Colleen Chien

Colleen Chien is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at University of California, Berkeley School of Law. A Berkeley Law J.D. alumna (2002), she earned a B.S. in Energy Systems Engineering and a B.A. in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University (1996, with Distinction). Before joining Berkeley Law in 2024, Chien was a Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law (2007-2023), where she also co-directed the High Tech Law Institute. She held visiting positions as Justin D’Atri Professor at Columbia Law School (2019) and Visiting Professor at University of Chicago Law School (2019). In public service, she served as Senior Advisor for Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Obama White House (2013-2015), Marian Croak Distinguished Scholar at the USPTO (2022-2024), Senior Counselor at the U.S. Department of Commerce (2021-2022), and member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team (2020). Earlier, she was an associate and special counsel at Fenwick & West LLP (2002-2013).

Chien conducts cross-disciplinary research on innovation, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and the criminal justice system, emphasizing empirical analysis to harness technology for social benefit. Her work examines patent litigation, patent-assertion entities (a term she coined), the secondary patent market, equity in innovation, algorithmic bias, access to justice, and the second chance gap in criminal records relief. She founded and directs the grant-funded Innovator Diversity Pilots Initiative and Paper Prisons Initiative. Among the top 20 most-cited U.S. intellectual property scholars, her key publications include 'From Arms Race to Marketplace: The Complex Patent Ecosystem and Its Implications for the Patent System' (Hastings L.J. 2010), 'Of Trolls, Davids, Goliaths, and Kings: Narratives and Evidence in the Litigation of High-Tech Patents' (N.C. L. Rev. 2008), 'America’s Paper Prisons: The Second Chance Gap' (Mich. L. Rev. 2020), 'Improving Equity in Patent Inventorship Through Increased Attention and Attribution' (Science 2023), and 'Patents, Holdup, and the Public Interest' (Cornell L. Rev. 2012, with Mark Lemley). Chien has received the American Law Institute Early Career Award, Intellectual Property Vanguard Award, Eric Yamamoto Emerging Scholar Award, National Law Journal Tech Trailblazer, and recognition among the 50 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property.

Professional Email: cchien@berkeley.edu