Hugham Chan

Overview

Hugham Chan is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of its Intellectual Property Group. He litigates patent infringement cases across many industries and has a particular focus on the life sciences and technology sectors.

Before joining the firm, Hugham was an assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he defended the federal government in civil suits involving a variety of statutes, such as the Patent Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Contract Disputes Act, and the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act. That experience included successful appeals that resulted in precedential decisions from the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Prior to his stint as an AUSA, Hugham served as a law clerk to both the Honorable Reggie B. Walton, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Honorable Raymond T. Chen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Career & Education

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Assistant U.S. Attorney, 2020–2024
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  Assistant U.S. Attorney, 2020–2024
Professorial Lecturer in Law
Legal Research and Writing, The George Washington University Law School, 2016–2017
- Professorial Lecturer in Law
  Legal Research and Writing, The George Washington University Law School, 2016–2017
Rice University, B.S.
The George Washington University Law School, J.D., with high honors
- Rice University, B.S.
- The George Washington University Law School, J.D., with high honors
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
New York
District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- New York
- District of Columbia
Law Clerk, Honorable Raymond T. Chen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2017
Law Clerk, Honorable Reggie B. Walton, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 2016
- Law Clerk, Honorable Raymond T. Chen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2017
- Law Clerk, Honorable Reggie B. Walton, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 2016
Board of Directors, Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund, 2015–2017

Asian Pacific American Bar Association–DC, 2013–2014
- Board of Directors, Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund, 2015–2017
- Asian Pacific American Bar Association–DC, 2013–2014

Hugham's Insights

Press Coverage | 07.17.25

6 Cases For Patent Attys To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

Client Alert | 4 min read | 04.22.25
First Impressions Matter: Federal Circuit Holds That Patents Claiming Application of Generic Machine Learning to New Data Environments Are Not Patent Eligible

View All Insights

Representative Matters

Defended the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s calculation of “A” delay in a patent term adjustment matter, resulting in determination that the agency acted reasonably (and thus did not act arbitrarily or capriciously, or abuse its discretion) in calculating the delay. H. Lundbeck A/S v. USPTO, 2024 WL 3490289 (E.D. Va. July 19, 2024).
Represented the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as trial counsel at a prosecution laches trial, where district court agreed with the agency that prosecution laches barred issuance of patents on hundreds of the patentee’s applications. Hyatt v. Vidal, 2024 WL 2208581 (D.D.C. May 16, 2024).
Represented the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as appellate counsel in a patent term adjustment case concerning “C” delay and obtained favorable, precedential decision regarding the reasonableness of the agency’s calculation. SawStop Holding LLC v. Vidal, 48 F.th 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2022).
Defended the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in a 35 U.S.C. § 145 action, where district court found that the agency correctly rejected the patent application for claiming patent ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Nomula v. Hirshfeld, 561 F. Supp. 3d 617 (E.D. Va. 2021).
Represented the Social Security Administration as trial and appellate counsel in a putative class action regarding auxiliary benefits for early retirees, where the appellate court agreed that the action had to be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies in a favorable, precedential decision. N.P. v. Kijakazi, 64 F.4th 577 (4th Cir. 2023).
Defended the AbilityOne Commission against allegations that the agency unlawfully failed to intervene in a dispute between a contractor and a subcontractor in an Administrative Procedure Act case, which was dismissed against the agency for lack of standing. PRIDE Indus. v. VersAbility Res., Inc., 670 F. Supp. 3d 323, 327 (E.D. Va. 2023).