Karen Boyd, Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation, Lawyer

Karen is a partner in the Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation practice group. She represents clients in intellectual property disputes with an emphasis on patent disputes.

Karen’s clients have ranged from solo inventors and universities to Fortune 100 companies, in technologies from pharmaceuticals to consumer electronics to medical devices. Karen also serves as a mediator, early neutral evaluator and an arbitrator in intellectual property disputes, serves on the mediation panel for the Northern District of California, and previously served on the mediation panels for the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission.

Before joining Thompson Hine, Karen was a founding partner of Turner Boyd Seraphine, an IP litigation boutique in Silicon Valley (2008 to 2025), and practiced at Fish & Richardson from 1997 to 2007. Karen served as a law clerk to Judge Paul Michel at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1996 to 1997) and taught appellate procedure with Judge Michel at George Washington Law School. She also taught Patent and Trade Secret Law at UC Law San Francisco (2003) and Biotechnology and Chemistry Patent Law at UC Berkeley Law School (2002 to 2009).

Karen has been selected to the California Super Lawyers list in the areas of Intellectual Property Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution every year since 2007 and was named to the Top 50 Women Northern California Super Lawyers list in 2012. Since 2018, Karen has been included in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Intellectual Property Litigation, Patent Law and Trade Secrets Law, and in 2022 she was recognized as the Best Lawyers® Trade Secrets Law “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco. Karen is a frequent speaker on patent law and other legal issues and has presented lectures and moderated panels at dozens of conferences. According to The New York Times, she is in the top 1% of all Connections players.

An active supporter of the community, Karen is a director of the California State University, Northridge Foundation, president of the board of the Aurora Singers (a community choir based in Palo Alto), and a board member of the Schola Cantorum (an auditioned Bay Area choir).

Focus Areas

Intellectual Property (IP) & Technology Litigation>

Author, “Merck v. Integra and the Patent Infringement Safe Harbor,” Chemistry and Patent Law: U.S. Supreme Court Decisions 2000-2020, ACS Symposium Series, American Chemical Society, Richard Bone, ed., 2020
Co-author, “Patent Marking: True AND False,” 11th Annual Silicon Valley Advanced Patent Law Institute, Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2010
Co-author, “Recent Federal Circuit Cases on Written Description and Enablement,” Developments in Pharmaceuticals and Biotech Patent Law 2009, Practicing Law Institute, 2009
Author, “Mediation of Patent Disputes Offers More Options Than Litigation Does,” Los Angeles Daily News, Oct. 17, 2006
Author, “When is patent infringement not patent infringement? Merck v. Integra and the “safe harbour,” Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, 2006
Author, “Nonobviousness and the Biotechnology Industry: A Proposal for a Doctrine of Economic Nonobviousness,” 12 Berkeley Technology Law Journal 311 (1997)

