Russ Barron is a retired partner with Foley & Lardner. As a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department (past co-chair, IP Litigation Practice), Russell’s practice focused on the business of intellectual assets, and litigation involving patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and unfair competition. He has been involved in more than 200 cases in his 31 year career and is experienced in managing complex cases and in trying jury cases.
Russell was Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell’s peer review rating system and is listed in Best Lawyers in America® and the 2006 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.*
Russell has significant experience with litigations and trials going back over 30 years. Russell’s broad technical background includes scientific and medical instruments, biochemistry, automotive, aviation, computer software, data transmission and related technologies, electrophotography, forest products and paper, industrial chemical, mechanical, medical appliances, metallurgical, photographic, pharmaceutical, scientific instrumentation, polymer processing, computers and software. Russell wrote and successfully prosecuted one of the earliest software patents. (US 4,460,975)
His educational background as a historian gives him a strong foundation of oral and written skills to explain complex factual and legal issues to clients and juries. A frequent speaker and teacher at bar and business group meetings, he has been a board-member and chairperson of several committees of the Licensing Executives Society (USA/Canada), including ones which focus on the teaching of IA management, congressional liaison and reporting standards for IA information. In 1996, he was appointed an adjunct professor at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he taught courses on intellectual property strategic management for several years.
Russell is the founder of the firm’s IP Best Practices (IPBP) group. He frequently wrote on IA management topics. This practice focuses on the business of intellectual assets, including IA functional aspects of business organization, licensing, IA portfolio management, IA database development, IA tax management, IA valuation and identification of licensing candidates and targets.
This practice calls upon the resources of the firm’s broad, general practice skill set and, as needed, the resources of specialist consultants identified by the firm representing various areas of finance, accounting, economics, science, engineering, marketing research and planning. Foley’s IPBP communicates in the language of business, employs pragmatic approaches, and is experienced in many facets of business from the R&D bench through senior management.
Russell is a member of the Wisconsin Technology Council Board of Directors. The Wisconsin Technology Council advises the governor and legislature on technology issues.
*The Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and no award or recognition is a requirement to practice law in Illinois.