Rob is a registered patent attorney whose litigation practice focuses on patent infringement matters, intellectual property disputes, and technology-related commercial cases. He additionally provides his clients with counseling on a wide range of intellectual property matters relating to licensing negotiations, trademark and copyright, unfair competition, and trade secrets.
He advocates on behalf of clients ranging from individuals to multi-national corporations, often in cases involving the threat of injunctive relief with potential damages of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. He appears in courts throughout the United States, including such significant patent litigation jurisdictions as the Eastern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Northern District of Illinois, and the Northern and Central Districts of California. He is also experienced with matters filed in the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
Rob has successfully represented his clients in patent infringement matters involving a wide range of technologies including semiconductor fabrication processes, semiconductor power technologies, digital signal processing, microprocessor design, software, computer hardware, FLASH and DRAM devices, business methods and financial transactions, the internet, optics and optoelectronics, circuits, textile chemistry, oil exploration, optical character recognition, agricultural and manufacturing equipment, transportation and consumer products. His experience includes both bench and jury trials, and he has conducted examinations of fact and expert witnesses in federal district court, arbitration and administrative proceedings. He frequently takes leading roles in all aspects of his cases and has taken and defended scores of depositions. He has significant experience in expert discovery and motion practice in highly-technical patent cases, briefing and arguing dispositive, pre- and post-trial motions, and claim construction ("Markman") hearings in patent cases.
In addition to his patent litigation matters, he has litigated trademark, trade dress, and unfair competition matters involving consumer products; cases involving trade secret issues relating to the use and ownership of proprietary inventions in diverse industries; and a case involving the conflict between a major politician’s right of publicity to control the use of his likeness and the First Amendment right to sell a satirical representation depicting him.
Rob also has significant expertise in complex commercial litigation. He has litigated cases involving tortious interference and other business tort claims relating to the acquisition, assertion and use of intellectual property; multi-million dollar software performance matters that include misrepresentation, breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and negligence claims; a major antitrust matter in the magazine distribution industry; and breach of contract cases involving technology companies.
Rob teaches patent law as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law, has been a guest lecturer in intellectual property at the University of San Francisco, and has served as an instructor of copyright law in an LLM program jointly offered by Santa Clara University and Korea's Seoul National University.
Publications
"E-Discovery: Computer-assisted coding is a powerful tool to control complex case e-discovery costs," co-author, InsideCounsel (May 2012)
"E-discovery: Popular patent venue in Texas adopts model order to rein in e-discovery costs," co-author, InsideCounsel (April 2012)
"Supreme Court: New Ruling On Patentable Subject Matter," co-author, Hanson Bridgett IP Alert (March 2012) featured in Bar Association of San Francisco’s counsel Newsletter (May 2012)
"E-Discovery: 5 custodians and 5 search terms," (co-author) InsideCounsel (December 2011)
"Five Custodians and Five Search Terms: A step toward the responsible and targeted use of e-discovery," (co-author) Hanson Bridgett Litigation Alert (November 2011), featured in the Bar Association of San Francisco’s iCounsel Newsletter, (March 2012).
"Getting Out of the Eastern District of Texas," co-author, IP LAW360 (April 2011)
"Stauffer v. Brooks Brothers: False Patent Marking Cases to Proceed," CBM Intellectual Property Update Newsletter (September 2010)
"Bilski v. Kappos: Supreme Court Permits Business Method Patents That Do Not Seek Protection on 'Abstract Ideas'," CBM Intellectual Property Update Newsletter (August 2010)
"Software Patents Under 35 U.S.C. § 271(f): Should Congress Amend § 271 to Harmonize Protection Between Tangible and Intangible Inventions?," co-author, Hastings Science and Technology Law Journal (June 2010)
"Business Methods and Patentable Subject Matter Following In re Bilski: Is 'Anything Under the Sun Made by Man' Really Patentable?," co-author, Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal (February 2010)
"Eastern District of Texas Denies Transfer of Patent Infringement Case Filed Against Geographically Diverse Defendants," IP Update, Lexology (August 2009)
"Uncertainty Regarding Business Method Patents Continues Pending Supreme Court review of Bilski," IP Update, Lexology (August 2009)
"The Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Bilski and Stands Ready to Answer the Question: 'What is Patentable?'," Association of Corporate Counsel, San Francisco Chapter (Summer 2009)
"The Ninth Circuit Lands a 'Perfect 10' Applying Copyright Law to the Internet," Golden Gate University Law Review (2008)
"Attorney-Client Privilege Strengthened in Patent Cases," Executive Counsel (May/June 2008)
"The Effect of International Comity on the Application of the Attorney-Client Privilege and Foreign Privilege Laws in U.S. Patent Litigation," Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal (2007)
"Scope of Attorney-Client and Work-Product Waivers When Relying on an Opinion of Counsel," IP Law 360 (May 2006)
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Presentations
"Practicing Law and Serving Business in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley," Instituto Empresa (May 2013)
“Markman and Claim Construction Hearing in Patent Litigation: What You Need to Know,” Knowledge Congress Webinar (May 2013)
“Protecting Intellectual Property,” Keiretsu Forum Entrepreneur Academy, San Francisco and Walnut Creek, California (August 2012, November 2012 and April 2013)
“Topics in Intellectual Property: Litigation with Non-Practicing Entities,” APTA Legal Affairs Seminar, Austin, Texas (February 2013)
"Update on Intellectual Property Damages,” co-presenter, California Society of CPAs, Oakland, California (October 2012)
“Legal Implications for International Companies in the US: Financing and IP Issues,” co-speaker, Plug and Play Tech Center (March and April 2012)
"Whose IP Is This? An Overview of the America Invents Act of 2011 for Early Stage Corporations,” co-presenter, Plug and Play Technology Center, Sunnyvale, California (February 2012)
"What Passes for ‘Typical’ in the Life of a Patent Litigator," University of San Francisco School of Law (February 2010 and March 2011)
"Escape from Marshall: The Future of Venue in the Eastern District of Texas for Patent Infringement Cases," San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association (November 2009)
"Intellectual Property Damages," American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (October 2009)
"Trade Secrets: Cost Effective Protection for Valuable Business Information," Association of Corporate Counsel, Palo Alto, Ca (June 2009), San Francisco, Ca (June 2009), Seattle, Wa (June 2009)
"IP Legal Ethics Q+A," Golden Gate University, 7th Annual Conference on Recent Developments in IP Law (April 2009)
"Recent Federal Circuit and Supreme Court Developments in Patent Litigation," Palo Alto, California (August 2007)
"Ethical Considerations in International IP Practice," Santa Clara University Computer and High Technology Law Journal Symposium, Cross Border Legal Challenges in High Tech Law (January 2007)
"The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Attorney Work Product Doctrine In Patent Practice," Palo Alto, California (August 2006)
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