Robert S. Katz, A/IDSA
Principal Shareholder
Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
Robert S. Katz, A/IDSA, is a principal shareholder in the Washington, DC office of Banner & Witcoff, an IDSA Ambassador. He has helped procure more than 6,000 design patents in the United States and more than 18,000 design patents/registrations outside the country. He is a former USPTO utility patent examiner with a mechanical engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a JD from George Washington University School of Law.
Katz is a professor at George Washington University School of Law and formerly taught at Georgetown University Law School. In the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys, he serves as treasurer of the US Section and is a former chair of the Industrial Design Section. In the International Trademark Association, he serves as vice chair of the Designs Committee.
Samsung v Apple: Past, Present, Future and its Impact on Designers
Most designers have heard about the Samsung v Apple case, which focuses on design rights. But how many really know what happened before and what is happening now?
Robert Katz, A/IDSA, will focus on details of the litigation, which led to an initial verdict of more than $1 billion, as well as what caused a reduction in the verdict. The case has been heard by the US Supreme Court; a decision could come in December 2016. Katz will examine the positions of Samsung and Apple and those taken by some other parties, including IDSA, in “friend of the court” briefs. Katz also will address the likely potential impacts on industrial designers and the industrial design community based on different outcomes by the court.
