C. Brandon Rash, Partner, Intellectual Property | Akin

C. Brandon Rash

Partner

Areas of Focus

C. Brandon Rash, Partner, Intellectual Property | Akin

C. Brandon Rash

Partner

brandon.rash@akingump.com

Areas of Focus

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Biography
  • Focuses on patent infringement litigation in federal district courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and post-grant proceedings at the PTAB.
  • Provides counsel on IP matters outside of litigation, including patent portfolio management, regulatory compliance, licensing, export controls & sanctions and due diligence.
  • Represents high-tech companies in a broad range of sectors, including electronics, medical devices, computer hardware and software, network communications, wireless and semiconductors.

Brandon has substantial experience in all aspects of patent litigation, from pre-litigation through trial and appeal. He has served as lead counsel in district court actions and ITC investigations, and advises clients on patent eligibility under Section 101. Brandon has significant experience in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), known as the “Rocket Docket,” where he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Henry E. Hudson.

Drawing on his electrical engineering background, Brandon has a cutting-edge practice advising innovative technology startups and established companies on complex matters and disputes.

Brandon routinely represents high-tech clients in district courts across the country and at the ITC. In addition, Brandon has vast experience in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB). He has served as lead or backup counsel in over 40 inter partes review (IPR) proceedings.

Clients also rely on Brandon for advice and counsel on non-litigated IP matters, including strategic patent portfolio management, regulatory compliance, licensing, export controls & sanctions and transactional due diligence, among many other types of matters.

Brandon specializes in complex electrical and computer-related technologies, including electronics, medical devices, computer hardware and software, internet and network communications, wireless communications, semiconductors and audio technologies, which are applicable across a broad range of emerging technology areas, such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML), autonomous vehicles, streaming video services and digital assets.

While in law school, Brandon served as manuscripts editor of the University of Richmond Law Review. Before law school, he was a technical marketing engineer at National Semiconductor Corporation, where he was responsible for power management and wireless semiconductor products.

Representative Work
  • Representing Kingston Technology Company in a matter addressing patent infringement claims, brought by Vervain in the Western District of Texas, involving products that relate to FLASH memory and associated controllers for managing the use of memory devices.
  • Represented Endava Inc. and its Irish sister company in connection with a copyright infringement suit filed against the client by Plusgrade related to an airline seat upgrade platform.
  • Advising a computer hardware manufacturer on IP-related due diligence in connection with U.S. export controls & sanctions.
  • Advising a multinational technology company in connection with export control classification and licensing for new platforms and products, including novel AI & ML technologies.
  • Represented Butterfly Network in a patent infringement action brought by FUJIFILM Sonosite in the District of Delaware involving seven patents related to ultrasound diagnostic hardware and software, and as lead counsel in related IPR proceedings.
  • Secured a favorable settlement on behalf of VIZIO related to an ITC 337 proceeding brought by Maxell Holdings involving patent infringement claims related to smart television hardware and software technologies, as well as an IPR proceeding.
  • Represented Boston Scientific in a series of multi-front patent and trade secret litigations against Nevro relating to spinal cord stimulation technology in the District of Delaware. The cases involved affirmative patent and trade secret claims asserted by Boston Scientific, counterclaims for patent infringement asserted by Nevro and parallel petitions for inter partes review before the PTAB. The Court scheduled trials for October 2021, January 2023, and October 2023. The jury in the 2021 trial returned a verdict finding Nevro liable for patent infringement and awarding Boston Scientific $20 million in damages. The case settled in August 2022, prior to the next-scheduled trials.
  • Represented patent owner EnChroma in a declaratory judgment action brought by accused infringer Eyenavision in the Western District of Pennsylvania related to lenses used for color vision correction.
  • Represented petitioner Lectrosonics as lead counsel in IPR proceedings against Zaxcom related to wireless audio recording and processing technology.
  • Represented patent owner Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) as lead counsel in district court and ITC actions and IPR proceedings against various companies related to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting devices, power supplies, and optics.
  • Represented petitioner Unified Patents as lead counsel in IPR proceedings against various patent owners related to Global Positioning System (GPS) location tracking devices, video and audio data compression, personal communications system transmission protocol, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), short message service (SMS) messaging, telemetry applications, network bandwidth allocation and management, and public key cryptosystems.
  • Represented defendant United Bank in patent infringement action in the EDVA brought by Groove Digital, Inc. related to the delivery and display of digital content to computer systems, push notifications, and smartphone applet applications.
  • Represented United Technologies Corporation in district court and ITC actions and IPR proceedings against Rolls-Royce plc and General Electric Company related to gas turbine engine technologies.
  • Represented defendant Verizon Services Corp. in patent infringement actions in the EDVA against various patent owners related to virtual local area networks (VLAN), Internet Protocol network, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies.
  • Represented appellee Trading Technologies International Inc. in an appeal to Federal Circuit (CAFC) against CQG Inc. regarding a motion to stay district court litigation pending covered business method (CBM) review proceedings.
  • Represented defendant TouchType Inc. d/b/a SwiftKey in a patent infringement action in the Southern District of California (SDCA) brought by WordLogic Corporation related to predictive text technology for computer systems, touch keyboard applications, and smartphone applet applications.
  • Represented defendant patent owner Asetek Danmark A/S in a declaratory judgment action in the EDVA brought by Asia Vital Components Co. related to liquid cooling systems for computer systems.
  • Represented respondent Realtek Semiconductor Corporation in ITC action brought by LSI Corporation related to IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) communication protocols.
  • Represented plaintiff Netscape Communications Corp. in patent infringement action in the EDVA against ValueClick Inc. related to the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and internet cookies.

