Overview
Ben Anger is a litigation partner in our San Diego office.
Mr. Anger has a broad intellectual property litigation practice, having handled cases involving utility patents, design patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, unfair competition, and breach of contract throughout California and nationwide. Mr. Anger is very active in Knobbe Martens’ Inter Partes Review practice. He has led team efforts in Inter Partes Review in the life sciences, chemistry, and medical devices industries.
He has worked on a diverse range of matters involving medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, consumer products, and sports equipment.
Mr. Anger has handled matters for a diverse array of clients, including Becton Dickinson, Smith & Nephew, Edwards Life Sciences, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, and Malibu Boats. Mr. Anger’s clients range from small, fast-growth companies to international corporations with billions of dollars of market share and extensive IP portfolios.
Mr. Anger is a registered patent attorney. Though his practice now focuses on dispute resolution, he has extensive experience in patent prosecution, having obtained numerous patents for clients in various technology areas. He also has extensive experience in conducting and defending IP due diligence.
Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Mr. Anger graduated from William & Mary Law School where he served in leadership positions in the school’s Intellectual Property Law Association. He also externed with the Honorable James E. Bradberry, Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.
Prior to law school, Mr. Anger worked for the consulting firms Accenture and CGI, developing and implementing large-scale enterprise computer systems for the private sector and government clients.
Education
- William & Mary School of Law (J.D., 2009)
- University of Utah (B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2000)
Representative Matters
Metamorfoza, D.O.O. v. Big Funny LLC, et al. (S.D.N.Y. 2019) (C.D. Cal. 2021)
Represented defendant Big Funny in trademark litigation. Successfully motioned for transfer of case to Central District of California. Obtained dismissal of all claims against Big Funny at the pleadings stage.
Benebone LLC v. Pet Qwerks, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2020)
Represented defendant Pet Qwerks in trade dress and design patent litigation involving pet chew toys. Won important discovery motions related to plaintiff’s withheld discovery materials. Achieved favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
Edwards Lifesciences v. Abbott Laboratories (C.D. Cal. 2020)
Represented Edwards Lifesciences in asserting three patents against Abbott’s transcatheter mitral clipping device (MitraClip) for repairing the mitral heart valve. The parties ultimately reached a global settlement of this worldwide dispute.
Conformis, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. (D. Mass. 2016) (PTAB 2016)
Represented Smith & Nephew in a patent infringement case in the District of Massachusetts, and several IPR proceedings, involving patents relating to patient-specific instruments for knee replacement surgery. After our team successfully obtained final written decisions invalidating seven asserted patents, achieved favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
Thermo Fischer Scientific Inc. v. The Regents of the University of California (PTAB 2017)
Represented patent owner University of California in four Inter Partes Review proceedings related to patents licensed to Becton Dickinson to cover signal sensors used in flow cytometry platforms. The PTAB denied institution of all four IPRs. The parties settled the underlying litigation shortly thereafter.
iCeutica Pty Ltd. and Iroko Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. Lupin Ltd. and Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Case No. 14-cv-01515 (2017).
Represented the Lupin defendants in a patent infringement action in the District of Delaware on patents relating to diclofenac acid (the active ingredient in Iroko’s Zorvolex® product). Achieved favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al. v. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al., (D. N.J. 2016).
Represented the Ranbaxy defendants in a patent infringement action in the District of New Jersey on patents relating to sodium oxybate (the active ingredient in Jazz’s XYREM® product) and patents relating to the REMS system for the product. Achieved favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
Malibu Boats, LLC v. Nautique Boat Company, Inc. (E.D. Tenn. 2013)
Represented market leader Malibu Boats in an action to enforce its patents on wakesurf systems against competitor Nautique. On the eve of trial, the case settled, with Nautique taking a license under undisclosed terms.
Anglefix Tech, LLC v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. (W.D. Tenn. 2013)
Represented defendant Smith & Nephew in district court litigation related to fibula and tibia locking bone plates. Obtained a stay in the litigation upon institution of all claims in the related Inter Partes Review at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Achieved a favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
GlaxoSmithKline v. Anchen Pharmaceuticals et al., (D. Del. 2011).
Represented the Anchen defendants in patent infringement action in the District of Delaware on a patent relating to pharmaceutical compositions of dutasteride (the active ingredient in GSK’s Avodart® product) and a combination of dutasteride and tamsulosin (the active ingredients in GSK’s Jalyn® product). Achieved favorable case-dispositive settlement for client.
