Ian B. Crosby

Overview

Ian Crosby is a leading authority on the law of artificial intelligence. He is the only lawyer named among “the nation’s most powerful people in artificial intelligence” in Business Insider’s “2024 AI Power List,” and one of Lawdragon’s inaugural “Top 100 Leading AI and Tech Advisors in America.” He has been interviewed and quoted about AI and copyright law by major national and international news organizations and is a frequent speaker on the subject at law schools and legal education seminars.

U.S. News counts Crosby more broadly as one of The Best Lawyers in America® for Intellectual Property Litigation. He has received national recognition from the American Intellectual Property Law Association and Managing IP Magazine for his work and expertise in the field of intellectual property litigation and licensing.

Crosby has tried and litigated patent, copyright, antitrust, and other complex commercial cases in federal courts throughout the country. He has also represented parties before the U.S. International Trade Commission, in private arbitrations, and in confidential licensing negotiations. Ian serves as an Executive Committee member and Membership Chair of the Seattle Intellectual Property American Inn of Court

.

“Crosby speaks to Bloomberg TV about Generative AI”

Notable Representations

New York Times v. Microsoft & OpenAI, Case No. 1:23-cv-11195-SHS (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (lead counsel): Filed suit asserting that Microsoft and OpenAI infringed copyrights in millions of articles to train and run GPT artificial intelligence products.
International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group Inc., Case No. 22-01861 (Fed. Cir. 2024) (lead counsel): Federal Circuit affirmed judgment of invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101 of two patents asserted against client Zillow.
Stross v. Zillow Inc., Case No. 22-3600 (9th Cir. 2024) (lead counsel), Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of copyright infringement claims against client Zillow and awarded attorneys’ fees on appeal.
D., et al v. Chris Reykdal, et al, Case No. 23-35580 (9th Cir. 2024) (lead counsel—pro bono): Argued appeal resulting in entry of a preliminary injunction against the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Washington prohibiting disabled children from being aged out of special education placements before age twenty-two.
Stross v. Zillow Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-01489-RAJ-BAT (W.D. Wa. 2022) (lead counsel): Won motion to dismiss claims that client Zillow infringed 106 real estate photographs and obtained award of attorneys’ fees.
International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-01130 (W.D. Wa. 2022) (lead counsel): Obtained dismissal of five of five asserted patents.
International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-00851(W.D. Wa. 2022) (lead counsel): Obtained dismissal of six of seven asserted patents and stay of seventh pending appeal of partial invalidation in IPR.
International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group Inc., Case No. 21-02350 (Fed. Cir. 2022) (lead counsel): Federal Circuit affirmed judgment of invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101 of two patents asserted against client Zillow.
In re National Football League Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:15-ml-02668-PSG-SK (C.D. Cal. 2024): Presented damages expert at trial resulting in $4.7 billion jury verdict for client plaintiff class.
VHT, Inc. v. Zillow Group, Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-01096-JLR (W.D. Wa. 2022): Prevailed on affirmative defense of innocent infringement for 388 images and obtained finding of near-minimum statutory damages for 2,312 more in bench trial on damages on remand from Ninth Circuit.
Kean v.Seattle Children’s Hospital, Case No. 20-2-16194-2 SEA (King Co. Super. Ct. 2021) (lead counsel): Obtained settlement following close of discovery of claims against client Seattle Children’s Hospital by researcher seeking royalty on pharmaceutical license payments.
com v. DDR Holdings LLC, IPR2018-00482 (P.T.A.B. 2018) (co-lead counsel): PTAB affirmed patentability of all challenged claims of client DDR Holdings’ e-commerce technology patent.
Finjan Inc. v. Bitdefender Inc., Case No. 4:17-cv-04790-HSG (N.D. Cal. 2017): Obtained settlement claims against client Bitdefender following completion of summary judgment briefing.
AlmondNet v. Oath Holdings, Case No. 19-cv-00247 (D. Del. 2019): Obtained settlement for patent owner client AlmondNet after defeating eight covered business method review petitions and obtaining transfer to District of Delaware in lieu of dismissal following Supreme Court’s intervening decision in TC Heartland.
Uniloc U.S.A. v. Bitdefender LLC, Case No. 2:16-cv-00394-RWS (N.D. Cal. 2017): Complete summary judgment in favor of client Bitdefender LLC on grounds that asserted software distribution patents were invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter.
VHT, Inc. v. Zillow Group, Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-01096-JLR (W.D. Wa. 2017): Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment for client Zillow on over 95% of claims for infringement of copyrighted images and vacated award of damages for the remainder.
In the Matter of Certain Wearable Activity Tracking Devices, Investigation No. 337-TA-973 (I.T.C. 2016): Complaint against client Jawbone withdrawn after finding that asserted fitness tracking patents were invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter.
In Re Queen’s University at Kingston, No. 2015-145 (Fed. Cir. 2016): Grant of mandamus petition for client Queen’s University at Kingston established the application of the attorney-client privilege to prosecution related communications with registered patent agents.
Two-Way Media LLC v. AT&T et al., No. 2014-1302 (Fed. Cir. 2015): Affirmed $40 million judgment obtained at trial for client Two-Way Media LLC for infringement of streaming content delivery patents by AT&T.
ViaSat, Inc. v. Space Systems/Loral, Inc. et al., No. 3:12-cv-00260-H (S.D. Cal. 2014): Vacated award of damages against client Space Systems/Loral for alleged infringement of satellite communications patents.
DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P. et al., No. 2013-1505 (Fed. Cir. 2014): Opinion affirming in part trial judgment obtained for client DDR Holdings was first, and, for eighteen months, only Federal Circuit decision to uphold the validity of a computer software patent on subject matter grounds after the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014).
Native American Marketing and Development Corp. v. Arctic Slope Regional Corporation et al., No. 8:07cv-02436 (D. Md. 2009): Complete summary judgment for client Arctic Slope Regional Corporation in a suit seeking a hundred-million dollar finder’s fee on the largest single-source government contract in history.
Novell, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. (2004): Settlement of antitrust claims for client Novell in a confidential amount that the New York Times later reported to be $536 million.

