Team
Robert is a founder and lead consultant at ipVA who specialises in IP strategy, M&A activity and due diligence as well as patent and trademark prosecution. He works primarily in the area of semiconductors, microelectronics, microtechnology, nanotechnology, and biophysics. He has experience in organic semiconductors as well as photonic devices
Robert is a qualified patent and trademark attorney and has an M.Sc in Solid State Physics (his thesis was in photovoltaics) and a PhD in Electronic Engineering (Semiconductor Engineering). He is a frequent speaker on issues of nanotechnology as well as the relationship between patents and standards. He is the former European Intellectual Property Counsel for W.L. Gore and Associates and has worked for IBM's German operations and as an examiner at the European Patent Office in the field of optical semiconductors and superconductors.
More recently, Robert’s work has focused on the alignment of intellectual property strategies with business strategies for a number of companies, including freedom-to-operate reports and in drafting "visionary" patent applications that foresee marketplace shifts in order to protect future commercial interests. In the M&A field, Robert has advised a number of companies on acquisitions and valuations of intangible assets.
Robert speaks fluent English, French and German as well as having a working knowledge of Italian, Spanish and Dutch.
Robert has won several awards, was a Scholar at Oxford University, and in 2009 and 2010, Intellectual Asset Magazine named Robert one of the top leading IP strategists from around the world in the IAM 250.
Contact: Munich and London offices.
ipVA provides IP strategy services and products that help businesses and investors better understand and manage IP. For more, see the rest of our site and get in contact.