Yar R. Chaikovsky

Partner, Litigation Department

Palo Alto

Fax: 1(650) 320-1932

Overview

Yar R. Chaikovsky is a leading intellectual property trial lawyer at the firm based in the Palo Alto office. For seven years (2015-2021), he led the Paul Hastings’ Intellectual Property Litigation practice as its Global Co-Chair. He serves as lead trial counsel for some of the most preeminent global technology companies in their most important matters. These matters often involve co-pending actions in US District Courts, before agencies such as the USPTO PTAB and USITC, and include foreign tribunals while being frequently litigated through the trial and post-trial phases. His success has led him to be accepted as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and to be praised by numerous leading publications as one of the nation’s top intellectual property trial lawyers. Mr. Chaikovsky was Yahoo!’s first head patent counsel. Before practicing law, he was an engineer in the missile systems defense department of Hughes Aircraft Company.

Accolades and Recognitions

He has been recognized by IAM Patent 1000 as a "Charismatic top-tier trial lawyer" and a "dynamite trial lawyer who never lacks for a convincing story to tell" and "when it comes to gutting a plaintiff’s damages theory, challenging validity on Section 101 grounds and drawing lines in the sand, he does it all brilliantly." "He keeps himself up to date on everything and doesn’t just give you the textbook options when someone sues you." He was singled out as a "trial attorney who scored big" and "demonstrated a track record of success" due to his trial preparation and presentation when The National Law Journal named him a "Winning Litigator." Benchmark Litigation also recognized Mr. Chaikovsky as a finalist for Intellectual Property Litigator of the Year and a National Litigation Star, while calling him "a hell of a lawyer and has some ‘buzzy star power’ about him." Intellectual Asset Management notes that he "communicates exceptionally well and doesn’t let technical jargon dominate his arguments and thinking. He is a talented trial lawyer who deserves high recognition." He is lauded by Chambers for being a "very sharp and detail-oriented litigator" with an "assertive, thorough and thoughtful approach" to litigation, in addition to having an "ability to adopt the viewpoint of in-house counsel" in order to best achieve client objectives. The National Law Journal also named Mr. Chaikovsky as one of its Intellectual Property Trailblazers where he was identified as being "a thought leader in patent litigation in the United States" due to "his innovative trial work protecting corporations using aggressive litigation strategies."

In addition, Mr. Chaikovsky has been a lauded patent litigator and ITC practitioner by a number of other leading ranking directories, including:

The Legal 500, Intellectual Property - Patents: Litigation (Full Coverage) (2021)
The Legal 500, Dispute Resolution - Appellate: Courts of Appeals (2021)
The Legal 500, Intellectual Property - Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission) (2021)
The Legal 500 United States (2011-present)
The Legal 500, Appellate (2020)
The American Lawyer, "Litigator of the Week" (2018)
Law360, "Legal MVP Appellate" (2018)
Law360, "Legal Lion" (2017-2018)
Law360, MVP (2017)
Law360, "IP Trial Pro"
Chambers USA (2009-present)
National Law Journal, "Winning Litigator" (2012, 2016)
National Law Journal, "Litigation Trailblazer" (2016)
National Law Journal, "IP Trailblazer" (2014)
Benchmark Litigation (2014-present)
Benchmark Litigation, "Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year - California" Short List (2020)
Benchmark Litigation, "Silicon Valley Attorney of the Year" Short List (2019-2020)
Benchmark Litigation, "Silicon Valley Firm of the Year" Short List (2019)
Benchmark Litigation, "California - Intellectual Property Litigation Firm of the Year" Short List (2019)
Benchmark Litigation, "California Litigation Star" (2014-2018)
Benchmark Litigation US Awards, "Intellectual Property Attorney Of the Year Award – West" Short List (2016)
Benchmark Litigation US Awards, "Regional Litigator Of the Year Award – West" Short List (2014)
The Recorder, "California Trailblazer" (2019)
Managing IP, "Outstanding Litigator - California" Short List (2018)
Managing IP, "IP Stars" (2013-present)
IAM Patent 1000, "The World's Leading Patent Professionals" Gold Ranking (2018-2020)
IAM Patent 1000, "Global Leaders" (2020)
IAM Patent 1000, "California" (2014-2020)
IAM Patent 1000, "Outstanding Litigator - California" Short List (2018)
IAM Patent 1000, Recommended for District Court and ITC (2009-present)
The Daily Journal, 75 Leading Intellectual Property Litigators (2009-2012, 2014-2020)
The Daily Journal, Top 20 Lawyers in California Under the Age of 40
Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under 40

