Sanctioned Texas Attorney Petitions Supreme Court for Relief

Prolific patent attorney Bill Ramey on Tuesday said he petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt “potentially career ending” sanctions a day before he’s scheduled to appear before a San Francisco federal judge on the matter.

Ramey, Susan Kalra, Jeffrey Kubiak and their client Koji IP filed an emergency application to Justice Elena Kagan requesting a stay of sanctions that require them self-report to state bar associations and courts by April 26. The petition argues the sanctions are “severe, unwarranted, and likely, career ending” and claim Magistrate Judge Peter Kang failed to provide due process protections.

Ramey informed both the district court and Federal Circuit about the petition in separate filings Tuesday.

The attorneys want the court to pause the sanctions while their appeal proceeds through the Federal Circuit. All three are slated to appear before Kang at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in the San Francisco federal courthouse.

Kang ruled in March they handled Koji’s patent case against Renesas Electronics America Inc. in bad faith while violating conduct rules. Texas attorneys Ramey and Kubiak didn’t have permission to practice in Kang’s court and relied on California-based Kalra to submit court filings, the judge said.

Kang determined the attorneys engaged in unauthorized practice of law and imposed monetary penalties — combined $64,000 — along with professional reporting requirements. The attorneys maintain they properly collaborated with California-licensed counsel, Kalra.

The trio say they’ve already suffered professional consequences as a result of the sanctions.

“Ms. Kalra has resigned from her new law firm” over Kang’s order and Ramey claims to have been censored by an IP trade publication, according to the petition.

“Irreparable damage has already been done,” Ramey said in the petition.

Koji IP LLC v. Renesas Electronic America Ltd., N.D. Cal., 3:24-cv-03089, 4/22/25