical of matters.

Our Team

Leading our Supreme Court and appellate team on IP matters is Pratik Shah, who has argued 17 cases before the Supreme Court, and has filed over 150 merits or certiorari-stage briefs in that Court. Major publications rank him among the country’s top appellate litigators, and he was elected to the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. The Washington Business Journal noted that Mr. Shah has practiced “before the highest court in the land on some of the most groundbreaking cases of the 21st century,” while clients described him to Chambers USA as “incredibly intelligent, with a total command of appellate issues.”

A chemical engineer by training, Mr. Shah joined the firm in 2013 from the Solicitor General’s Office in the U.S. Department of Justice. He has served as counsel of record to parties and amici curiae in precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the America Invents Act. Mr. Shah is one of very few advocates to have argued more than 15 cases in both the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court.

Additionally, our team boasts no shortage of experienced Federal Circuit advocates and former clerks who bring a wide range of perspectives to bear on appellate representations on IP matters.

Among others, appellate partner Julius Chen regularly appears before the Federal Circuit and counsels clients on IP-related appellate issues. IP Partner Dr. Rachel Elsby—a Ph.D. in immunology and a former Federal Circuit Clerk—represents clients in all phases of litigation, from pre-suit investigations to trial and appeal. 

Our lawyers are also intimately familiar with the Federal Circuit bench, and are active at the highest levels of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, serving in leadership positions on key committees and as invited speakers at high-profile events, including the Federal Circuit Bench & Bar Conference.

Patent Appeals

Practitioners in our appellate group are no strangers to the myriad facets of IP disputes. They regularly brief and argue appeals—which run the procedural and substantive gamut of patent law—before the Federal Circuit and participate in patent cases before the Supreme Court.

The firm’s IP appeals from federal district courts have involved preliminary injunctions and final judgments entered on threshold motions to dismiss, after discovery on motions for summary judgment and following trials, jury verdicts and post-trial motions. Our appellate team has achieved significant Federal Circuit victories in areas such as venue, claim construction, infringement, invalidity and damages.

We have also developed particular experience in inter partes review (IPR) appeals from PTAB decisions. In addition to litigating record-intensive patentability questions, the firm’s appellate lawyers have applied their considerable administrative law experience to IPR-specific challenges concerning the America Invents Act, brought under a host of constitutional provisions or grounded in the Administrative Procedure Act.