Kevin Zilka

Kevin J. Zilka, MSEE
Principal
kevin@zilkakotab.com

Since working in the Quality and Reliability Division of the Texas Instruments Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) Division in Dallas, Texas, Mr. Zilka has spent over 10 years engaging in numerous aspects of intellectual property law spanning from preparing and prosecuting patent/trademark applications both before the United States Patent & Trademark Office and under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)/Madrid Protocol, dealing with patent infringement and validity-related matters, as well as handling trademark, trade secret, copyright, and IP-related licensing issues.

After working in the Silicon Valley office of Hickman, Stephens, Coleman & Hughes, LLP, Mr. Zilka worked in conjunction with four other Silicon Valley patent practitioners in opening a Silicon Valley office for a 200+ lawyer, out-of-state general practice law firm. Recently, Mr. Zilka has spent over 7 years building Zilka-Kotab of which he is a co-founder.

Mr. Zilka specializes in building and managing complete patent portfolios for small to mid-size companies as well as supporting patent portfolio development for larger companies, each with a focus towards strategic patent procurement for both offensive and defense positioning to meet or exceed business objectives. In furtherance of such goals, Mr. Zilka has also developed and enhanced best practices for collecting and utilizing competitive intelligence during the course of patent procurement to increase the value of resulting patents. Mr. Zilka has also embodied such best practices in a multiple patent-pending software tool for facilitating strategic positioning of patents during patent prosecution. As further evidence of the effectiveness of his techniques and work product, Mr. Zilka has personally prosecuted multiple patent applications which have withstood rigorous licensing negotiations that resulted in millions in revenue.

In concert with such experience, Mr. Zilka has gained exposure to countless technological arts including, but not limited to software, business methods, graphics processing, analog and digital circuits, semiconductor processing, network architecture, communication systems, encryption, compression, network data mediation, service desk tools, database management, hard drive and other memory-related technology, speech recognition, electromagnetic devices, antennas, air-conditioning systems, and various other mechanical devices.

Mr. Zilka periodically speaks at patent and technology and legal-oriented conventions. Mr. Zilka has authored and published a variety of articles relating to patents including 'Building a Premier Patent Portfolio Under Corporate Budgetary Constraints,' 'Competitive Intelligence and Its Role in Increasing the Value of a Patent Portfolio,' and 'Patent Novelty Requirements of the World and Strategic Foreign Patent Procurement Practices.'

Admissions to practice include the United States Patent and Trademark Office; the State Bar of California; United States District Court, Northern District of California; and United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Zilka is further a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (SVIPLA), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).