Services
Our practice spans a wide range of intellectual property law services. A non-exhaustive list of our services includes:
Zilka-Kotab regularly applies leading-edge strategic techniques and principles in procuring patents. Our law firm regularly conducts full-scale strategic patent initiatives designed to organize a company's patent portfolio, compare the patent portfolio to those of competitors, and increase the value of the patent portfolio by aligning claims with competing activities and expediting overall prosecution. This hard-to-find specialty has produced tangible results for our clients in the form of patents that have been successfully used both in defensive and offensive scenarios.
Case Example
The members of Zilka-Kotab are not only versed in the industry's strategic best practices, we are innovating in this field. This is evidenced by the multiple patent pending 'Strategic Patent Management Tool' developed by our founders. Our law firm regularly uses the techniques embodied in the Tool to assess, align, expedite, and generally improve our clients' patent portfolio procurement.
Our law firm is versed in taking small to mid-sized companies from intellectual property (IP) 'ground zero' to a strategically constructed portfolio in a timely and aggressive manner. Moreover, we help companies build the ancillary procedures necessary for a successful patent program (i.e. disclosure collection, periodic follow-up assessments, etc.).
Case Example
In one of many success stories, our team was employed by a small company with over $20 million in funding and no patents. We immediately conducted a full-scale technology assessment by personally interviewing engineers and upper management to identify patentable subject matter. In a relatively short period of time, our firm launched the company's patent program, building it into a premiere, focused body of over 50 intellectual property assets which have since then played an effective role in securing additional rounds of funding and positioning the company for market leadership.
Our law firm is often relied upon by our clients to generate patent-specific marketing information to help communicate with consumers and potential investors in a way to optimize the 'marketing' value of the patents. Having worked closely with various local venture capital firms in the past, we are experienced in delivering ideally-procured intellectual property that is well received by the venture capital community.
Case Example
One of our start-up clients was approached by potential investors inquiring about the nature and strength of their patents. Knowing well what investors place value on and the manner in which such audience should be addressed, we were able to put together an accurate assessment that emphasized the key aspects of their patent portfolio pertinent to the investors' interests. We regularly work hand-in-hand with in-house upper management on projects such as these.
Zilka-Kotab consists of a highly competitive team with a wealth of experience. Stemming from this experience is quality in the patents we procure. Still yet, we differentiate ourselves by our unparalleled service. This service is evidenced by our 2-4 week target turnaround for patent application drafts, and our '24/7' responsiveness to the needs of our clients.
Case Example
Our dedication to quality and service in the realm of patent procurement has been evidenced time and time again. In particular, we boast being considered the 'preferred' service provider of many of our larger clients, which we serve in co-developing their patent portfolios. Moreover, we have been a place of consolidation for hundreds of files from large 'general-practice' law firms and other patent boutiques who were simply unable to compete with our high level of quality and service.
Zilka-Kotab caters to the in-house counsel and chief technical officers (CTOs) of our clients. On a day-to-day basis, we work hand-in-hand with such in-house personnel to build and manage a patent portfolio tailored specifically to the needs of the particular company. Whether we are called on to perform a prior art search in a matter of hours, beat bar dates, or help address difficult patent-related issues, Zilka-Kotab's goal is to 'go the extra mile' for in-house personnel.
Case Example
We were recently engaged by the in-house counsel of one of our clients to create a presentation analyzing its relative quantitative patent position with respect to a major competitor. Within a week's time, Zilka-Kotab produced the presentation which, in the end, was delivered by the in-house counsel to effectively convey the patent issue of interest. We are also often relied upon to draft MS PowerPoint presentations for our in-house personnel to facilitate communication with other upper management or the in-house technical community regarding topics relating to recently filed patent applications, strategic issues, general patent information, competitive activity, etc.
Equipped with a subscription to one of the leading cross-collection databases available on the market, Zilka-Kotab is capable of performing high quality patentability searches. In high-stakes situations, Zilka-Kotab specializes in performing comprehensive invalidity searches to defuse patent suits that can result in millions of dollars in liability.
Case Example
One of our international clients was recently approached by a foreign patent holder that claimed to hold a monopoly on our client's foreign activities. This adverse party cited its foreign patent in a legal proceeding that threatened to halt our client's sales in the foreign country, which represented a significant portion of total revenue for our client. Our firm worked with the foreign legal counsel by searching for and successfully locating anticipatory prior art which was, in the end, leveraged to undermine the adverse party's position.
While Zilka-Kotab does not provide full-blown litigation service, we are capable of providing support services to in-house counsel and litigators leading up to and during actual litigation. For example, Zilka-Kotab has spent many years performing complex portfolio analysis in search of defensive counter-claims in efforts to level the playing field during litigation. This experience has resulted in significant cost-savings for many of our current clients, when stakes were very, very high.
Case Example
In a recent publicized patent infringement suit, our team was asked to mine a portfolio of over 100 patents to identify defensive trading chips. Such effort resulted in answering a single patent suit with a multiple patent counterclaim, which facilitated a resolution of the suit that was more favorable for our client.
Zilka-Kotab has extensive experience on both sides of the IP licensing table. Whether we are called to extract value from a patent portfolio via a licensing initiative, or ward off a request to take a license, our clients have enjoyed our success in such situations.
Case Example
In a defensive context, one of our clients was recently approached by an adverse party for licensing fees that may have resulted in millions of dollars in expenditures. We were employed to identify defensive patent 'trading chips' for use in defusing the situation and maintaining a royalty-free resolution for our client.
As Zilka-Kotab is a full-service law firm, Zilka-Kotab regularly files trademarks and provides counsel on related matters.
Zilka-Kotab delivers full-service when it comes to handling intellectual property. Moreover, by avoiding the enormous overhead which encumbers many large litigation firms, we compete effectively in providing quality expertise in intellectual property matters and unparalleled service at a reasonable cost.