Hill B. Wellford

Partner

Hill Wellford advises clients in antitrust matters, especially U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and foreign government enforcement at the intersection of technology, patents and competition. His practice is international, with active matters in the Americas, Asia and Europe. Prior to joining Bingham, Hill was chief of staff at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the full range of criminal, merger, civil conduct and international work by the Antitrust Division’s 400-plus lawyers and economists.

Before becoming chief of staff, Hill served as a counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, as a trial attorney and as a counsel in the Antitrust Division’s Legal Policy Section. He worked extensively with other components of the broader Department of Justice — including the DOJ Intellectual Property Task Force from 2004 to 2009 — and the FTC and other U.S. and foreign government agencies.

Hill’s experience includes mergers and acquisitions; criminal investigations; civil conduct challenges; and jury, bench and administrative trials. He also litigated patent and other intellectual property cases earlier in his career, and he is a recognized authority on the interplay between the antitrust and IP laws.

Hill’s counseling practice covers all aspects of antitrust law and many issues of related consumer protection law. He has taught and lectured widely on antitrust and technology issues, both in the U.S. and abroad, and has taught antitrust seminars to businesses, lawyers at the Department of Justice, U.S. agencies, foreign officials, and a formal course at Vanderbilt University Law School. He is a longtime leader in the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust and currently serves as chair of the ABA’s Federal Civil Enforcement Committee.

Experience
Events
Publications
Memberships
Awards

Experience

Criminal cartel, merger and civil conduct work in technology, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, transportation, energy, financial services, and food and agriculture matters
Criminal cartel and merger matters involving U.S. defense and national security industries (security clearances obtained)
Merger and civil conduct work in technology, telecom, transportation, energy, financial services, and food and agriculture matters
Representation of pharmaceutical manufacturers in FTC “pay for delay” investigations, mergers, and DOJ price-fixing cases
Representation of leading U.S. technology companies in investigations by the European Commission, the UK OFT and Competition Commission, the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and other international enforcers
Representation of Internet businesses in consumer protection investigations by the FTC
Creation of antitrust compliance programs for several Fortune 500 companies
Contributed to the 2008 Single-Firm Conduct Report released by the DOJ
Contributed to the 2007 Antitrust Enforcement & Intellectual Property Rights report (known as the “IP2 Report”) released jointly by the DOJ and FTC
Directed or participated in antitrust and technology working groups with Canada, China, the European Commission, Japan, South Korea and other nations while at the DOJ
Appeared on brief in the Supreme Court for the United States as amicus curiae in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly (2007), which revised federal antitrust complaint-pleading standards
Contributed to DOJ business review letters regarding patent pooling, cross licensing and standard setting (2004–2008)
Defended against the FTC’s “monopolization of innovation” complaint against Intel Corporation

