Venable LLP makes a key addition to its expanding Intellectual Property practice group with the arrival of IP litigator and counselor Adam R. Hess, who joins the firm as a partner in Washington, DC.
Mr. Hess arrives at Venable after 21 years with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in Washington and Northern Virginia. He served as chair of Pillsbury’s IP litigation practice area as well as managing partner of the firm’s Northern Virginia office.
An IP litigator with extensive experience in federal court litigation and handling Section 337 investigations at the International Trade Commission, Mr. Hess also has a broad cross-border background representing Asia-based technology companies, notably in Japan but also in China and elsewhere. A frequent speaker on ITC enforcement matters, in 2011 he was part of group from the ITC Trial Lawyers Association that made presentations in a number of Chinese cities on conducting Section 337 investigations at the ITC. Mr. Hess has also served as lead counsel in arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce in Europe.
In addition to litigation, he counsels clients on all matters of IP transactions, such as portfolio management, licensing, due diligence, and patent prosecution in a broad range of industries including general chemistry, polymers, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, nuclear and alternative energy sources, electronics, automotive parts, and manufacturing processes.
Mr. Hess is the latest senior IP attorney to join Venable in the past 18 months, including Frank Gasparo, head of Intellectual Property in the firm’s New York office; Marci Ballard, a New York-based litigator and IP counselor; Justin Pierce, former head of Sony Ericsson’s global copyright, trademark, and design portfolio; Washington-based patent prosecution and litigation partners Michele Van Patten Frank, Toni-Junell Herbert, and Mark Shanks, who moved over from Patton Boggs; former Network Solutions general counsel Bobby Turnage, whose Internet commerce practice includes an IP infringement focus; and experienced litigatorsGreg Sater and Brett Garner in the Los Angeles office.
“The diversity of companies Adam represents and the range of venues, domestic and international, where he litigates demonstrate Adam’s versatility,” said the chair of Venable’s Intellectual Property division, Bill Coston. “Beyond his accomplishments as a litigator, he also has the complete tools of an IP counselor, able to handle anything from patent prosecution to portfolio decisions to transactional work for our clients. What’s more, he’s done all of these things at the highest levels, as his responsibilities at his former firm demonstrate. Adam’s arrival is an important step in the continued evolution and enhancement of Venable’s IP practice.”
Mr. Hess said, “I’m very pleased to join Venable, where I look forward to helping the firm further expand its ITC practice. I’m impressed with the workplace culture here, where collegiality and collaboration combine with an entrepreneurial vision that encourages attorneys to help the firm meet its goals for growth. Venable is a well-led and well-managed firm of high-quality lawyers and I’m excited to be a part of its development plans.”
A graduate of the George Washington University Law School, Mr. Hess earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.