Education

University of California-Los Angeles School of Law, J.D., 1994
- Obtained the Wheat Scholarship and Murray Fellowship

University of Southern California, B.S. in Computer Science (magna cum laude), 1991
- Received the University’s highest scholarship honor, a Trustees’ Scholarship

Court Admissions

Admitted to practice in California; the Supreme Court of the United States; the United States Courts of Appeal for the Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit; the United States District Courts for the Northern District of California, Central District of California, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Colorado, and District of Columbia; and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Representations

Mr. Chaikovsky has litigated both in district courts and the ITC in technology fields as diverse as networking and broadband infrastructure; semiconductors; LEDs; wireless communication standards such as Bluetooth, CDMA, SMS, and WiFi; video compression; navigation systems; software; hardware; consumer electronics; analog devices; and medical devices.

He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants. In representing entities such as Rovi (now TiVo) and Thomson against multiple entities, his clients received payments of over $1 billion. In representing defendants, he has defeated claims that in aggregate exceed over $1 billion.

Throughout his career, his clients have included:

Adobe
Amazon
AOL
Applied Materials
AT&T Mobility
AU Optronics
Big Ten Networks
Bourns, Inc.
Broadcom
BYD Motors
Canon
Carl Zeiss
eBay
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fastenetix
Fitbit, Inc.
Fox Entertainment Group
Fox Sports Interactive
Funzio Games, Inc.
Futurewei Technologies, Inc. d/b/a
GREE, Inc.
Gree International Entertainment, Inc.
H.I.G. Capital
HTC America
HTC Corporation
Huawei Technologies (USA)
Intel
Intuit
Kinetic Technologies
Lexar Media
LinkedIn
McGaw
Micron Technology
Motorola
MySpace
Newegg
Payner Media
PayPal
Pelagic, Inc.
Photobucket
Rovi Corporation now TiVo
Sears Roebuck & Co.
Snap Inc.
Sony Corporation
Sony Electronics
Sony Pictures
Spansion
Target
Thomson Licensing Inc.
Thomson Licensing S.A.
Trend Micro
Twitter
Vitesse Semiconductor
Xtera, Inc.
Yahoo!

news

Recognitions

insights

Engagement & Publications

Mr. Chaikovsky is the author of numerous publications and a frequent speaker on the subject of intellectual property, including:

