Christa Zado is an Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the Silicon Valley Office. She presides over trial proceedings under the America Invents Act and decides appeals of adverse decisions made during patent prosecution at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She earned her Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and law degree from Berkeley School of Law. Judge Zado helped found the Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) and is actively engaged in supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in her community. Prior to her appointment in 2014, she served as in-house counsel at a Fortune 100 company and was a private practitioner at a law firm.