Haynes and Boone's Newsroom

Nicolas Gikkas Joins Haynes and Boone San Jose
08/24/2009

Haynes and Boone, LLP continues its focus on West Coast expansion with the addition of Nicolas Gikkas as Of Counsel in the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.

“We serve a number of high-level clients throughout the West Coast, making the acquisition of top legal minds like Nick of key importance,” said David McCombs, firmwide chair of Haynes and Boone’s technology practice. “His in-house experience representing SiRF Technology and Marvell Semiconductor, combined with his representation of numerous high technology clients while in private practice, gives him an in-depth understanding of our clients’ needs and the most effective ways to serve them.”

Mr. Gikkas comes to Haynes and Boone after spending six years as chief IP counsel with SiRF Technology, the world's largest supplier of commercial GPS chips, which has since merged with CSR plc, a major supplier of Bluetooth, FM and Wi-Fi chips. Mr. Gikkas grew the patent portfolio at SiRF from 40 patents to over 300 patents during his tenure from 2002 to 2008.

Based in San Jose, SiRF was widely regarded as one of the most successful Silicon Valley IPOs of 2004, and Mr. Gikkas was on the management team that took the company public. He provided strategic IP advice to officers and directors at all stages of the company's growth. He also negotiated key technology license agreements, patent license agreements, and managed patent and trade secret litigations on behalf of the company in federal district court and before the International Trade Commission.

From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Gikkas was in-house at Marvell Semiconductor located in Santa Clara, one of the world's largest suppliers of chips for disk drives and wireless products. He was responsible for managing the company's Texas, California and Wisconsin federal court patent litigation dockets on various multi-defendant patent litigations, primarily in technologies related to Wi-Fi, Ethernet and cellular. He was instrumental in negotiating patent license agreements, including demands from adverse parties, and in working with customers and suppliers on IP indemnification issues while minimizing risk to the company.

Silicon Valley Partner Edward Kwok noted that Mr. Gikkas’ experience will be invaluable to the firm and its clients. “Having successfully directed significant patent and trade secret litigations from the client’s side, Nick brings us the important ‘client’s perspective’ in litigation strategy and tactics. In recent years, such litigations have been costly and have had tremendous impact on the client’s product and market strategies.”

Prior to going in-house, Mr. Gikkas practiced intellectual property law for five years at three prominent Silicon Valley firms: Lyon & Lyon; Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison; and Carr & Ferrell.

Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Gikkas spent 10 years practicing as an electrical engineer, primarily in the field of advanced radar systems for Martin Marietta, where he was responsible for the research and development of new weapon systems for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Mr. Gikkas is a graduate of the University of Florida Law School. He received his MS in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and his BS in electrical engineering from Rice University.

Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Washington, D.C., Mexico City and Moscow, providing a full spectrum of legal services. With more than 500 attorneys, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest law firms in the nation by The National Law Journal. The firm has been recognized as one of the "Best Corporate Law Firms in America" (Corporate Board Member Magazine, 2001-2009), as one of "The Best 20 Law Firms to Work For" (Vault.com, 2009), and as a Top 100 law firm for both diversity (MultiCultural Law Magazine, 2009) and women (Women 3.0, 2008).