Robert R. Baron, Jr.

Partner

Philadelphia

Tel 215.864.8335
Fax 215.864.8999

Robert Baron is a partner in the Litigation and Intellectual Property Departments, the former Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Department, and the former Leader of the Intellectual Property Litigation Group. Rob is a trial lawyer whose clients hire him to handle their most complex, high-stakes, and strategically important disputes.

He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving patent, trademark, and copyright infringement; the breakdown of strategic acquisitions and licensing agreements, and other business terminations; the theft of trade secrets; IP ownership; unfair competition; and false advertising.

Rob has litigated and tried cases, including injunction actions, before state and federal courts and arbitration panels throughout the country. He represents pharmaceutical and biotech companies, software developers, chemical companies, financial institutions, manufacturers, aerospace companies, publishers, universities and research institutions, retailers, and charitable organizations.

In 2021, Rob was named “Litigation Practitioner of the Year” for Pennsylvania by Managing Intellectual Property, and he has been nominated for that honor in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024. In 2023, BTI named Rob a "BTI Client Service All-Star," a highly selective ranking based on the unprompted recognition of top in-house legal decision makers. Chambers USA, a directory built primarily on client and peer interviews, noted that clients praise Rob as a "brilliant strategist who anticipates future issues and navigates around them." In addition to naming him “Litigation Practitioner of the Year,” Managing Intellectual Property also has recognized Rob as one of Pennsylvania’s "IP Stars" every year since 2013. He also has been recognized as a member of IAM’s global Patent 1000 every year since 2013.

Rob has served as the Chair of the Business Litigation Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He serves as a Judge Pro Tem for the Commerce Litigation Division of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to assist the court when asked in the management of settlement discussions and mediations. Rob is also a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyer honor society.

Rob writes and speaks on a variety of intellectual property and litigation topics. In addition, he has been active in his community. Rob is a past member of the Board of Trustees of The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, where he was formerly Chair of the Governance Committee, Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and The Arts & Business Council of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Rob has participated in Leadership, Inc., Philadelphia's premier leadership-training organization, and in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Community Partnership Program.

Rob is a graduate of Brown University (B.A. 1988) and The George Washington University Law School, where he graduated with honors, was a member of the George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics, and was selected as a Dean's Fellow for Legal Research and Writing.

Services

Experience

Representative Matters

Lead trial lawyer for one of the world’s leading vaccine companies in a 10 day ICC arbitration trial, where Rob and his trial team successfully defeated a nine-figure claim sought by a licensor that claimed Ballard’s client did not use “diligent efforts” to globally commercialize an anti-viral therapy.
Lead trial lawyer representing to victory a world-famous medical research foundation as the respondent in an international arbitration. The claimant sought damages against Ballard’s client in the form of an eight-figure royalty payment related to a breakthrough pharmaceutical therapy. After a nearly three-week arbitration trial involving witnesses testifying virtually from around the world, Rob and his team won a resounding defense award, with the three-member arbitration panel unanimously finding in favor of Ballard’s client on all claims, and ordering that the claimant was to recover nothing.
Lead trial lawyer for CSL Behring in a suit against Bayer Healthcare, relating to the supply and marketing of a recombinant Factor VIII protein therapy used for hemophilia. After bringing suit for CSL against Bayer in the District of Delaware, Rob and his team successfully obtained dismissal first of Bayer’s countersuit in its home jurisdiction, and then of the majority of Bayer’s counterclaims in the District of Delaware. The case settled soon thereafter.