Education
  • J.D., University of Richmond School of Law, magna cum laude, 2006

  • B.S.E.E., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1999

Clerkships
  • U.S.D.C., Eastern District of Virginia

Bar Admissions
  • District of Columbia

  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

  • Virginia

Recognitions
  • IAM Patent 1000—The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, Leading Private Patent Litigator in Washington, D.C., 2024.
  • The Legal 500 US, Patents: Litigation (Full Coverage), 2020 and 2022-2024.
  • The Legal 500 US, Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission), 2020.
  • AIPLA, Past Presidents’ Award for Academic Achievements in the Study of Intellectual Property Law, 2006.
  • University of Richmond School of Law, Inducted into McNeill Law Society, 2005.
Affiliations and Public Service
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • PTAB Bar Association
  • Virginia Bar Association
  • University of Richmond School of Law, Young Graduate Association Board of Directors (president, 2010-2012; vice president, 2009-2010)
Speeches and Publications
  • “AI-Assisted Inventions May Be Patentable, but Only Humans Can Be Inventors,” Akin TechSpeak Alert, February 23, 2024.
  • “USPTO Pilot Program Expedites Examination of Patent Applications Directed to Semiconductor Manufacturing in Support of CHIPS Act,” Akin TechSpeak Alert, December 5, 2023.
  • “District Court Dismissed Infringement Claims Regarding Online Video Streaming Because the Patents Recited Patent-Ineligible Abstract Ideas,” IP Litigator, July 11, 2023.
  • “Overlooked Patent Cases: Indirect Infringement Developments,” Law360, August 2, 2021.
  • “Overlooked Patent Cases: Lessons On Section 101 Motions,” Law360, September 22, 2020.
  • “Improvements from Using a Computer May Not Transform Abstract Idea into a Patent-Eligible Concept,” IP Litigator, June 25, 2020.
  • Presenter, “Electrical and Computer Patent Practice,” Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses, April 7-12, 2019.
  • Presenter, “Electrical & Computer Patent Practice,” Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses, April 15-20, 2018.
  • Presenter, “Electrical & Computer Patent Practice,” Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses, October 15-20, 2017.
  • Panelist, “Considering the Evolution of PTAB Practice,” Boston Patent Law Association’s Contested Matters PTAB Summit, September 14, 2017.
  • Presenter, “Electrical and Computer Patent Practice,” Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses, April 2-7, 2017.
  • Presenter, “Electrical & Computer Patent Practice,” Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses, October 19-25, 2016.
  • Presenter, “Important Concepts and Considerations in Advanced Biofuels Pathway Protection and Approval,” Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo, October 26-28, 2015.

Insights and Achievements

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