Judge Susan G. Braden

Judge Braden was appointed to the United States Court of Federal Claims on July 14, 2003, by President George W. Bush, after being confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate. She was sworn into office by Senator Jeff Sessions, then Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight & the Courts. Her investiture was conducted on October 24, 2003 by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

On March 23, 2012, Judge Braden received the Linn Inn Alliance Distinguished Service Medal at the New York Intellectual Property Lawyers Association Annual Dinner for her work with the American Inns of Court, dedicated to intellectual property law. On February 7, 2012, Judge Braden was appointed as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law Task Force on the creation of a Small Patent Claims Court. Judge Braden was President of the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court for the 2010-2011 Term. She was recognized at a ceremony in the United States Supreme Court in November 2011, when she received the American Inns of Court Platinum Distinction Award for her service. Judge Braden also has been a Member of the Editorial Board of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

In July 2009, Judge Braden was appointed as a Member of the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility-Judges Advisory Committee to the American Bar Association, on which she still serves. On February 14, 2007, Judge Braden was elected as a Member of the American Law Institute and has been active in the Restatement of Law Third, Restitution and Unjust Enrichment Project. On October 22, 2004, she was inducted as a Senior Fellow of the ABA’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Section by Justice O’Connor at a ceremony held at the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge Braden litigated complex federal and administrative law cases in private practice in trial and appellate courts. In particular, her work in the intellectual property area received favorable notice in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Law Journal, Journal of the American Bar Association, and Interfaces on Trial: Intellectual Property and Interoperability In The Global Software Industry. In 1996, Judge Braden was honored by the Computer Law Association for winning multiple decisions in the Eastern District of New York, the Eastern District of Texas, the Second Circuit, and a certified question to the Supreme Court of Texas in Computer Assocs. Int’l, Inc. v. Altai Inc., a landmark case that changed the application of copyright law to computer software. In 1998, she also won a companion case brought in France before the Cour de Appel de Paris.

In private practice, Judge Braden also represented a wide variety of client interests before almost every major department and federal agency, testified before the United States Congress on a variety of matters, and was a principal advocate of the Emergency Oil and Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999, which established a $1 billion federal loan guarantee program to assist bankrupt and troubled steel mills and small oil companies.

Judge Braden received a B.A. degree (1970) and J. D. degree (1973) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She also attended a post graduate course at the Harvard Law School in the summer of 1978.