Samsung’s former Head of IP joins Fish & Richardson

Shim spent more than 16 years at Samsung Electronics in various IP roles. Since November 2018, he served as group leader and principal legal counsel in the IP legal team at Samsung’s R&D centre in Seoul, overseeing global IP litigation and advising on litigation strategy, licensing and enterprise risk. In that capacity he coordinated parallel proceedings across multiple jurisdictions with outside counsel. Among other things, he was involved in the global dispute with Apple, which the two mobile phone giants settled in 2018.

Prior to his most recent role in Seoul, Shim spent four years as director of European IP affairs in Brussels between 2014 and 2018. He had joined Samsung in 2009 as a legal counsel in the global legal affairs group, working his way up through positions as senior and principal legal counsel based in Suwon. Before moving in-house, Shim worked as an associate at US firms Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, DC and at Sughrue Mion. He has a degree in electrical and computer engineering and an LL.M. in EU competition law and economics.

A successor for Shim at Samsung has already been named. However, specific details are not currently known.

Daniel Shim

Focus on cross-border SEP work

With Shim, Fish & Richardson is adding a proven in-house expert in global patent litigation to its team. At the patent firm, Shim’s practice will centre on complex, multi-jurisdictional IP disputes, with a particular focus on standard essential patents, FRAND litigation and global licensing. According to the firm, Shim has handled matters in the US, UK, Germany, the Unified Patent Court, Brazil, China, India, and elsewhere in Asia.

Samsung is among the most active parties in SEP disputes worldwide and a regular litigant at the UPC, where it is involved in proceedings against patent holders such as Maxell and ZTE. The dispute with the Chinese mobile telecoms company is currently very much in the spotlight at the UPC and the national courts in Germany and the UK. Shim was involved in this dispute.

In-house perspective

Shim worked with Fish & Richardson during his time as in-house counsel at Samsung. For example, the Korean electronics giant collaborated with the law firm on the U.S. proceedings regarding mobile communications patents filed by the NPE Headwater Research. These proceedings were part of a global litigation campaign that also included the UPC and were settled in 2025.

“Fish combines deep technical and litigation experience with a highly collaborative, client-focused approach. I’m excited to join a team that I know delivers strong results on complex, high-stakes matters and to help clients navigate the increasingly global nature of IP disputes,” Shim said.

In Europe, the patent attorney was involved  in various cases on behalf of Samsung including a lawsuit filed by US licensing firm K.Mizra at Düsseldorf Regional Court concerning technology to measure power consumption in its mobile devices. He also played a role in the dispute between Samsung and Varta concerning battery technology at the Regional Courts Munich, Mannheim and Braunschweig, which ended in a settlement.

Fish & Richardson is a US IP firm founded in 1878. It has over 450 attorneys across 15 locations in the US, China, and Germany. In Europe, the law firm has a presence in Munich with a diverse team. (Co-author: Laura King)