Lead counsel for Pioneer Hi-Bred (now Corteva), which was a victim of international trade secret theft in a well-publicized case reported on in many media outlets. Rob and the Ballard team worked with the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of Iowa in the United States' prosecution of the criminal case against Chinese nationals arrested for stealing secret modified corn seeds. The case resulted in a defendant pleading guilty. The case is the subject of the recent book, The Scientist and the Spy (Penguin 2020).
Lead trial lawyer defending DuPont/Danisco’s Nutrition and Industrial Biosciences business (now part of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF)) in a patent infringement suit in the District of Delaware in a suit relating to products used around the world to optimize animal digestion and nutrition in the agricultural and food processing industries. Ballard successfully obtained a contested stay of the case, pending the plaintiff’s appeal of a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to invalidate the patents brought against DuPont.
Lead trial lawyer for one of the world’s leading global diagnostic companies, in patent and licensing litigation regarding a range of technologies related to personalized health care. In one such case, Rob and the Ballard team successfully dismissed before discovery the plaintiff's patent infringement claims related to the detection of certain genetic mutations, on the ground that the patents claimed "laws of nature." The case also involved a critical dispute relating to whether his client marketed products outside the licensed field. Rob and his team also have represented the company in a series of cases related to next-generation DNA sequencing.
Lead trial counsel for one of the world’s leading gene therapy biotech companies, in trademark enforcement actions that include the filing of a preliminary injunction action that caused one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to stop use of the trademarks in question, and a number of cancelation and opposition actions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Lead trial counsel for IBM and its subsidiary and corporate customers in numerous patent infringement cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas related to career locator technology. The cases settled successfully after mediation that included Rob presenting to defendants IBM's proposed opening statement for the pending first trial.
Lead trial lawyer for one of the world’s largest developers and manufacturers of fire suppression systems in a AAA arbitration related to claims of inventorship and an alleged breach of a patent license. Rob and his team obtained a rare grant by an arbitration panel of their motion to dismiss the majority of the claimant’s case before discovery.
Lead trial counsel for CSL Behring in patent infringement litigation brought in the Eastern District of Texas by Novartis Vaccine and Diagnostics and Novo Nordisk for alleged infringement of a patent alleged to be directed to certain recombinant Factor VIII protein technology.
Lead trial counsel for Auxilium Pharmaceuticals in courts in Pennsylvania and New York regarding Auxilium's right to control development of a compound it licensed from another company, as well as regarding Auxilium's related IP rights. After a successful TRO proceeding and consent judgment in one case, and further litigation in the others, the parties settled via an amended license.
Lead trial lawyer for a leading global producer of mechanical pipe joining and fire protection systems as trial counsel to bring a trade secret injunction action to stop one of its senior engineers from undertaking a similar position with a competitor; successfully negotiated a favorable settlement for our client.
Lead counsel for CSL Behring in a royalty dispute with a licensor regarding a therapy used to suppress viral infection in organ transplant patients. The licensor dismissed the case against CSL without prejudice.
Lead counsel for SAP and its subsidiary Sybase in a patent infringement case brought in the Eastern District of Texas by QualiQode regarding workflow software patents; the case settled favorably.
Trial counsel for the University of Iowa in cases against two of the world's largest biotech companies for infringement of patents directed to a CMV promoter/enhancer, a fundamental tool used in the biotech industry.
Trial counsel for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in a succession of copyright litigation cases related to the alleged use of photographs in textbooks.
Trial counsel for several large aerospace companies in trade secret litigation.
Lead trial counsel for a leading developer of document management and workflow software, prosecuting claims for trade secret misappropriation and breach of an important software license against another, larger technology company; the case favorably settled days before the trial was to begin.
Defended a major accounting firm in connection with its decision not to pursue private equity participation in a proposed roll-up IPO of court-reporting companies.
Represented a variety of clients, including a university health care system and a pharmaceutical company, in the investigation and prosecution of civil fraud cases against former employees.
Handled the trademark, copyright, and right of publicity work on behalf of the players associations for the U.S. Women's National Team and the Women's United Soccer Association.
Defended a real estate investment fund in tax litigation and an indemnity dispute related to the purchase and sale of an office building in Philadelphia.

Professional Highlights

Professional Activities

Past Chair, Business Litigation Committee of Philadelphia Bar Association

Judge Pro Tem, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Commerce Litigation Division, assisting the court when asked in the management of settlement discussions and mediations.

Participant in Leadership, Inc., Philadelphia's premier leadership-training organization, and in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Community Partnership Program

Recognition & Accomplishments

BTI Consulting, "Client Service All-Star," 2023

Managing Intellectual Property, "Litigation Practitioner of the Year" for Pennsylvania, 2021 (Nominated for 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024); and recognized as an "IP Star" in Pennsylvania annually since 2013

IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals, patent litigation, annually since 2013

World Trademark Review 1000: The World's Leading Trademark Professionals, 2023

The Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation (Philadelphia), 2022-2025; Litigation - Intellectual Property (Philadelphia), 2025

Chambers USA, intellectual property law, 2012-2016

AV Preeminent (highest available ranking), Peer and Judiciary Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

Board Memberships & Community Service

Rob is an active community leader. He is a past Co-President of the Board of Directors of Operation Understanding, a nonprofit organization devoted to improving race relations through youth education, travel, and training. Rob participated in Leadership, Inc., Philadelphia's premier leadership-training organization, and in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Community Partnership Program.

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Board of Trustees
Member; Past Chair, Governance Committee

The Arts & Business Council, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce

Related Insights

Credentials

Education

George Washington University Law School (J.D. 1992, with honors)
Member, George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics
Dean's Fellow for Legal Research and Writing

Brown University (B.A. 1988)

Admissions

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit