Betty Hong Chen

I'll research this attorney before drafting.

Betty Hong Chen — Desmarais LLP (San Francisco) — patent and IP litigator, partner.

Specialty / focus. Chen's practice centers on high-stakes patent and IP litigation for technology and pharmaceutical/medical-device clients, with an emphasis on standard-essential patent (SEP) and FRAND issues in 5G, Wi-Fi and battery technologies, plus software and cloud/content-delivery systems, semiconductors, consumer electronics, AI-related disputes, and Hatch-Waxman/pharma licensing. Her published practice description also covers trade secret, antitrust, breach of contract, false advertising and Lanham Act claims, IP diligence for M&A, and strategic prosecution/portfolio work. She has handled matters in federal district courts, state courts and the International Trade Commission (ITC).

Side preference. The tracked docket data is uniformly defense-side (0 plaintiff, 4 defendant appearances, all with Desmarais listed as firm), and that is broadly consistent with her public profile — she represents operating companies such as Microsoft, Lyft, GoPro, Zoom and Sun Pharmaceuticals. Note, however, that the tracked set is small and does not capture her full docket; firm and press materials also describe plaintiff-side work (e.g., a $43 million EDTX verdict for The Chamberlain Group and an ITC general exclusion order for Skull Shaver), so she is best characterized as defense-leaning but not exclusively defense-side.

Firm context. Since October 2023 she has been a partner in Desmarais LLP's San Francisco office, the firm's second lateral partner hire there (after Gaby Higgins). She spent roughly 12.5 years at Fish & Richardson (most recently as a principal in Silicon Valley) before moving to Desmarais. She clerked for the Hon. Ron Clark in the Eastern District of Texas (2006–2008) after interning for the Hon. William Wayne Justice (W.D. Tex.).

Notable matters. Microsoft Corp. v. MediaPointe, Inc./AMHC, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2:22-cv-01009) is her most visible tracked-adjacent win: after MediaPointe voluntarily dismissed its W.D. Tex. infringement suit, Chen filed a declaratory judgment action for Microsoft, which produced a January 2024 summary judgment of non-infringement and invalidation of claims of the '426 and '195 content-delivery patents and a February 2024 final judgment in Microsoft's favor (per the Justia docket and Daily Journal/Desmarais coverage). A November 2025 Federal Circuit decision affirmed a district court's judgment of invalidity and non-infringement as to the same MediaPointe/AMHC patents in a parallel declaratory-judgment action (Akamai); I could not verify Chen's role in that appeal, so I do not attribute it to her. She is also defending Microsoft in ParTec AG v. Microsoft Corp. (E.D. Tex. 2:24-cv-00433), including a Microsoft motion to stay pending an instituted IPR of ParTec's '442 patent; the stay motion papers include her August 2025 § 285 fee-demand letter to ParTec's counsel. Other reported results include the $43M Chamberlain Group verdict (E.D. Tex.), a rare ITC general exclusion order for Skull Shaver, and a preliminary injunction for DUSA Pharmaceuticals in a medical-device trade secret case that settled on the eve of trial. One tracked entry, TOUTVIRTUAL Inc. v. Unknown Defendant, could not be verified in public sources.

PTAB / IPR. She works at the intersection of district court litigation and post-grant review, and IPR proceedings feature prominently in her Microsoft matters (including the instituted IPR driving the ParTec stay motion). The available sources do not establish that she personally appears as counsel of record in PTAB proceedings on a regular basis, so IPR/PGR experience should be treated as litigation-driven rather than a standalone PTAB practice.

Bar / education. J.D., University of Texas School of Law (2006); B.A., University of Southern California (2003). State Bar of California number 290588 appears on her federal filings; admission details for other jurisdictions were not verified.