Ahren Hsu-Hoffman

Specialty / focus areas. Ahren C. Hsu-Hoffman is a patent trial lawyer at Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Palo Alto) whose practice spans district court, PTAB, and ITC proceedings. Per his firm bio, his matters have involved computer networking and video-on-demand systems, drones, smartphone user interfaces, semiconductor manufacturing, optoelectronic transceivers, medical/laser devices, and design patents, with many cases tried through verdict. His tracked appearance — representing patent owner Nikolai Tankovich in Candela Corporation v. Tankovich (IPR2023-00234, U.S. Patent No. 10,675,481, multi-wavelength laser skin-treatment technology) — fits the medical-device side of that portfolio.

Side preference / firm context. Hsu-Hoffman has spent his entire career at Morgan Lewis (preceded only by a 2006–07 clerkship for Judge James Ware, N.D. Cal., and an IP fellowship at the UNC Office of University Counsel). His practice leans defense: his tracked appearance is on the defendant side, and court records show him defending operating companies such as OnePlus (against NPE WSOU Investments), Apricorn (in Spex Technologies v. Apricorn, where the defendant won JMOL of no infringement), and Fujifilm (which recovered $10.2M from Motorola). He has also appeared for plaintiffs, including ActiveVideo and Pelican International, so he works both sides but is primarily defense-side for operating companies and patent owners.

Notable cases / outcomes. In the tracked matter, Candela Corp. v. Nikolai Tankovich, the PTAB issued a final written decision (June 5, 2024) finding no challenged claims unpatentable — a complete win for Hsu-Hoffman's client, patent owner Tankovich. His firm bio cites his work on ActiveVideo Networks v. Verizon (E.D. Va.), where a jury's $140M verdict plus sunset royalties produced a total recovery exceeding $260M, affirmed by the Federal Circuit. He also has been part of Morgan Lewis IPR teams for petitioner Lam Research (IPR2024-00033) and petitioner Amazon (IPR2024-00283).

PTAB / IPR experience. He frequently appears before the PTAB, on both the petitioner side (Amazon, Lam Research) and patent-owner side (Tankovich), and has litigated before the ITC.

Bar / education. B.S.E. in biomedical engineering and economics, Duke (2001); J.D., UNC School of Law (2005); California Bar (2007); registered practitioner, USPTO Reg. No. 50,862; admitted to the Federal Circuit and multiple district courts.