Speaker, "Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here?," Daily Journal’s 2018 NorCal Patent Disputes Forum, April 2018.
Speaker, "The Direction of SEPs and FRAND/RAND at the ITC: Assessing the Impact of Recent Developments on Your Complaints Moving Forward," ACI's 10th Annual Expert Forum on ITC Litigation & Enforcement, March 2018.
Speaker, Patent Year in Review, Lex Machina, February 2018
Speaker, Patent Exhaustion Post-Lexmark, Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2017
"Oil States Arguments", Webinar, Paul Hastings, November 2017
Speaker, "Judge Gilstrap's Test and 'Intervening Change in Law'?" Latest on Venue", Webinar, Intellectual Property Owner's Association, August 2017
"Don't Expect a Rash of Patent 'Shootouts'," Law360, August 2017
"Gilstrap's Venue Test: The 4 Factors and What They Mean," Law360, July 2017
"Hsu Untied", Podcast, July 2017
"TC Heartland is Already Remaking the Patent Litigation Map", Law360, July 2017
"Foreign Cos. Expected To Test Venue Rules After TC Heartland," Law360, June 2017
"Tech Wins Big in TC Heartland, but 'A Lot of Fighting' Remains," The Recorder, May 2017
Trend Micro Gets Patent Case Shipped Out of East Texas," Law360, May 2017
"Intellectual Property Editorial Advisory Board," Law360, March 2017
"Hard Times For Patent Trolls And Challengers As Courts, Targets Fight Back," Forbes, March 2017
"Supreme Court Seems Unenthusiastic About Eliminating Patent-Troll Venue," Forbes, March 2017
"Patent Cases To Watch In 2017," Law360, January 4, 2017
"Amazon, HTC Get 8 Video Patents Killed Under Alice," Law360, January 2017
"Speaker, Alice Test: Is it Clearing District Court Dockets and Making the Concept of Preemption for Ineligible Subject Matter a Dead Issue?, Daily Journal NorCal Patent Forum, April 2016.
"Trial Pros: Paul Hastings' Yar Chaikovsky" Law 360, February 2016.
"Market for Patent Litigators Remains Strong Despite Troll Thrashing," The Recorder, January 2015.
Speaker, "International Trade Commission 2014: A Year in Flux (Learning from Recent Developments)" Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2014.
"Patent Bar Takes Hint on Laches from Copyright Ruling," The Recorder, October 2014.
"Judges hesitant to shift fees in patent cases," The Daily Journal, September 2014.
"Newegg Wields New Case Law in Old Fight Against Acacia," The Recorder, September 2014.
"Circuit Judges Put Spin on Patent Fee-Shifting," The Recorder, August 2014.
"Twitter, Yahoo Lead MDL Fee Fight Against NPE," The Recorder, July 2014.
"Interview: McDermott Will's Yar Chaikovsky," The Recorder, July 2014.
"Yahoo Wins Patent Case Against Acacia," Law360, June 2014.
Moderator, "South Korea Focus," Managing Intellectual Property’s IP In Asia Forum 2014: Growth and Opportunities for U.S. Companies, May 2014.
"Fed. Circ. Says Octane Fitness Revives Newegg Fee Bid," Law360, May 2014.
"Top Lawyers," The Daily Journal, April 2014.
"Intellectual Property Roundtable Series," California Lawyer, February 2014.
Panelist, "Recent Decisions in Patent Exhaustion: Bowman, Kirtsaeng and other developments impacting the exhaustion doctrine," Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2013.
"IP Law Expert Q&A," The Recorder, July 2013.
"Venue Fight," The American Lawyer, April 2013.
Moderator, "Coordinating International Litigation: Focus on German Patent Enforcement," Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2012.
"After Patent Reform, MDL Docket Emerges as New Arena for Patent Fights," The Recorder, December 2012.
"Plan to Pool LTE Patents Takes Shape," The Wall Street Journal, October 2012.
"Leading Intellectual Property Practices," The Recorder, June 2012.
"GE Group Squares Up to Apple in iTunes Case," Financial Times, May 2012.
"Recent Patent Defense Verdicts Could Signal New Era for Eastern Texas," National Law Journal, May 2012.
"Top IP Attorneys," The Daily Journal, April 2012.
"Preparation Was the Key – Also, Humanity," National Law Journal, March 2012.
"Interview: Common Misperceptions About Monetizing Patents," Thomson Reuters "Legal Current," January 2012.
Speaker, "A New World for Indirect Infringement? The Supreme Court's View of Indirect Patent Infringement Standards," Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2011.
"Patent Reform Problems For Startups," Bloomberg Law, 2011.
"Harness Your Innovation and Build-Up Effective Litigation Strategy," October 2011.
Presenter, "Discussing Remarks of Chief Judge Randall Rader," 15th Annual Eastern District Bench Bar Conference Jointly with the Federal Circuit Bar Association, September 2011.
"Filing a Section 337 Case," ITC Trial Lawyers Association "Section 337 Proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission Program" in China, May 2011.
Panelist, "ITC Section 337 Patent Enforcement Update," Advanced Patent Law Institute, December 2010.
Moderator, "Trial Lawyer Panel," Berkeley Center for Law & The Federal Bar Association's Conference on Evolving Damages, October 2010.
Contributing Author, "Chapter 1: Administrative Agencies: ITC and USPTO," Patent Obviousness in the Wake of KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 2010.
Panelist, "FTC Hearing on the Evolving Marketplace," May 2009.
"Inter Partes Reexamination of Patents: An Empirical Evaluation," Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal, Fall 2006.
"Globalization, Technology without Boundaries & the Scope of U.S. Patent Law", University of San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Bulletin (Vol. 9, No. 2), Spring 2005.
"To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy," A Report by the Federal Trade Commission, October 2003.

Involvement

Attorney, Order of Veritas.
Attorney, Order of Certus.
Member, Trial Law Institute.
Member, Diversity Law Institute.
Elected as a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). Membership in The Fellows is limited to one-third of one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.
Adjunct lecturer of intellectual property at Stanford Law School, and frequent speaker at conferences around the nation on various aspects of intellectual property law.
Member of several professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association, Federal Circuit Bar Association, International Trade Commission Trial Lawyer Association, and American Electronics Association.