Robert Katz has benefited firm clients in the areas of utility patents and industrial designs. Mr. Katz has drafted and prosecuted to issuance numerous and significant utility patents in the U.S. and in foreign countries. These clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as many individual inventors and small companies who rely on strong patent protection in their marketplaces. The patents have been directed primarily to mechanical and electromechanical devices, and to software and computer-related inventions. Many patents drafted and prosecuted by Mr. Katz have been successfully enforced with some having served as the cornerstone for the successful sale of companies. Mr. Katz has also provided advice and prepared opinions regarding the patentability of inventions, patent infringement, patent validity, and trade secret protection to help clients properly assess the advantages and disadvantages of certain intellectual property and business decisions.
In patent and trademark litigation matters, he has assisted clients in enforcing and defending intellectual property related claims at the district court and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in the International Trade Commission.
Both nationally and internationally, Mr. Katz is considered as one of the premier practitioners in the field of industrial designs leading the way in the procurement and enforcement of design patents. On behalf of the firm’s clients, he has helped procure over 3,500 design patents, and has helped to successfully enforce over 100 design patents. Leaders from foreign Design Patent Offices have consulted with him regarding industrial design policies, and he has been named as an expert in multiple design patent litigations.
He has been invited to and has given industrial design related presentations for many professional organizations including: ABA (American Bar Association), AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association), FICPI (Federation International des Conseils en Propriete Industrielle), INTA (International Trademark Association), IPO (Intellectual Property Owners Association), IPR University Center (Finland), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office). Representatives from the Japanese Patent Office and WIPO have consulted with him on issues of design patent harmonization.
Mr. Katz has written articles addressing issues relating utility patent, design patent, and trade dress rights. Mr. Katz has authored a section of a recently published book entitled Writing Patents for Litigation and Licensing for BNA Publishing. He is currently a professor at Georgetown Law School co-teaching a class on Intellectual Property Pretrial Litigation Skills.
Mr. Katz is a member of several professional organizations including: AIPLA, FICPI, ABA, and IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America). In FICPI, he is currently on the Executive Board of the U.S. Section, and serves as the Chair of Committee 2 which is responsible for industrial designs. Mr. Katz also serves as a member of the Industrial Designs working group of the AIPLA Special Committee on Legislation.
Before joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Katz was a patent examiner at the USPTO. In that capacity, he examined patent applications for article and material handling devices covering a broad range of applications including robotics, conveyors, and loading and unloading vehicles. Mr. Katz also worked as a mechanical engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation's High Performance Systems where he designed mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical devices for main-frame computers. Additionally, he is a co-inventor of U.S. Patent No. 4,723,549 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Dilating Blood Vessels."
Mr. Katz earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, and his Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from George Washington University. He is admitted to practice before many courts including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is a member of the bar in Virginia and the District of Columbia, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Katz was named as one of the "Top 50 Under 45" intellectual property attorneys in 2008 by IP Law and Business.
AV Peer Review Rated by the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Ratings.
Mr. Katz practices in the Washington, DC office of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
