DALLAS – Barnes & Thornburg has added Robert Hilton as a partner in the firm’s Dallas office and Intellectual Property Department. Hilton’s announcement comes on the heels of other IP partner arrivals, including Tina Dorr in Atlanta and Brad Pedersen and Chris Hoff in Minneapolis.
Hilton will focus his practice on building and managing large and high-stakes patent portfolios for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to Fortune 500 companies. He advises clients and provides opinions on matters including patent infringement, invalidity, and patentability, and performs freedom-to-operate investigations. He also has been counsel on complex proceedings in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he has conducted inter partes, post grant, and covered business method reviews.
“We’re thrilled to continue growing our IP team and Robert’s background in obtaining patent protection for clients in over 75 countries makes him a world-class asset. This type of global experience helps round out our department and will allow us to better serve our clients,” said Julia Gard, chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department.
Hilton touches a diverse range of industries in IP matters, as he has deep experience working in oil and gas, telecommunications, medical device, aerospace, mechanical devices, software, and renewable energy. Among his other work in these industries, he also drafts and negotiates IP licenses and other complex commercial agreements, including asset purchase, lending, supply, and employee agreements.
“Robert’s deep roots in Texas make him an obvious addition to our office,” said Victor Vital, managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office. “His wide variety of experience across industries relevant to the Texas market make him a strong addition and we couldn’t be more excited to have him join us.”
Hilton earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
With more than 800 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, Boston, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.