Honors & Distinctions

AI Power List, Business Insider (2024)
Top 100 AI and Legal Tech Advisor, Lawdragon (2024)
Panelist on Generative AI at 2023 Digital Media Licensing Association CLE
Intellectual Property Trailblazer, National Law Journal (2023, ALM)
Recognized Nationally by S. News – The Best Lawyers in America® for Intellectual Property Litigation and Patent Litigation (2018- 2025, Woodward White Inc.)
Invited speaker on patent licensing, 2018 American Intellectual Property Association Spring Meeting
Recipient of the 2017 Editor’s Choice Award from Managing IP (Euromoney Legal Media Group) for work on In re: Queen’s University at Kingston et al.
Master of the Bench and Executive Committee Member, Seattle IP Inn of Court
Washington Law & Politics Magazine (Thomson Reuters) “Rising Star” from 2003 to 2009

Clerkships

Honorable Robert Boochever, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1999-2000
Honorable John C. Coughenour, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, 1998-1999

Education

Pro Bono

Pro Bono Partner, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

References

Diane Brayton, General Counsel, The New York Times Company
Regan Smith, General Counsel, News/Media Alliance
Kjelti Kellough, General Counsel, Getty Images
Brad Owens, General Counsel, Zillow Group
Gulliver Swenson, Chief Administrative Officer, Assurance IQ
Daniel D. Ross, President, DDR Holdings LLC
Rosemary Daszkiewicz, Assistant General Counsel, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Contact information can be provided upon request.

Cookie	Duration	Description
algoliasearch-client-js	1 year	Necessary in order to optimize the website's search -bar function. The cookie ensures accurate and fast search results.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Cookie	Duration	Description
_ga	1 year	Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
_ga_#	1 year	Used by Google Analytics to collect data on the number of times a user has visited the website as well as dates for the first and most recent visit.
_gat	1 year	Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate.
_gid	1 year	Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
td	1 year	Registers statistical data on users' behavior on the website. Used for internal analytics by the website operator.

Seattle

Direct

Overview

Notable Representations

Honors & Distinctions

Honors and Awards

Clerkships

Education

Education

Pro Bono

References

Languages

Languages

Overview

Notable Representations

Representative Matters

Honors & Distinctions

Honors and Awards

Clerkships

Education

Education

Pro Bono

References

Languages

Languages

Wins

News & Awards