Seth W. Lloyd

Seth Lloyd, a member of Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice, has broad experience briefing and arguing appeals.

Seth has a nationwide appellate practice. He has briefed dozens of appeals in federal and state courts of appeals. And he has presented oral arguments in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and the Federal Circuit.

Seth also practices in the Supreme Court of the United States. He has drafted petitions and amicus briefs at the certiorari stage, as well as party and amicus briefs at the merits stage.

Seth has particular experience in patent appeals before the Federal Circuit. He has authored successful briefs for both patentees and defendants on a wide range of technologies, from medical devices to pharmaceuticals to computer hardware and software. His practice includes appeals from district courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Seth also has argued three times in the Federal Circuit. His winning arguments include a successful reversal of three PTAB decisions in a consolidated appeal for a computer memory designer. Seth is an Editor of the Federal Circuitry blog, which takes a data-driven approach to analyzing the Federal Circuit and its decisions.

Seth has been recognized by his peers for his appellate skills. Super Lawyers named him a Rising Star and Best Lawyers in America named him to its Ones to Watch list, both for appellate practice.

Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Seth served as a law clerk for Judge Richard G. Taranto of the Federal Circuit. He earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he worked on two successful certiorari petitions and one successful merits case through Stanford’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.

Seth also holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. During his graduate studies, he received the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, published ten peer-reviewed articles, and received five U.S. patents as a co-inventor.

Representative Experience

• Google LLC v. Netlist, Inc. (13:15)
  (Fed. Cir.) Argued and won affirmance for owner of computer memory patents in consolidated appeals from decade-long reexamination.
• Netlist, Inc. v. Diablo Technologies, Inc. (02:56) 
  (Fed. Cir.) Argued and won reversal for owner of computer memory patents in appeals from three consolidated inter partes reviews.
• Nicole K. v. Stigdon (00:16)
  (7th Cir.) Argued for children in Indiana foster care raising constitutional due process claims.
• Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe (21:40) 
  (D.C. Cir.) Argued as court-appointed amicus defending an order refusing a subpoena to unmask an internet subscriber’s identity.
• Harris v. Mangum (00:02)
  (9th Cir.) Argued as court-appointed amicus defending indigent prisoner’s right to a guardian ad litem.
• Netlist, Inc. v. SanDisk LLC (01:53)
  (Fed. Cir.) Argued for patent owner in consolidated appeals raising APA challenges to inter partes review decisions.
• Nevro Corp. v. Boston Scientific Corp. 
  (Fed. Cir.) Secured reversal for Nevro of district court judgment of invalidity for indefiniteness.
• Federal National Mortgage Association v. Zabriskie 
  (9th Cir.) Won reversal for Fannie Mae of a Fair Credit Reporting Act judgment.
• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. 
  (S. Ct.) Represented U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others as amici supporting respondent in unanimous affirmance of Fair Debt Collection Act decision.
• BASF Corp. v. Johnson Matthey Inc. 
  (Fed. Cir.) Won reversal of an invalidity ruling against patentee BASF, reviving its patent claims.
• Altayyar v. Etsy, Inc. 
  (2d Cir.) Secured dismissal of securities fraud case for failure to adequately plead falsity.
• Bridge & Post, Inc. v. Verizon Communications, Inc. 
  (Fed. Cir.) Secured dismissal because asserted patents claimed unpatentable subject matter.
• Sam Francis Foundation v. Christie’s, Inc. 
  (S. Ct.) Successfully preserved Sotheby’s en banc win at the Ninth Circuit based on the dormant Commerce Clause.
• Phigenix, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. 
  (Fed. Cir.) Secured total victory of noninfringement for Genentech.
• Deason v. Fujifilm Holdings Corp. 
  (New York Appellate Division, First Department) Secured reversal in major shareholder challenge to corporate acquisition.
• V.L. v. E.L. 
  (S. Ct.) As counsel for children’s guardian ad litem, secured reversal of Alabama Supreme Court’s refusal to grant full faith and credit to Georgia judgment recognizing lesbian mother as legal parent.