Rodrigo Souto Maior is a founding partners at Licks Attorneys and co-leads the Rio de Janeiro’s office. With over 20 years of experience, he has buit a distinguished career in high-stakes litigation cases. His practice is centered on complex disputes and consultancy in areas such as patent law, information technology, trade secrets, and unfair competition. He has represented and advised clients in a wide range of intellectual property, internet, and commercial disputes across various industries, including pharmaceuticals, information technology, metallurgy, and telecommunications. Notably, he has gained international experience as a Foreign Legal Consultant at Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C.

Rodrigo is renowned for his skill in litigating complex patent cases, particularly those involving non-obviousness. Over the past years, he and his team have orchestrated successful defense and counter-attack strategies in disruptive cases in Brazil for clients across various industries, while also being instrumental in advising on regulatory matters related to disruptive technologies. His expertise also extends to trademark law, copyright, and licensing/cross-licensing negotiations, as well as technology transfer matters.

As a respected academic, Rodrigo serves as a Professor of Constitutional Principles of Competition and Patent Law at the prestigious Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). He is a frequent lecturer and author on the latest developments in Brazilian patent law and litigation.

Rodrigo holds a law degree and an LL.M. in International Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), as well as an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law from the George Washington University Law School, USA. His expertise is consistently recognized by esteemed publications such as Who’s Who Legal, IAM Patent 1000, and Leaders League. Clients praise him for his “affinity for tricky cases involving issues of non-obviousness” as well as “being a confident litigator who achieves success before the state and federal courts”.