Frank Scherkenbach

I'll research this attorney's professional background before writing the summary.

Good foundation. Let me verify the tracked cases and his PTAB/appellate record.

Frank E. Scherkenbach — Fish & Richardson (Principal; Boston and Silicon Valley)

Focus areas. Scherkenbach's practice is complex, high-technology patent litigation, with stated particular expertise in computer software, semiconductors, medical devices, and life sciences (Fish & Richardson firm bio; Chambers USA ranks him Band 1 in Intellectual Property–Massachusetts, noting life sciences and technology work). His docket spans software and networking (Microsoft, Adobe, Google, National Instruments, Genetec), semiconductors and power/RF components (Power Integrations, Fairchild, Skyworks), medical devices (NuVasive, Medtronic, Kyphon, Intuitive Surgical, ResMed/Fisher & Paykel), and life sciences (backup counsel for Johns Hopkins in an IPR against Merck). The Skyworks matter in the tracked list — an ITC Section 337 and parallel C.D. Cal. dispute over RF front-end modules used in Wi-Fi 5/6/7 products — is his most standards-adjacent work; there is no indication of a dedicated SEP/FRAND portfolio, though he has spoken on SEP/FRAND damages.

Side preference. The tracked list is small and mixed: 1 plaintiff-side and 2 defendant-side appearances. The broader record confirms a genuinely two-sided practice weighted toward defense of operating companies. He has defended Microsoft (Uniloc), Adobe, Google, Genetec, Oplink, Level 3, National Instruments, and Identix, and has asserted patents for patent owners and research institutes including SRI International, Power Integrations, Gemstar, NuVasive, Rembrandt IP, and Skyworks. Notably, he has worked for both NPE-side clients (e.g., Rembrandt IP) and against NPE-type assertions as defense counsel. He should not be characterized primarily as either a defense or plaintiff shop.

Firm context. His entire private-practice career appears to be at Fish & Richardson: he joined the firm's Silicon Valley office and moved to the Boston office in 2001. No prior law firm affiliations are disclosed in the sources reviewed. He clerked for Judge H. Robert Mayer on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after co-founding the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology.

Notable matters and PTAB activity. Reported results include a defense verdict for Adobe against Quantel (cited by the National Law Journal among the top 10 defense verdicts of 1997); post-trial vacatur of a $388 million jury verdict against Microsoft in Uniloc, which is tied to the Federal Circuit's rejection of the "25 percent rule" of royalty calculation; a $23.7 million jury verdict for SRI International against Cisco, later doubled to roughly $56.9 million including attorneys' fees (a rare fee award in D. Del.); a Federal Circuit win for Volcano holding that a USPTO decision declining to institute IPR is not judicially reviewable; and a 2024 complete defense victory for Genetec. In the tracked Skyworks matter he was lead counsel for Skyworks, and the ITC administrative law judge issued an initial determination in January 2026 finding no violation of Section 337 by Grand Chip Labs/康希通信; Skyworks then withdrew the investigation and the stayed district court case in April 2026 — an adverse outcome for his client that should be reported as such. He appears in PTAB proceedings, but via pro hac vice admission (e.g., IPR2013-00206/-00208 and related NuVasive filings, IPR2016-01717 for ResMed, IPR2024-00647 as backup counsel for Johns Hopkins) rather than as a registered practitioner; several PTAB orders barred him from acting as lead counsel, indicating he is not on the patent bar register.

Bar and education. Admitted in Massachusetts (1989) and California (SBN 142549); J.D., Harvard Law School (1989); B.S. in mechanical engineering with distinction (Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi) and A.B. in classics with distinction, Stanford (1986). He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (2021), was named a Law360 IP MVP in 2019, and was recognized by Best Lawyers beginning in 2007.

Caveats: one tracked entry is an untitled case with no docket detail, so it is not described here. Chambers and firm materials are marketing-adjacent; the results above are drawn from Firm press releases, PTAB filings, court documents, and contemporaneous news coverage of the ITC and Chinese issuer disclosures.