Sam Dillon

IP Law, Licensing & Litigation at Apple

San Francisco Bay Area

About

Intellectual property attorney with extensive experience supporting tech companies with their most complex matters. Practicing in California as Registered In-House Counsel.

Experience

  • Senior Counsel, IP Law, Licensing & Litigation at Apple
    Jan 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 6 mos

    Manages IP and other legal risks, obligations, and opportunities arising from Apple’s participation in technical standards organizations and other industry groups. Works closely with internal legal and business stakeholders to (i) achieve standardization objectives; (ii) develop and implement internal policy and compliance processes; (iii) advise on standards-related legal issues and strategy; and (iv) participate in external governance and policy committees. Practicing in CA as a Registered In-House Counsel.

  • 2025 LCLD Fellow at Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)
    Jan 2025 - Dec 2025 · 1 yr

  • Senior Managing Associate at Sidley Austin LLP
    Sep 2014 - Jan 2022 · 7 yrs 5 mos

    Represented technology companies in patent, trade secret, and antitrust matters involving consumer electronics, telecom, networking, security, AI, hardware, and semiconductor manufacturing. Litigation: Experience with every stage of IP litigation, from pre-suit through trial. Argued multiple case-dispositive motions, cross-examined a key expert witness at trial, and deposed expert and fact witnesses. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB): Extensive experience with over 100 PTAB proceedings. Regularly managed large matters from filing through appeal, presented arguments in final hearings, and deposed witnesses. Appellate: Frequently represented parties in appeals of PTAB decisions to the Federal Circuit. Principally drafted briefing in 7 appeals as appellant or appellee, including a successful case in which Sidley was identified as a “Legal Lion” by Law360. Client Counseling: Advised technology companies on standards, open source, patent infringement/validity, and transactional issues. Pro Bono: Held an active practice litigating plaintiff-side pro bono class actions, including a class of families separated at the border and a class of disabled military veterans.

  • Standards Counsel (Full-time Secondment) at Apple
    Jul 2020 - Jan 2021 · 7 mos

  • USPTO (Washington D.C. Metro Area)
    • Patent Examiner
      Sep 2005 - Sep 2014 · 9 yrs 1 mo

      Examined the patentability of hundreds of patent applications related to flash memory, DRAM, virtual machines, SSDs, RAID, and power management.

    • Appeals Specialist, Patent Trial and Appeal Board
      Feb 2013 - Jul 2013 · 6 mos

      Drafted patentability determinations, motion recommendations, and research memoranda for America Invents Act (AIA) trials, interference proceedings, and ex parte appeals of examiner rejections.