Susan Koegel

Susan Koegel is Counsel at Foster, Murphy, Altman & Nickel, PC, a boutique firm specializing in intellectual property litigation. Her practice focuses entirely on Section 337 investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), including post-order enforcement issues handled by Customs and Border Protection. She handles a broad range of unfair trade practice cases, encompassing patent, copyright, and trademark infringement, as well as trade secret misappropriation and false designation of origin claims. Her casework spans various technologies, including network security, medical devices, and consumer electronics.

While the firm represents both domestic and foreign companies, Ms. Koegel’s appearances include advocating for both complainants (plaintiffs) and respondents (defendants) in these fast-paced ITC investigations. Her work includes significant litigation such as the Centripetal Networks, Inc. v. Keysight Technologies, Inc. et al. case, where she served as counsel for the plaintiff. This complex matter, involving network security patents, saw extensive litigation across multiple forums, including the ITC, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and the Federal Circuit. In this particular case, the Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC's finding of no Section 337 violation in favor of Keysight and largely upheld PTAB decisions that found Centripetal's asserted patent claims unpatentable.

Despite the outcome in Centripetal v. Keysight, Ms. Koegel has a strong record of favorable results in other Section 337 investigations. She successfully represented respondents in a Disposable Vaporizers investigation, leading to the withdrawal of the complaint, and secured a favorable settlement for a complainant in Certain Antivenom Compositions. Further, she defended Canady against patent and trademark infringement claims, resulting in a finding of non-infringement that was affirmed by the Federal Circuit. Her successes also include achieving a Section 337 victory for a client in a wood flooring investigation and obtaining summary determination of non-infringement for respondents in a Toner Cartridges investigation.

Regarding PTAB and IPR experience, while her primary focus is on ITC investigations, her cases frequently interact with post-grant review proceedings. For instance, the Centripetal Networks v. Keysight Technologies litigation involved numerous PTAB inter partes review (IPR) decisions that were subsequently reviewed on appeal by the Federal Circuit. Ms. Koegel is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Texas. She earned her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 1988, a D.V.M. from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999, and a B.A. from Miami University in 1984.