Matthew Horton Image

Matthew Horton

Senior Counsel

Foley & Lardner

Matthew Horton is a senior counsel and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. Matthew’s practice focuses on patent law and intellectual property protections, particularly in cybersecurity platforms and processes, artificial intelligence and machine learning, mobile devices and applications, cloud computing systems, and computer hardware.

Matthew regularly helps clients with strategic IP portfolio development and patent litigation. With hands-on knowledge on software code and complex mathematics, Matthew is able to engage engineers, computer scientists, and cybersecurity professionals at a technical level, and brings a combination of legal and technical knowledge easily tailored to address legal issues associated with high technology innovation. Matthew has also advised clients on cybersecurity and data privacy issues related to the launch of new technologies.

Matthew has extensive information technology and cybersecurity experience, serving as a systems engineer and cybersecurity engineer at Lockheed Martin and Electronic Warfare Associates. He played key roles on various cybersecurity and network engineering teams overseeing Federal network infrastructures. As a member of both cybersecurity and network engineering teams servicing agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the State Department, he contributed to anti-malware and anti-intrusion efforts, conducted anti-intrusion and network vulnerability assessments, and consulted on improving the cybersecurity postures for networks he supported.

Matthew regularly counsels clients on developing strategic intellectual property portfolios, helping them to identify and develop business-oriented and industry-oriented portfolio strategies. Matthew has successfully drafted and prosecuted a variety of high-technology patents, including patent applications directed to cybersecurity technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing, high-availability infrastructures, cloud computing, mobile and web applications, mobile devices, business processes and database management, computer hardware, machine learning and semiconductors.

Recent Articles by Matthew Horton

Intellectual Property Risks in the Metaverse: Protection, Jurisdiction and Enforcement

The metaverse is commonly known as “a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet.” The metaverse may eventually provide a three-dimensional or virtual world for users to shop, play games, travel, learn, socialize, work, compete, or otherwise experience life in a virtual environment. Users may eventually visit the metaverse for an activity or even choose to live much of their life in this virtual world.