Events

Speaker, “Antitrust/Competition Laws and the Smart Phone Wars,” Smartphones and the Patent Battlegrounds, American Bar Association Intellectual Property Section's Annual Conference, Arlington, Va. (April 2013)
Panelist, Patent Injunctions for Standardized Technology: Update on Antitrust Debate, American Bar Association Media & Technology and Intellectual Property Committees, Washington, D.C. (March 2013) Panelist, March Antitrust Update for In-House Counsel – Non-Merger Civil Enforcement, American Bar Association Antitrust Section Corporate Counseling Committee Teleconference (March 2013)
Moderator, Developments at the U.S. Agencies: A Panel of the Enforcers, Fall Forum of the ABA Antitrust Section (November 2012)
Panelist, Standard Setting Organizations and ‘Reasonable’ Royalty Terms, New York State Bar Association’s International Section Seasonal Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal (October 2012)
Session Chair, Update with the DOJ Antitrust Division Front Office, Spring Meeting of the ABA Section of Antitrust (March 2012)
Session Chair, Agency Update with the DOJ Antitrust Division’s Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, Spring Meeting of the ABA Section of Antitrust (March 2011)
Panelist and Organizer, Enforcement Update From the DOJ Antitrust Division, Washington, D.C. (February 2011)
Panelist, Exclusive Dealing Arrangements: When Are They Pro-Competitive; When Are They Exclusionary?, ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education (May 2010)
Session Chair, Breakfast With the DOJ Antitrust Division Deputy Assistant Attorneys General, Spring Meeting of the ABA Section of Antitrust (April 2010)
Panelist, Discussion of Section 5 of the FTC Act and Its Application to Antitrust, Washington, D.C. (February 2010)
Ethics and Compliance at the Antitrust Agencies, ABA Section of Antitrust Law (October 2009)
Roundtable: Behavioral Economics, Consumer Protection and Antitrust, The Jevons Institute for Competition Law and Economics, Washington, D.C. (September 2009)
Panelist, ABA Section of Antitrust Law Corporate Counseling Committee, June In-House Counsel Antitrust Update (July 8, 2009)
Differences in Practicing Before the Two U.S. Antitrust Agencies, ABA Brownbag Series (2009)
Antitrust Law course, Vanderbilt University Law School (2009)
An Antitrust Enforcer’s View of the Value of Patent Pools and Standard Setting, Nikkei Business Daily Tokyo Forum on IPR Patent Pools (2008)
Sometimes the Best Defense Is a Good Offense: The Use of Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, Defense Research Institute teleseminar (2008)
Antitrust Issues in Standard Setting, 2d Annual Seminar on IT Standardization and Intellectual Property, China Electronics Standardization Institute (2007) (available in English and Mandarin Chinese here)
Key Issues for Standards Licensing, Intellectual Property Owners Association Conference on Patents and Standards: Managing Your IP in the Digital Age (2007)
Antitrust Issues in Standard Setting, Licensing Executives Society’s Annual Winter Meeting (2007)
Regulation Update and Standard Setting IP Policy Issues, VIA Licensing Summit (2007)
Panelist, U.S. DOJ-Federal Trade Commission Hearings on Antitrust and Intellectual Property (2007)
Antitrust Fundamentals, U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Training Series (2006)
Antitrust Analysis and Uncertain Patent Rights: Recent Developments and Key Issues, Delaware Bar Association (2004)

Publications

Co-author, “Questioning the FTC’s Incremental Value Test and Claims of Widespread Hold-up in Technology Standards,” The Antitrust Bulletin, Volume 57, Number 1 (Spring 2012)
“Reasons to Reject a ‘No Injunctions’ Rule for SEPs and FRAND-Obligated Patents,” Competition Policy International (April 30, 2012)
Co-author, “FTC Loses the Androgel Appeal; Court Skepticism of “Pay for Delay” Claims Continues,” Bingham.com (April 26, 2012)
“Antitrust Division Leadership Changes: Major Reorganization or No Big Deal?,” ABA Federal Civil Enforcement Committee Newsletter (September-October 2010)
“The 2010 Merger Guidelines and the “Litigation Mulligan”: Better Economics but Not (Necessarily) More Clarity Before the Agencies and the Courts,” Competition Policy International (October 28, 2010)
“Interview with FTC Commissioner Edith Ramirez,” ABA Antitrust Section Federal Civil Enforcement Committee Newsletter (August 2010)
Co-author, “Exclusive Dealing – The Basics Under U.S. Antitrust Law,” American Bar Association Teleseminar (May 2010)
“Interview with Federal Trade Commission General Counsel Willard K. Tom,” ABA Antitrust Section Federal Civil Enforcement Committee Newsletter (2010)
“Introduction to Harberger’s Monopoly and Resource Allocation — The Pioneering Article on Deadweight Loss and Empirical Measurement of the Social Costs of Monopoly,” Competition Policy International Vol. 5, No. 2 (Autumn 2009)
“Is the Supreme Court Importing Antitrust Economics into Patent Law? A Different Look at eBay, MedImmune, KSR, and Quanta Computer,” Global Competition Policy, rel. 2 (March 2009)
“Barring Pay-For-Delay, Reverse Payment Settlements,” Law360 (October 2009)
“The DOJ’s Single-Firm Conduct Report,” Global Competition Policy, rel. 1 (Oct. 2008)
“Intellectual Property and Antitrust Handbook,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law (2007)
“Intellectual Property Law: Damages & Remedies,” West Publications Treatise

Memberships

American Bar Association, Antitrust Section
American Intellectual Property Law Association
Virginia State Bar (1995)
District of Columbia Bar (1999)
Bar Member, U.S Supreme Court, 4th Cir., E.D.Va, and other appeal and district courts
Top Secret and Restricted Data (Atomic Energy) Security Clearances (issued 2007)

Awards & Honors

Chambers USA, leading lawyer in Antitrust Litigation (District of Columbia) (2011–2013)
Co-chair, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Federal Civil Enforcement Committee
Vice chair, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Long Range Planning Committee

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