Andrei Iancu

Andrei Iancu focuses on intellectual property litigation and counseling. He previously served as the undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a position to which he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate.

As head of the USPTO, Andrei oversaw one of the largest IP offices in the world, an agency with approximately 13,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $3.5 billion. He also served as the administration’s principal advisor on domestic and international IP issues. Among Andrei’s initiatives as director was the creation of the National Council for Expanding American Innovation, a group of industry, academia and government leaders tasked with helping the USPTO develop a comprehensive national strategy to broaden participation in the innovation ecosystem demographically, geographically and economically.

Prior to his government service, Andrei spent two decades at Irell and served as the firm’s managing partner from 2012 to 2018, the maximum allowable tenure. In his time at the firm, he represented clients in a variety of high-profile matters in district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission and the USPTO. In addition to litigation, Andrei was involved in all other aspects of IP practice, including prosecution, due diligence and licensing. He represented plaintiffs and defendants across the technical and scientific spectra, including those associated with medical devices, genetic testing, therapeutics, the internet, telephony, TV broadcasting, video game systems and computer peripherals.

Throughout his career, Andrei has been widely recognized for his work, earning accolades from publications including Chambers USA, Intellectual Asset Management, Managing IP, Daily Journal, California Lawyer, Los Angeles Business Journal, Legal 500, and many others. Most recently, he was inducted into the IAM Hall of Fame by Intellectual Asset Management and received the “Excellence Award” from American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In 2019, Andrei received the “IP Champion Award” from the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation for “his extraordinary leadership in advocating for the value of intellectual property to stimulate the progress of innovation.” Andrei also received the 2020 IEEE-USA “Award for Distinguished Public Service” for “his achievement of restoring balance and confidence in the U.S. patent system.”

In 2021, Andrei co-founded the Renewing American Innovation Project at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In 2022, he also co-founded the bipartisan Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP). He previously taught patent law at UCLA School of Law, and he is a sought-after speaker and writer on issues related to IP and innovation.

Prior to law school, Andrei was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co. where he received several honors including the “Malcolm R. Currie Innovation Award.” He is still licensed as a Professional Engineer in California.

Experience

• Kite Pharma v. Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research (PTAB). Represented patent owner Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and its exclusive licensee, Juno Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Kite Pharma petitioned for inter partes review (IPR), seeking to invalidate all claims of U.S. Patent No. 7,446,190, titled “Nucleic Acids Encoding Chimeric T Cell Receptors.” In a complete victory for Irell’s clients, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) upheld the validity of all claims of the patent in a December 2016 final written decision.
• MAG Aerospace Industries, Inc. v. B/E Aerospace, Inc. (C.D. Cal.). Represented B/E Aerospace in defense of a patent infringement suit brought by MAG Aerospace Industries alleging infringement of three patents related to vacuum toilets used on aircraft. After a successful claim construction ruling, three summary judgments of noninfringement were granted in favor of B/E Aerospace, eliminating all of MAG's infringement claims. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in a unanimous precedential decision, after a hearing at which Andrei argued on B/E’s behalf.
• B/E Aerospace, Inc. v. MAG Aerospace Industries LLC (PTAB). Represented B/E Aerospace in three IPRs filed against a competitor in the field of aircraft water and waste systems. The USPTO invalidated all three of MAG’s patents, concluding that they were obvious based on multiple prior art references.
• Juno Therapeutics Inc. et al. v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. et al (E.D. Penn.). Represented Juno in a patent and contract dispute surrounding chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T-cell) therapies for the treatment of certain forms of cancer. The case settled favorably after several years of litigation, with Juno receiving upfront and milestone payments from Novartis, as well as ongoing royalties.
• Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc. (N.D. Cal.). Represented Ariosa Diagnostics in patent litigation against Sequenom. On Ariosa’s early summary judgment motion, the court invalidated Sequenom’s patent because it attempted to cover a natural phenomenon. The decision gave Ariosa a complete victory, allowing the diagnostics company to continue selling its popular Harmony™ Prenatal Test – an affordable, highly accurate, non-invasive blood test to determine fetal chromosomal abnormalities. This decision was affirmed by the Federal Circuit in a precedential opinion.

News

Honors & Awards

• Selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022)
• Received the Paul Michel Award, IPWatchdog (2022)
• Selected as one of the “Legal Visionaries” by the Los Angeles Times (2021-2022)
• Listed as a “Notable Practitioner” in Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars (2021-2022)
• Inducted into the IAM Hall of Fame by Intellectual Asset Management (2021)
• Honored with the 2020 IEEE-USA “Award for Distinguished Public Service” for “his achievement of restoring balance and confidence in the U.S. patent system” (2021)
• Received the “Excellence Award” from the American Intellectual Property Law Association (2020)
• Selected to the Southern California Super Lawyers list (2008-2018, 2023)
• Named one of the “50 Most Influential People in IP” by Managing IP, recognized for “having changed the mood at the USPTO” (2018-2020)

Publications

• “China Wants to Replace the U.S. As the World Leader in Science,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, co-author (February 13, 2023)
• “Opinion: Protect the Value of American Invention,” Deseret News, co-author (November 12, 2022)
• “Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Will Miss Without Intellectual Property,” The Hill, co-author (November 9, 2022)
• “Scapegoating Patents Won't Lower Drug Prices,” Bloomberg Law, co-author (October 17, 2022)
• “To Get More Women And Minority Inventors, We Need Data,” International Business Times, co-author (May 29, 2022)

Speaking Engagements

• Gave hundreds of speeches and keynote addresses in his role as USPTO director. They can generally be found at www.uspto.gov.
  • One of his speeches, “The Future Keeps Coming,” received the 2020 Cicero Speechwriting Award in two separate categories (Public Policy and Technology). Another, “Innovation and Opportunity,” received an honorable mention.
• Spoke at dozens of universities in 2020-2021, including students, faculty and tech transfer offices.
• “The Firm,” Bloomberg Big Law Business Summit - West (2016)
• “Untangling the Changing World of Section 101: Solving the Patentable Subject Matter Conundrum,” ACI 4th Annual Paragraph IV Disputes Master Symposium (2016)
• “New Litigation Scenarios After Akamai: Fact Pattern Hypotheticals,” Intellectual Property Owners Association (2015)

Professional Activities

• Chair, UCLA Technology Development Group (TDG) Board of Directors