Recognition
Awards & Honors
- Recognized in the “Best Lawyers 2025 Guide: Ones to Watch” for Patent Litigation in Best Lawyers in America (2024)
- Named a 2016-2018 “San Diego Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine for his work in intellectual property litigation.
- Named to the San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ) 2015 “Best of the Bar” list.
Affilliations
- American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
- Licensing Executive Society, San Diego Chapter, Sponsorship Chair (2015)
- San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association
News & Insights
Articles
Data-Driven Insights On Optimizing PTAB Institution Decisions, Law360 (March 2024)
GDPR: Ready for the EU’s New Data Privacy Law? What You Need to Know, Knobbe Martens Firm Alert (January 2018)
Is Your Organization Ready for the New EU Data Privacy Rules? In The House (January 2017)
Where Plaintiffs Are Filing Suit Post – TC Heartland, Law360 (July 7, 2017)
Knobbe Martens PTAB Blog
- Fintiv Is the New Nhk Springs: New Informative Decisions Sharpen the PTAB’s Focus on Discretionary Denials and Provide Guideposts for Parties (August 2020)
- PTAB’s New Informative Decisions Remind IPR Petitioners of Need for Well-Developed Rationale for Combining References (January 2020)
- Discretionary Denial as a Case Management Tool: PTAB Requires Petitioner to Rank its Six IPR Petitions by Merit and then Institutes on only Highest Ranked Petition (July 2019)
- PTO Explains that Old School Proceedings (Reissue/Reexam) Must Generally Yield to New School Proceedings (AIA Trials) for Claim Amendments (May 2019)
- Perhaps Assignor Estoppel Survives at the PTAB…via the District Court (Jan 2019)
- USPTO Provides New Guidance on Motions to Amend During IPR (Jun 2018)
- Massachusetts Court Finds Shaw Decision Forecloses Any Estoppel Beyond the Grounds That Were Instituted in an IPR, Despite Policy Reasons for Broader Estoppel (Apr 2018)
- Defendant Is Not Estopped from Relying on a Prior Art Reference in District Court that Is Related to a Reference Used in a CBM So Long as the Reference Includes New Disclosure (Apr 2018)
- PTAB Designates as Precedential the General Plastics Decision on Follow-On Petitions (Oct 2017)
- The Eastern District of Texas Again Broadly Applies IPR Estoppel and Finds a Joined Party in the IPR Is Also Subject to Estoppel (Oct 2017)
- PTAB Designates as “Informative” Expanded PTAB Panel Decision Adopting the Seven NVIDIA Factors For Evaluating Follow-On Petitions (Sep 2017)
- How to Lose an IPR but Amend Your Claims in Reexam and Keep Your Patent (Sep 2017)
- PTAB Grants Rare Supplemental Motion to Amend on Remand from Federal Circuit (Jul 2017)
- PTAB Grants-in-Part Rare Motion to Amend Based on Unexpected Results (Jun 2017)
- PTAB Not Barred from Using Patent Owner Submissions as a Basis for Holding Claims Unpatentable (May 2017)
- Magistrate Judge Recommends IPR Estoppel Bar of Prior Art References (May2017)
- PTAB: No Estoppel Because A Skilled Searcher Could Not Have Found Company Brochures (May 2017)
- PTAB Considers What Constitutes “By Another” Under § 102(e) in Determining Whether Challenged Claims are Unpatentable (Mar 2017)
- Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Holding of Obviousness in Google’s IPR Against Michael Meiresonne (Mar 2017)
Knobbe Martens Litigation Blog
- Prior Art Regulatory Guidelines That Recite a Goal Without Teaching How That Goal Can Be Achieved Are of Limited Value as an Invalidating Prior Art Reference (May 2019)
- SAP AMERICA, INC. v. INVESTPIC LLC (May 2018)
- IN RE: BIGCOMMERCE, INC. (May 2018)
- TEXAS ADVANCED OPTOELECTRONIC (“TAO”) v. RENESAS ELECTRONICS AMERICA (“Intersil”) (May 2018)
- DISC DISEASE SOLUTIONS INC. v. VGH SOLUTIONS, INC. (May 2018)
- SUMITOMO DAINIPPON PHARMA CO. v. EMCURE PHARMACEUTICALS (April 2018)
- Hologic, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. (Mar 2018)
- NALCO COMPANY v. CHEM-MOD, LLC (Feb 2018)
- THE MEDICINES COMPANY v. HOSPIRA, INC. (Feb 2018)