Hana Oh, Ph.D., is an MIT-trained litigator with extensive experience in patent and trade secret litigation and licensing. Clients entrust her to navigate complex scientific and technical issues arising in intellectual property disputes. Hana has skillfully managed large teams, experts, and co-counsel through many phases of litigation, from pre-filing investigation, pleadings, complex discovery, and motion practice to settlement negotiations and pre-trial filings. She is fluent in Korean and serves as an effective advisor to Korean clients regarding litigation in the US and licensing issues.
Hana has litigated numerous disputes in state and federal courts, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Hana is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She brings her technical and legal acumen to develop litigation strategies involving a wide range of technologies, including semiconductors, consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, telecommunications, streaming technology, blockchain, and software.
Before her legal career, Hana designed microfluidic devices to study cellular mechanics. She conducted postdoctoral research at a leading biotechnology company, and understands the importance of protecting a company’s valuable IP assets. As a patent agent, she also prosecuted patents and managed portfolios in a wide range of technical industries. Her research and prosecution experience enables her to bring a critical and deep-probing approach to all litigation matters.
Hana is active in the legal and tech communities. She has served on the board of the Markey Intellectual Property Inn of Court, OCKABA (Orange County Korean-American Bar Association), UCLA Law LEAD, and the Planning Committee for Human Options, a nonprofit serving victims of domestic abuse. An effective speaker who is particularly adept at discussing various IP issues tailored to attorneys and scientists, she has spoken at national conferences such as ACS (American Chemical Society) and PLI (Practicing Law Institute).
Hana’s tireless advocacy extends to her active pro bono practice, particularly in advocating for domestic violence victims. For example, she argued for and obtained asylum in the US on behalf of three siblings from Guatemala, who were victims of domestic abuse. She also successfully obtained a maximum-term restraining order for a victim of domestic violence, and U Visas for a sexual abuse victim and his family.
- University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
(J.D., honors, 2014)- Dean’s Scholarship
- University of Pennsylvania
(Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 2009) - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(B.S. Chemical Engineering, Minor in Biomedical Engineering, 2005)
- The State Bar of California
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
- United States District Court:
- Northern District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Central District of California
- Northern District of Illinois
- Korean
- German
- O’Melveny& Myers LLP
- Counsel, 2020-2024
- Associate, 2014-2020
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP:
- Patent Agent, 2010-2012
- Genentech, Inc.
- Postdoctoral Research Scientist, 2009-2010
- Recommended by The Legal 500 US for Intellectual Property & Technology: Trade Secrets Litigation & Non-Contentious Matters (2024)
- Selected as Leadership Advancement Program Fellow with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association – one of 25 selected nationwide (2022)
- Top Young Diverse Lawyer in OC" by Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law (2022)
- Judge Sheila Sonenshine Pro Bono Award for work on behalf of domestic violence victims with Human Options (2022)
Selected Speaking Engagements
- Panelist, “Outreach Program Attorney Panel,” UC Irvine School of Law (2022)
- Speaker, “Reducing the Risk of Cross-Border and Multilingual eDiscovery Cases,” Orange County Bar Association, International Law (2022)
- Speaker, “IP Protection in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries” American Chemical Society National Meeting (2021)
- Speaker, “Intellectual Property Protection: Why It Matters Now More Than Ever,” Women in Tech – Innovation Women Speak Webinar (2020)
- Speaker, “Big Data and the Law,” DataCon LA (2020)
- Speaker, “Intellectual Property and Open Source,” Nextcloud Conference (2020)
- Speaker, “Protecting Innovations: A Multi-Prong Approach to Intellectual Property,” American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting (2019)
- Speaker, “Can we all just get along? Technology Protocols and Standards,” Practicing Law Institute (PLI), Internet of Things 2019: Everything is Connected (2019)
- Faculty, “Technology Protocols & Standards: Proprietary Versus Open,” Practicing Law Institute (2018)
- Co-Chair, US-Korea Law Day Conference (April 2018)
- Guest Lecturer, “Patents or Trade Secrets?” Intellectual Property For Technology Entrepreneurs and Managers, UCLA School of Law & Anderson School of Management (April 2014)
Selected Publications
Legal Publications:
- Hana Oh and John Kappos, “Patent Venue Reform: Forum Shopping In A Bear Market,” The Recorder (December 2, 2020)
- Hana Oh Chen, “Combating Baseless Patent Suits: Rule 11 Sanctions with Technology-Specific Application," 53 Jurimetrics J.135–178 (2014) (Joint publication of Arizona State College of Law and the ABA Section of Science & Technology Law).
Scientific Publications:
- Hana Oh, Emile R. Mohler III, Aiwei Tian, Tobias Baumgart, and Scott L. Diamond. “Membrane cholesterol is a biomechanical regulator of neutrophil adhesion.” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 29: 1290-1297, 2009. Featured article.
- Hana Oh and Scott L. Diamond. “Ethanol enhances neutrophil membrane tether growth and slows rolling on P-selectin, but reduces capture from flow and firm arrest on IL-1 treated endothelium.” Journal of Immunology, 181: 2472-2482, 2008.