D.C. Bar Intellectual Property Law Community Honors Judge Clark Cheney With Champion of IP Award
May 16, 2025
On May 14 the D.C. Bar Intellectual Property Law Community presented its Champion of Intellectual Property Award to Clark S. Cheney, chief administrative law judge (ALJ) at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
Held at the Bar’s headquarters, the event was attended by approximately 40 people, including Cheney’s colleagues, mentors, and husband, Greg Newcomb. Cheney held back tears of joy upon accepting the award from Judge Doris Johnson Hines of the ITC.
“Thank you all for being here,” said Cheney, whose entire career has been dedicated to IP practice. “Your presence shows your support for the D.C. Bar. Bar associations need our support now more than ever. Thank you for doing your part to stand up for the honorable practice of law.”
Cheney later added, “This honor is a reflection of the high-quality adjudicative work of the commission; I am only a small part of that work.”
Cheney began in 1999 as a patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Two years later, he earned his juris doctorate degree, graduating cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center with a focus on IP.
After graduation, Cheney clerked for Judge William C. Bryson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and then worked at the ITC as attorney advisor beginning in 2010. From 2015 to 2016, Cheney served as assistant general counsel for the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative, where he provided legal advice on IP issues relating to trade agreements and international trade dialogues such as the U.S.–China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.
Cheney served as an ALJ at the Social Security Administration and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before becoming an ALJ at the ITC in 2018. Four years later, he became the commission’s chief ALJ.
In his speech, Cheney expressed gratitude for his fulfilling work at the ITC. “I’m mindful of the privilege that has brought me to this place in my career, and I’m mindful of the privilege … to go to work every day at the ITC,” Cheney said. “I’m lucky that when I go to work, I know that I’m doing something that makes a difference to American workers.”
Cheney reflected on “the tension between abstraction and practicality in the practice of law,” citing an anecdote of British author G. K. Chesterton telling a journalist that, if stranded in a deserted island, he’d take with him Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding. Cheney said he liked that anecdote because it “brings into high relief the difference between the abstract world of the mind and the physical world.”
“Given that many of us here in this room are patent attorneys, you would think that being practical would be easy for [us],” Cheney said. “But I’m here to tell you, [from] my own experience practicing in this field and from my experience on the bench, being practical has shown itself to be elusive in our field,” he added.
Cheney advocated for presenting “rational arguments” and “reasoned discussions” in resolving disputes in court cases. He cited Robert Frost’s “Choose Something Like a Star” as a guide for IP attorneys in finding their “moral compass” to defend the rule of law.
“Sometimes as patent attorneys we think that we are not involved in any great context for the heart of civilization,” Cheney said. “I would like to convince you tonight that you are in the great cause of the rule of law, that you’re respected in your spheres, in your communities and [at] the baseball games that your kids play, in the hallways of your offices, in your synagogues, and in your churches. People are looking to you to understand how we keep the rule of law in this country.”
The Champion of IP Award is presented to individuals who have served the IP profession with distinction and have encouraged innovation, advocacy, and the protection of IP rights.
