Federal Circuit Welcomes New Judge: Raymond Chen
Earlier this month, Raymond Chen was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Nominated by the Obama administration in February, Chen, in a unanimous 97-0 confirmation, is also the first Asian American to serve on the Federal Circuit in more than 25 years.
Born and raised in Orange County, California, Chen graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He then went on to attend New York University School of Law.
After finishing law school, Chen worked as an intellectual property litigator for a firm in Southern California. He then served as a Technical Assistant for the Federal Circuit. Afterwards, he joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO"), where he was promoted to Solicitor in 2008.
Chen has been with the PTO for more than 10 years, and has represented the agency in countless appeals before the Federal Circuit. He has also personally litigated more than 20 cases, according to the White House press release, and has advised the agency on legal, policy, and regulatory issues. On top of that, he has handed out guidance to patent examiners in ensuring that there was consistency with developing law. He has also co-chaired the PTO Committee of the Federal Circuit Bar Association.
Chen is a member of the Advisory Council for the Federal Circuit.
Through and through, Chen is a patent lawyer and specialist, and has been for the entirety of his legal career. Some notable oral arguments of his include In re Bilski, a case involving patenting method claims (business methods in particular), and In re Comiskey, a dispute over a "method and system for mandatory arbitration involving legal documents."
Many are in firm support of Chen and his recent confirmation. In particular, many members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as Asian Americans in the judiciary are still severely underrepresented for the most part.
Congrats, Justice Chen!
Related Resources:
- Obama Nominates Raymond Chen, Todd Hughes to Federal Circuit (FindLaw's Federal Circuit Blog)
- Fed Cir Says Business Methods Patentable, Judge Prost Dissents (FindLaw's Federal Circuit Blog)
- Edward DuMont Federal Circuit Nomination Stuck in Senate Limbo (FindLaw's Federal Circuit Blog)