Dr. Richard Lawton Thurston

Dr. Richard Thurston is one of the top experts and engineers in the United States in the semiconductor field, having assisted numerous companies and governments around the world in establishing and managing high-tech parks focused on semiconductors. He currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes Semiconductor, a company operating across the Canadian provinces and U.S. states in the Great Lakes region.
Professional Experience:
- Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Great Lakes Semiconductor, Inc. (2025 – present).
- Founder & Principal Member, RLT Global Consulting LLC – advising on regulatory compliance and corporate intellectual property policy, with a particular focus on trade secrets (2021 – present).
- Member, Board of Directors, Nantero Inc., overseeing Legal/IP matters (April 2022 – April 2023).
- Founded and managed the Taipei office of Duane Morris (headquartered in New York), focusing on Technology & IP matters across the Asia-Pacific region (September 2015 – April 2022).
- Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Chief Proprietary Information Protection Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Hsinchu, Taiwan (2001 – 2015).
- Senior Partner and Head of the International Practice Group, Haynes and Boone, L.L.P., Dallas, Texas (1996 – 2001).
- Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Asia-Pacific Counsel, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, Texas (1984 – 1996); resident in Tokyo, Japan (1987 – 1990).
- Associate, Duane Morris, Philadelphia, Pa. (1980 – 1984)

- Over 40 years of international experience in semiconductors, intellectual property, technology licensing, and high-tech park development across the Asia-Pacific, North America, and other regions.
- Recognized in the IAM Strategy 300 (a list of the world's leading IP strategists) for 2015–2019, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
- Architect of TSMC's trade secret and patent protection program, and successfully initiated international litigation against trade secret misappropriation, contributing to IP legislative reform in Taiwan.
- Technology policy advisor to multiple governments, including Taiwan (IP, IP Court, U.S. FTA negotiations), Trinidad & Tobago (high-tech park development), South Korea (IP policy report that led to South Korea's removal from the USTR's Super 301 designation), and Vietnam.
- Invited by Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment to serve as Semiconductor Advisor to the Government of Vietnam (2024), attending the NIC 5th Anniversary Ceremony and speaking at Innovate Vietnam 2024, supporting cooperation with TSMC.
- Prestigious awards: AsiaLaw Outstanding In-House Counsel – Taiwan Counsel of the Year (2006, 2007), Taiwan Intellectual Property Counsel of the Year (2010), and ILO Asia-Pacific General Counsel of the Year (2013).