King & Spalding Adds IP Partners to Austin and London Offices

AUSTIN, TX and LONDON--(Marketwire - February 9, 2009) - King & Spalding, a leading international law firm, announced today a significant expansion of its intellectual property practice with the addition of three new partners. The group brings with it in-depth capabilities related to patent licensing, technology transfer and patent and technology portfolio strategy analysis as well as experience in patent litigation and U.S. International Trade Commission proceedings.

The partners -- all of whom were previously with Baker Botts LLP -- include Bruce W. Slayden II, who served as the co-chair of Baker Botts' international patent practice group and head of its intellectual property department in the Austin office; R. William Beard, Jr.; and Andy Grubert.

Slayden and Beard join King & Spalding in Austin, while Grubert will practice in the London office.

"Our intellectual property practice continues to attract top talent. Bruce, William, and Andy are excellent practitioners with a track record of success," said Courtland Reichman, leader of King & Spalding's global intellectual property practice group. "These lawyers possess a combined practice mix that will serve as a strong foundation from which we'll continue to grow our presence in the Austin and London markets. They have reputations for providing responsive service and cutting-edge legal work to clients with whom they have developed extraordinary relationships."

Slayden's practice focuses on patent enforcement/defense strategies and risks (in the U.S. and Europe), intellectual property acquisition due diligence, patent portfolio licensing negotiations, and domestic/international intellectual property asset management. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Alabama School of Law and a B.S. degree from the University of Alabama.

Beard litigates patents in Texas and around the country, including the International Trade Commission, for clients in a wide range of technologies, including medical devices, consumer products, industrial tools and financial business methods. He also analyzes patent and technology portfolios and prosecutes patents for power generation systems, mineral well drilling tools, mineral well completion systems, naval vessel architectures, and petroleum processing systems. He earned a J.D. degree from the South Texas School of Law and a B.S. degree from Brigham Young University.

Grubert is a United States patent attorney, a European patent and trademark attorney, and a German patent attorney. His practice focuses on patent application preparation and prosecution -- particularly in the U.S. and Europe -- patent licensing negotiations, and patent portfolio management. He received a J.D. degree from the South Texas College of Law and a M.S. degree from Technical University Munich.

"We've long been aware of King & Spalding's top-tier; full service IP practice -- including patent litigation, patent prosecution, technology transactions, and life sciences -- and we know the firm has an extremely deep and talented bench, along with a number of the top patent trial attorneys in practice today," said Bruce Slayden. "We felt that at this juncture, our practice could benefit exponentially from being integrated into the broad, global IP and patent litigation group that King & Spalding offers."

King & Spalding's intellectual property practice group consists of more than 150 lawyers and patent agents in the firm's offices in Austin, Silicon Valley, New York, Atlanta, Houston, London, San Francisco, Charlotte, and Washington, D.C. The group's professionals practice in the full range of patent and trademark issues, including litigation, pre-litigation counseling, licensing, United States and foreign patent and trademark prosecution, United States and foreign administrative patent and trademark proceedings, opinion preparation, contracts, acquisitions, technology transfer, due diligence and portfolio enforcement and defense.

About King & Spalding

King & Spalding is an international law firm with more than 880 lawyers in Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Houston, London, New York, Riyadh (affiliated office), San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The firm represents half of the Fortune 100 and in Corporate Counsel surveys consistently has been among the top firms representing Fortune 250 companies. For additional information, visit www.kslaw.com/.

Contact Information: Contact: Kimberly Brooks King & Spalding 212-827-4378