
Sean M. Hill


Sean’s principal area of practice is intellectual property law, with a focus on intellectual property licensing, technology transactions, and patent litigation.
Experience Highlights
Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. in its business combination with Perella Weinberg Partners
C&J Energy Services in its $2.86 billion merger with Nabors’ completion and production businesses to create a leading diversified completion and production services provider headquartered in Bermuda
A large international energy company in the transfer and acquisition of all software and hardware related to the spin-off of its California oil and gas business into an independent and separately traded company
LSB Industries in the $364 million sale of its Climate Control Business to NIBE Industrier AB of Sweden
BlueScope Steel in the $720 million acquisition of Cargill’s 50% share of North Star BlueScope Steel, taking BlueScope’s ownership of North Star to 100%
Helmerich & Payne, Inc. in intellectual property matters associated with its acquisition of Magnetic Variation Services, LLC (MagVAR), which provides geomagnetic modeling services to enhance the accuracy of directional drilling surveys
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, LLC in $11.6 million Series C financing of investment in 908 Devices
FeedMagnet in the $9 million sale of the social media curation company to Bazaarvoice
Tinicum Incorporated in the preferred stock financing of Rebellion Photonics, a developer of imaging cameras to monitor rigs and refineries
Major sports leagues in counseling related to potential investments in and licensing transactions with virtual reality companies
(Fed. Circ.); (S.D. Tex.) — Defended AKM Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Moblize, Inc., a provider of real-time data solutions for oil well monitoring and analysis, in a patent infringement case filed by a competitor seeking in excess of $200M and a preliminary injunction; obtained dismissal with prejudice and invalidity of the asserted patent based on unpatentable subject matter, which was affirmed on appeal
Credentials
- The University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with honors, 2013 (Member, Texas Law Review)
- Vanderbilt University, B.E. Biomedical Engineering magna cum laude, 2010
- Sean was on secondment to a client and returned January 11, 2021
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), “Ones to Watch,” 2021
- Member: Texas Law Review Association
- Associate: Houston Intellectual Property Inn of Court
- Texas
- Southern District of Texas
- Western District of Texas
- Federal Circuit
- Deals & CasesNovember 9, 2020
- Deals & CasesSeptember 1, 2020
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 20, 2020
- Deals & CasesJune 23, 2020
- Deals & CasesFebruary 3, 2020
- Deals & CasesJune 17, 2019
- Deals & CasesMay 31, 2019
- Deals & CasesFebruary 21, 2019
- Deals & CasesJanuary 10, 2019
- Deals & CasesSeptember 4, 2018
- Deals & CasesApril 27, 2018
- Deals & CasesJanuary 16, 2018
- Deals & CasesOctober 6, 2017
- InsightFebruary 3, 2016
V&E Cybersecurity and Data Privacy E-communication
- InsightOctober 7, 2015
V&E Cybersecurity and Data Privacy E-communication
- “In Rare Reversal, Federal Circuit Says District Court Abused Its Discretion in Failing to Award Attorneys’ Fees,” V&E IP Insights E-communication, June 6, 2017 (co-author)
- “Top 10 Questions from the Supreme Court at Yesterday’s TC Heartland Oral Argument,” V&E IP Insights E-communication, March 28, 2017 (co-author)
- “IP Issues in Venture Capital and Angel Investing,” Vinson & Elkins Intellectual Property CLE Series, Houston, Texas, October 2015 (co-presenter)
- “Patent Exhaustion: New Developments,” Vinson & Elkins Intellectual Property CLE Series, Houston, Texas, March 2014 (presenter)
- “Open Questions in Patent Exhaustion,” Intellectual Property Today, April 2, 2014 (co-author)