Annita Zhong

As a co-author and co-inventor of peer-reviewed journal articles and issued patents, Zhong served as the lead author on a paper that garnered over 300 citations.

She holds a PhD in chemistry and is also a fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's William Barton Rogers Society, which represents a collection of leaders who are committed to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other scholarship fields.

Zhong's areas of practice include patent trial and appeal board proceedings in addition to district court litigation and IP counseling.

In most inter partes review (IPR) cases, Zhong stopped the challenge at the institution stage, meaning the PTAB decided the patent challengers had not shown a likelihood of success to prevail with respect to at least one of the challenged claims. There have been, however, setbacks; and in a recent challenge, one of the cases was instituted for one of her long-term clients and she will be defending that one in June.

"I'm arguing a case for one of our longtime clients for whom we have handled, I would say over 30 inter partes review cases now," Zhong said. "Their patents came from Blackberry and feature some fundamental USB charging technologies. The client was the target of one of the largest IPR campaigns against a single patent holder in a single year."

"We hope the outcome will be the same as previously, when the PTAB upheld all the claims in another patent in the same family," she said.

Zhong served as lead counsel for that client, Fundamental Innovation Systems International LLC, successfully defending 35 IPR petitions filed by Samsung, LG, Huawei and TCL. The defense resulted in 19 non-institution decisions on the merits in 2018 and 2021, two final written decisions upholding all challenged claims in 2019, one ongoing proceeding and early settlements in the remaining proceedings.

"We are also working with the client and co-counsel, in defending the USB charging patents before the reexamination units," she said. "It becomes a little bit like a serial harassment against patent owners who have been able to successfully defend their patents and we would like to deliver the same good outcome in the reexamination proceedings as well."

Zhong is also a member of the Secretary's Circle of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which represents donors who are committed to advancing the society's work and initiatives.

- Douglas Saunders