Conference report: Judge Denny Chin, the Jeremy Lin of law

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Conference report: Judge Denny Chin, the Jeremy Lin of law

Judge Denny Chin wanted attendees of the Fordham IP China Conference to know two things: First, he is not an IP expert. Second, he is not a China expert

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge said he was told by conference organisers to talk about three things: the languishing Google Books litigation he has presided over since 2005, cloud computing and his recent trip to China.

Of the Google Books case, Chin said simply: “It does not seem those negotiations have gone anywhere.”

On the second point, Chin said he was recently introduced to the cloud with the purchase of his first iPhone. This underscored an important reality for IP practitioners – many US judges, he said, are not familiar with the technology being litigated.

“I’m not on Facebook,” Chin said. “In the Second Circuit, we still use fax machines,” he added.

This prompted Federal Circuit chief judge Randall Rader, a fellow panellist sitting next to him, to say: “You’re embarrassing me.”

But he noted that this is nothing new. Judges and courts have adapted to technology since before the cloud, citing the VCR, cable television and the remote DVR as examples.

“As technology changes and new copyright issues arise, the courts have to deal with them,” he said.

Though Chin was born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to the US soon after. Until recently, he hadn’t returned: “For whatever reason, I never made it back to Asia.”

On this visit with a delegation from Fordham Law School, he was impressed by the questions Chinese university students asked him. The first question concerned the Daubert decision and the use of survey evidence.

The Chinese press called him the Jeremy Lin of the federal judiciary, a tribute to the Taiwanese-American professional basketball player who led the beleaguered Knicks on a winning streak in February.

“I’m a lifelong Knicks fan,” he said, eliciting laughter. “Jeremy Lin is an important development for us long-suffering Knicks fans.”

Overall, Chin said the trip reminded him that “you can’t oversimplify what’s happening in China”. Like the US, China is having the same struggles in finding the balance between the rights of copyright holders and the rights of the users.



more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Florina Firaru discusses making new connections, the art of flower arranging, and the biggest misconception about IP
The firm, which appointed three IP partners from A&O Shearman, wants to develop a tier one practice in Europe
The England and Wales appeals court handed down its judgment just seven working days after hearing the trademark dispute involving pharma company Merck
A host of law firms from across Europe and beyond helped bring the streaming technology dispute to a close
Hugues Derème, director general of the Benelux IP Office, unveils his vision for the region, how to improve IP awareness, and use of AI
A copyright win for AI firm Anthropic and a new executive order against law firm Jenner & Block were also among the top talking points this week
A principal at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner explains how AI tools, including DeepIP, can position the firm to help clients
The firm explains why AI-empowered data analytics could make it a more efficient advocate for its clients
Penelope Aspinall, of IP wellbeing charity Jonathan’s Voice, explains why managers should take a three-tiered approach to looking after workers’ mental health
Heath Hoglund talks about the value proposition of patent pools and why it went ahead with its first-ever series of pool meetings in China
Gift this article