Markman and Claim Construction Hearing in Patent Infringement: What You Need To Know

Rob McFarlane is a litigation partner and registered patent attorney focused on patent litigation, trade secret and other intellectual property and technology-related disputes and counseling. He is a Stanford-educated engineer and has litigated patent infringement matters in courts throughout the country involving a wide range of technologies, including semiconductor fabrication and power technologies, microprocessor design, computer hardware and memory devices, optics and optoelectronics, circuits, textile chemistry, oil exploration and refining, optical character recognition maritime operations, and consumer products. He is experienced in both bench and jury trials and has conducted examinations of fact and expert witnesses in federal district court, arbitration and administrative proceedings.

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.

Prior to joining the firm in 2011, Mr. McFarlane was a litigation partner with Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP where he practiced as a patent litigator for 13 years and then Chair of IP and Patent litigation at Carroll, Burdick and McDonough LLP.

Steve Pollinger is a Principal in McKool Smith’s Austin office. He is a trial lawyer and registered patent attorney who has achieved courtroom victories in cases involving diverse technologies in broad range of industries, including software, electronics, and medical devices, among others. Mr. Pollinger holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering, which allows him to understand the disputed technologies and to reduce the disputes to explanations and themes that are readily understood and compelling in the courtroom. He previously served as a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable S. Jay Plager at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., and speaks frequently on intellectual property litigation matters.

Practice Areas: Bill is a seasoned patent litigator with experience in chemical, mechanical, medical, electrical, semiconductor, software, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology fields. Known for early development of winning strategies in patent litigations, Bill has an exceptional record of success in Markman hearings, trials, and appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Bill has been recognized as a leading intellectual property lawyer in Chambers USA (2006-2012), Chambers Global (2006-2010) and IAM Patent Litigation 250 (2011-2012).

Career: South Texas College of Law, JD, magna cum laude, 1981; University of Cape Town, LLB 1964; BS 1962.

Publications: O’Connor’s Federal Intellectual Property Codes Plus, co-author.

Ken is a partner in the firm’s intellectual property practice group. He has extensive experience in patent/intellectual property litigation and counseling with an emphasis on financial services, banking, and insurance patent disputes in defense of large financial service companies related to call center, authorization, encryption, imaging, data transmission, smart cards, customized offers, e-commerce, and Dodd Frank related issues.

His background also includes intellectual property issues in a variety of additional industries, including medical devices, sporting goods, consumer products, telecom, aerospace technology and the defense industry, artificial intelligence, and gaming. Ken has represented famous golfers, Oscar® winners, and clients who developed the overhead Skycam® used in sporting events. He has successfully tried patent cases to verdict and before the bench in numerous jurisdictions throughout the United States acting as trial counsel in a three-week trial involving progressive gaming and Caribbean Stud Poker® in the District of Colorado, multi-week jury patent jury trial involving maintenance of military composite aircraft in the Northern District of Ohio, representing medical device companies in patent infringement suits, and trials throughout the country as well as patent litigation related to consumer products, textile manufacturing, aerosol propellants, and telecom/video technology.

Rob has served as counsel in numerous patent, design patent, trademark, trade dress, and trade secret lawsuits in federal courts throughout the United States, including recently presenting Markman arguments in California and in the Eastern District of Texas. Rob also specializes in appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has counseled clients and litigated cases involving several technical areas, as well drafting patents in several technical fields. Prior to entering private practice, Rob served as a law clerk to the Honorable H. Robert Mayer, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. During his clerkship, the Federal Circuit revisited the claim construction standard en banc in the Court’s Phillips decision.