Brian Robert Matsui

Brian Robert Matsui — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus. Matsui is a patent appellate specialist and co-chair of Morrison & Foerster's Appellate and Supreme Court practice in Washington, D.C. Although he litigates across technologies — mobile devices/speech recognition, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductors, software, and streaming media — his practice is concentrated on Federal Circuit appeals, including appeals from district courts, the PTAB, and the ITC. He has argued more than 20 times in the Federal Circuit and also serves as an editor of MoFo's Federal Circuitry blog, which tracks PTAB and Federal Circuit trends (MoFo bio; Chambers USA 2025; Legal 500).

Side preference. The tracked docket shows a single appearance, for defendant Apple in Zentian Ltd. v. Apple Inc. (N.D. Cal., transferred from W.D. Tex.), consistent with a practice that skews heavily toward defending operating companies (Apple, Spotify, C.R. Bard, Chugai, Disney/Buena Vista) and challenging patents in IPRs. MoFo materials note he also represents patent owners in PTAB appeals, so he works both sides, but the verifiable public record is overwhelmingly defense/challenger-side.

Firm context & notable cases. Matsui has spent his career at Morrison & Foerster (no prior firm identified in web sources). In the tracked Zentian v. Apple matter — involving five Apple-filed IPRs against Zentian speech-recognition patents (IPR2023-00033 to -00037) — he represented Apple before the Federal Circuit; the court affirmed in Zentian's appeal (Fed. Cir. No. 24-2204, June 2026) and, in Apple's cross-appeals (Nos. 24-2207/24-2208, decided July 2026), gave Apple another chance to invalidate the asserted claims after finding the PTAB imposed unclaimed requirements. Other verifiable results: vacatur of three PTAB obviousness decisions for C.R. Bard v. Medline; a precedential victory for SNIPR Technologies reviving CRISPR patents; a complete Federal Circuit win for Spotify against Guvera; and a key role on the Chugai trial team that yielded a $775 million pre-trial settlement. He was listed as "Of Counsel" on the tracked docket, though firm materials identify him as a partner.

PTAB / IPR experience. Extensive — a substantial portion of his Federal Circuit practice is appeals from PTAB/IPR decisions on behalf of both challengers and owners, and he frequently publishes on IPR procedure and PTAB-related Federal Circuit rulings (JD Supra; MoFo bio).

Bar / education. Stanford Law School (J.D. 1999, Order of the Coif); clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (U.S. Supreme Court), Judge Pamela Ann Rymer (9th Cir.), and Judge David F. Levi (E.D. Cal.); D.C. Bar (2005) (Super Lawyers; Equilar/MoFo bio).