Locke Lord LLP’s highly-regarded Intellectual Property Practice bolstered its resources today by adding veteran patent litigator Robert Harkins to its team in San Francisco. Harkins joins the Firm as a Partner in its Intellectual Property Department and IP Litigation Practice Group.

Harkins has extensive experience representing clients in patent litigation, focusing on computer hardware, software, system design, medical devices, telecommunications and Internet-related technologies. He has also handled various other matters in IP counseling and disputes.

“Bob has a strong track record as a trial lawyer, and his experience in the technology space will complement our practice group’s representations of clients facing complex patent issues,” said Matt Blackburn, Managing Partner of the San Francisco office. “We are pleased to welcome Bob to Locke Lord.”

Prior to joining Locke Lord, Harkins was a partner at Sedgwick LLP. In addition to his work at law firms, Harkins has previously served as director of Intellectual Property and Litigation for a well-known Silicon Valley semiconductor company with offices in Asia and the United States.

Harkins’ recent notable matters include:
•Acting as lead counsel for two major cell phone companies in patent infringement suits in Delaware;
•Obtaining summary judgment of noninfringement in a mechanical design case in district court in California, where a motion to recover his client’s attorneys’ fees is currently pending;
•Securing a motion to transfer a patent case from the Eastern District of Texas to the Northern District of California and defending multiple call center solutions providers companies against claims of infringement involving caller ID; and
•Obtaining a settlement at trial for a complainant in a Section 337 dispute before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

Harkins joins the Firm following the Locke Lord LLP and Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP merger that took effect on January 10, 2015. The combination increased the depth of Locke Lord’s global IP team.

Harkins received his J.D. from the University of California at Davis School of Law. He received a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.S. in Electronic Commerce from National University.

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