“Inter Partes Revue” (a musical send-up of current intellectual property issues), San Francisco Bay Area Intellectual Property Inn of Court, mostly annually since 2013
“Damages Awards – Surviving Daubert and the Federal Circuit,” moderator (with Mike Hendershot, Brian Napper, Matt Powers, and Patricia Young), Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2025
“Want a Legal Career You Will Love? Build Your Own Book of Business. Why It’s Important and How to Do It,” panelist (with Gina Steele, Angel Lezak, and Tennille Christensen), Women’s Intellectual Property Law Association, 2025
“Emily Post and Miss Manners Walk Into a Bar: Civility and the Practice of Law” (with Camilla Bykhovsky), Turner Boyd’s Ninth Annual California MCLE Program, 2025
“Global Patent Remedies: Current State of Monetary Damages and Injunctive Relief,” moderator (with Kelly Hunsaker, Brett Sanford, and Kimberly Schmitt), Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2024
“Recognizing and Reducing Implicit Bias,” Turner Boyd’s Seventh Annual California MCLE Program, 2023
“Global Litigation Strategies and Developments,” panelist (with Alyssa Caridis and Yar Chaikovsky), Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2023
Trial Advocacy Evidence Workshop, volunteer faculty, Stanford Law School, 2022
“The Business of Patent Litigation: Ethical Issues in Funding, Holding Companies, and Litigation Strategies,” panelist (with Ragesh Tangri, Matt Powers, and Ed Reines), Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2021
Trial Advocacy Depositions Workshop, volunteer faculty, Stanford Law School, 2021
Diversity and Inclusion, moderator (with Clem Roberts, Kelvin Vivian, Nikki Vo, and Sue Wang), Advanced Patent Law Institute, 2020
“Section 101 after MyMail & Berkheimer,” moderator (with David Donoghue and Steven Jedlinski), SAS Forum on NPE Litigation, 2019
“Opinions and Pre Litigation Due Diligence – Effectively Considering Joint and Contributory Infringement,” panelist (with Dominick Conde, Ryan Connell, Aaron Fahrenkrog, and Adrian Looney), American Intellectual Property Law Association Mid-Winter Institute, 2019
“Effective Mediation of Technology Litigation,” panelist (with Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen (CAND), Frank Burke, Shella Deen, Sara Petersen Graves, and John V. Picone), Santa Clara County Bar Association, 2018
“How to Make Your Mediation Advocacy More Effective,” panelist (with Judge Laurel Beeler (CAND), Mark LeHocky, Joseph Esposito, Lisa MacVittie, Keith Harrison, and Tom Knapp), ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference, San Francisco, 2017
“Oddball Defenses in Patent Cases (with Fabio Marino),” 17th Annual Advanced Patent Law Institute: Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto, 2016
“How Can I Be Sexist? Some of My Best Friends Are Women! Identifying and Mitigating Unconscious Bias in the Law,” TurBo CLE Day, Redwood City, 2016
Moderator, Judges’ Panel: Judges Rebecca Pallmeyer (ILND), Richard Andrews (DED), and James Donato (CAND), 16th Annual Advanced Patent Law Institute: Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto, 2015
“Broadest Reasonable Interpretation vs. Ordinary and Customary Meaning (with Brian Clarke),” Bay Area In-house Medical Device Association, Redwood City, 2015
“Great SCOTUS, Batman! The Term the Supreme Court Got an IP Bee in Its Bonnet,” Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, Berkeley, 2014
“Expert Best Practices After the 2010 Amendments,” ABA CLE Workshop, Berkeley, 2014
“Communication Across Genders,” by invitation to the legal department at Juniper Networks, 2013
“Privilege: Don’t Believe Everything You Think,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, East Palo Alto, 2012
Mock Hearing on Unsettled Issues of Pleading, Jurisdiction, and Venues, AIPLA, San Francisco, 2011
Microsoft v. i4i Mock Hearing, Silicon Valley IPLA, Palo Alto, 2011
“Hot Topics Panel – Defense 2.0: New Strategies for Reducing Patent Risk,” Santa Clara, 2011
“False Marking: True AND False,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, East Palo Alto, 2011
Moderator, “Women in IP: Pearls of Wisdom to Improve Negotiation Skills,” Palo Alto, 2010
“Enablement, Written Description, and Indefiniteness – Oh, My!” Advanced Patent Law Institute, East Palo Alto, 2009
“Developments in Section 112 Law: The Enablement and Written Description Requirements as Applied to Pharma and Biotech Patents,” Practicing Law Institute, New York (2009); San Francisco (2010)
Moderator, “Women in IP: Communication Tips for Success,” Palo Alto, 2009
“Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction: Case Law and Practical Application,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, Santa Clara, 2008
“Cost Control Strategies for Patent Litigation,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, San Jose, 2007
“Biotechnology Litigation: Tips and Strategies,” Law Seminars International, San Francisco, 2007
“Mythical Doctrines of Patent Law,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, San Jose, 2006
“Recent Supreme Court Cases in Patent Law,” American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Francisco, 2006
“Claim Construction from an Appellate Perspective: How to Prepare and Conduct Markman Hearings,” Practicing Law Institute, San Francisco, 2006
“Advising Clients on Crucial Areas Affected by Merck v. Integra,” 6th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents, San Francisco, 2006
“Research Tools, The Supreme Court, and the Patent Infringement ‘Safe Harbour,’” American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists National Biotechnology Conference, Boston, 2006
“Best Practices and Winning Legal Strategies for Managing Patent Portfolios,” ReedLogic Patent Leadership Conference, 2006
“Written Description and Section 112: Impact on Biotech Patenting,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, San Jose, 2005
“Merck v. Integra – the Supreme Court Speaks on the 271(e)(1) ‘Safe Harbor,’ Latest Thinking on Attacking/Defending Patents in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Market,” Henry Stewart Conference Studies, San Francisco, 2005
“Non-obviousness and the Inherency Doctrine, Current Controversies,” Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences Biotechnology and Intellectual Property, Stanford Law School, 2005
“Choice of Forum: Differences in How Federal Circuits Apply Daubert” and “Effective Financial Expert Testimony,” Law Seminars International, San Francisco, 2004
“Biotech Research Tools and Reach Through Royalties,” Advanced Patent Law Institute, San Jose, 2003
Moderator, “Juries Gone Wild: Should Patent Validity Be Decided by Juries?” Biotechnology Industry Organization Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2004
Moderator, “Festo: Views from the Bench One Year Later,” Biotechnology Industry Organization Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 2003
Moderator, “Festo: Views from the Bench,” Biotechnology Industry Organization Annual Meeting, Toronto, 2002

Top Intellectual Property Lawyers, Daily Journal, 2026
Best Mentor Award, The Recorder, 2026
Selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation, California, 2026
Recognized by Managing IP’s IP STARS, 2026
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2018-2027 for Litigation-Intellectual Property, Patent Law and Trade Secrets Law
Named Best Lawyers^® 2022 Trade Secrets Law “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco
Named to the Top 50: Women Northern California Super Lawyers list, 2012
Selected to the California Super Lawyers list in the areas of Intellectual Property Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution, each year since 2007

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

KarenBoyd

KarenBoyd

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