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Robert Benson Baker Botts San Francisco
Robert Benson Baker Botts San Francisco
Robert Benson
Partner
robert.benson@bakerbotts.com
DETAILS
Practices
Intellectual Property
Industries
Technology
Details
Overview
Overview Admission & Affiliations Experience News Awards and Community
Practices
Intellectual Property
Industries
Technology

Overview

For more than three decades, Robert Benson has dedicated his career to helping clients resolve their most challenging legal disputes and prevail in high-stakes patent litigation. Robert blends his commitment to serving others with his legal acumen, creativity, integrity, and collaborative leadership to attain the best possible results for his clients. He has a long track record of successfully representing both plaintiff and defendants in courts throughout the country, including in ITC investigations, PTAB proceedings, and appeals at the Federal Circuit.

Robert has focused on serving clients in Asia for the past 25 years, with particularly deep relationships in the Taiwan legal community. In Chambers Global 2024, Robert is the only attorney ranked in the U.S. for the "IP-Foreign Expert for Taiwan" category and is likewise the only attorney recognized in Chambers Global 2024 in the category of "Foreign Experts Based in USA for Taiwan IP."

With a focus on navigating the unique issues that arise in in multinational litigation and cross-border disputes, Robert has represented leading Taiwan-based companies in numerous industries, including fabless semiconductor companies, semiconductor foundries, LCD and IFP display manufacturers, LED manufacturers, and other industry leaders in memory devices, and computer manufacturers. Robert has also organized and led some of the largest privately-sponsored IP conferences previously held in Taiwan.

Robert's commitment to service extends beyond his professional clients, and he is passionate about empowering others throughout our global community. Over the past 25 years, Robert established global programs that provided full-time custodial care for hundreds of abandoned or abused children and then enabled them to pursue a higher education and become leaders in their communities.

Robert is the founder of Arms of Love International, a charitable organization that operates family-based homes for children permanently separated from their families, and Love Forward, a program that provides a higher education for women who have transitioned out of orphanages, crisis centers, and other residential programs. Robert sees the greatest potential in those who have experienced the greatest adversity and the deepest tragedies.

A feature article in the Orange County Register, “A Global Embrace,” traced Robert's personal journey from being abandoned as a child to becoming an international advocate for children. He often shares his inspirational stories through articles such as the National Law Journal commentaries “Let's Take a Broader Look at Justice” and “A Lawyer's Story of Giving and Forgiving,” and “Why Are You Here? A Volunteer in Tohoku Shares the Journey of His Heart,” published in the Asahi Shimbun.

Robert is a founding member of the East Bay Community Law Center, which has provided legal services to the low-income community since 1987.

Admission & Affiliations

  • State Bar of California
  • Registered Foreign Attorney, Taiwan
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Ninth Circuits
  • United States District Courts for the Central, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • Taiwan Bar Association
  • Master of the Bench, Howard T. Markey Intellectual Property Inn of Court
  • J.D., University of California, Berkeley, School of Law 1990
    Order of the Coif
  • B.S., Aeronautical Operations, San Jose State University 1987
    President's Scholar

Experience

  • Obtained summary judgment of non-infringement on behalf of a leading manufacturer of inkjet printers, resulting in the dismissal of the case.
  • Obtained a complete win after litigating a Section 337 investigation in the ITC through a Final Determination, developing and prevailing on a key non-infringement defense in a case directed to digital content protection.
  • Successfully litigated two IPR petitions through a Final Written Decision of unpatentability of a graphics processing patent, which patent was the sole basis for a limited exclusion order entered by the ITC in a Section 337 investigation litigated by different counsel.
  • Obtained summary judgment of invalidity of all asserted patent claims in an infringement action brought against a leading printer manufacturer, based on anticipation, lack of written description and indefiniteness, resulting in dismissal of the case.
  • Obtained a preliminary injunction based on infringement of copyrights in source code on behalf of the world's leading supplier of controller chips for optical disk drives, argued an appeal from the injunction before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and obtained a settlement of $50 million.
  • Represented a leading semiconductor foundry in a multijurisdictional patent infringement dispute with a competing foundry, which resulted in a broad global cross-license.
  • In multiple patent infringement actions, obtained dismissals with prejudice without a settlement payment in cases brought by non-practicing entities.
  • Obtained complete denial of institution of three different petitions for inter partes review, filed by Qualcomm, directed to graphics processing technologies.
  • Negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of a leading cellular phone manufacturer after obtaining a ruling of patent invalidity on summary judgment, following a nine-day Markman hearing in the Southern District of California.
  • Obtained summary judgment of non-infringement on behalf of an Asian client in a patent infringement case filed in Delaware against more than 60 defendants.
  • Obtained summary judgment on patent infringement and various state law claims in the Northern District of California on behalf of the world's largest privately held company.
  • Represented a leading medical device company in China in an offensive litigation in California state court asserting breach of contract and business tort causes of action; achieved a favorable settlement through mediation.
  • Litigated a section 337 investigation on behalf of a Complainant through the hearing and achieved a settlement during the subsequent appeal to the Federal Circuit.
  • Defended a leading ODM in Asia, which manufactures computers, monitors, televisions, and smartphones, in a significant breach of contract litigation brought by a patent pool administrator and achieved a favorable settlement through mediation.
  • Obtained dismissals with prejudice and without a settlement payment in multiple patent infringement actions filed by non-practicing entities.
  • Developed and executed a litigation and licensing strategy on behalf of one of the largest health insurers in the United States in a 23-patent multidistrict litigation in the Central District of California involving hundreds of entities and accused systems and services.
  • Litigated offensive and defensive patent infringement claims between an Asian manufacturer of Wi-Fi chips and a German competitor, resulting in a favorable settlement for the client.
  • Prevailed on a motion to dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit that had been brought in the Eastern District of Virginia against a leading provider of digital video recorders.
  • Obtained summary judgment on claims for contributory copyright infringement, violations of the Federal Communications Act and unfair competition that had been asserted against a manufacturer of cable television descramblers.

Awards and Community

Recognized by Chambers Global as "Foreign Expert Based in USA" for Taiwan IP, 2018-2024

Recognized by Chambers Global as "Foreign Expert for Taiwan" for U.S. IP, 2018-2024

Listed in The Legal 500 U.S. as a "Recommended Lawyer" in IP, 2020-2021