Morgan Chu

Morgan Chu is a nationally recognized trial lawyer specializing in high-stakes intellectual property litigation. His practice encompasses a wide range of technologies, including computer software, semiconductors, medical devices, and biotechnology. Based on a long and public record of significant cases, Chu has extensive experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants, securing major victories for each side. While the provided data shows a single recent appearance for a plaintiff, his broader career reflects a balanced practice representing operating companies and patent holders in landmark disputes.

Chu has spent his entire professional career at Irell & Manella LLP, which he joined in 1977, becoming a partner in 1982 and currently serving as chair of the firm's litigation group. He has secured some of the largest patent verdicts in U.S. history, including a $2.3 billion judgment for VLSI against Intel and a $1.2 billion verdict for Juno Therapeutics and Sloan Kettering against Kite Pharma (which was later reversed on appeal). Other notable plaintiff-side results include securing over $1.8 billion for TiVo in a series of cases and a $565 million payment for City of Hope from Genentech. He has also won significant defense verdicts, including for Novellus Systems and in the first-ever jury trial involving a software patent in 1986.

Chu's practice is primarily focused on district court trials and appeals to the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. He successfully argued Peter v. NantKwest in a 9-0 decision before the Supreme Court concerning USPTO appeal procedures. While his firm lists "Patent Office Trials" as a practice area, public records do not indicate that he appears regularly as counsel in IPR or other PTAB proceedings.

He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, an M.S.L. from Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Charles M. Merrill of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.