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Robert J. Hollingshead

Partner
Tokyo

Partner, Tokyo

T: +81.3.6268.6765
T: +81.3.6268.6765

Areas of Focus

I strive to deliver optimal results for clients on-time and on-budget, while communicating and engaging constantly to avoid unwelcome surprises.

Robert “Bob” Hollingshead is an accomplished litigator with a strong engineering background, whose practice focuses on patent litigation, adversarial patent license negotiations, and strategic IP counseling. His practice spans the U.S., Japan and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Bob has over 26 years of experience representing clients in complex intellectual property litigation and licensing disputes in federal district and appellate courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A former U.S. patent examiner and practicing electrical engineer, Bob is dedicated to delivering efficient and effective service to clients in all areas of patent law with a focus on dispute resolution, including patent litigation, arbitration, and adversarial patent licensing.

Representative Experience

  • Led a litigation team that developed a successful strategy for pursuing numerous infringers of patents in the sintered rare earth magnet area, thereby protecting the client’s licensees and preserving its revenue stream.
  • Led a team that planned and successfully executed a major offensive licensing program on behalf of a holder of standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the wireless telecommunications field.
  • Successfully defended a major Japanese microcontroller manufacturer against claims relating to embedded memory totaling over $300 million and involving over 20 patents, while avoiding litigation.

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  • Smartphone cases. Co-led a team that successfully handled a series of high-profile smartphone litigations on behalf of a well-known smartphone company.
  • Certain Sintered Rare Earth Magnets and Products Containing Same (International Trade Commission, 337-TA-855). Represented and negotiated favorable settlement for complainant Hitachi Metals and its U.S. affiliate in a landmark investigation involving 29 respondents before the United States International Trade Commission regarding infringement of certain Hitachi Metals patents by the sale into the U.S. of certain sintered rare earth magnets.
  • Japanese semiconductor company – adversarial patent license negotiations with Intellectual Ventures. Represented a major Japanese semiconductor company in adversarial patent license negotiations with Intellectual Ventures, one of the largest patent assertion entities.
  • Japanese DRAM manufacturer – adversarial patent license negotiations with Tessera Technologies. Represented Japan’s largest DRAM manufacturer in adversarial patent license negotiations with Tessera Technologies, a global holder of semiconductor packaging patents.
  • Japanese semiconductor company – adversarial patent license negotiations adverse to IPVALUE and Round Rock Research. Represented a major Japanese semiconductor company in adversarial patent license negotiations with IPVALUE and Round Rock Research.
  • Semiconductor chips for mobile phone applications (compass and accelerometer functions) – adversarial patent license negotiations. Represented a major producer of custom semiconductor products for mobile phone applications in adversarial patent license negotiations with a well-known patent assertion entity.

Professional Highlights

  • Recognized by Business Today among the “Top 10 Trailblazing Intellectual Property Lawyers Transforming the Japanese Landscape” (2023)
  • Recognized by Managing Intellectual Property as an “IP Star” (2023)
  • Recognized in Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific as an Intellectual Property “Dispute Resolution Star” (2019)

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  • Leading Individual, Intellectual Property, Chambers Asia-Pacific, 2024
  • Leading IP lawyer Japan: Intellectual Property, Chambers Global, 2023
  • Recognized in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific as a “Leading Individual – Japan” (2019)
  • Recognized in Best Lawyers in Japan® for Intellectual Property (2020)
  • Leader in IP, World IP Review (WIPR), 2023
  • Recommended for Intellectual Property, IAM Patent 1000, 2019
  • Editor, Licensing Executives Society of Japan (LESJ) publication “Winds from Japan”
  • Served as a founding officer of The Tokyo IP American Inn of Court and as an officer in the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

Education

  • J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, 1999

    M.S.E.E., The Johns Hopkins University, 1995

    B.S.E.E., University of Maryland, College Park, 1992

    B.S., Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park, 1992

Admissions

  • Japan (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi)

    District of Columbia

    Maryland

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Bob's Insights

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