Robert O'Keefe | Mediator & IP Attorney
About
Get to Know Me
Robert has been an Intellectual Property lawyer since 1990, wielding a comprehensive skill set across diverse legal areas, encompassing IP litigation, patent, copyright, trademark, trade secrets, noncompete agreements, contract negotiation, due diligence, licensing, and global patent prosecution. His clientele ranges from startups to Fortune 100 companies.
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Personal involvement in mediation kindled Robert's interest in ADR, prompting him to undertake the mediation training program at The University of Texas School of Law’s Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution in 2016. Armed with firsthand understanding of the emotions involved in dispute settlements, he's dedicated to fostering amicable resolutions.
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As a neutral in various cases, Robert adeptly employs active listening, insightful questioning, case evaluation, settlement terms discussion to aid parties in reaching resolution. Just as was the case in his personal mediations, his experience as a mediator solidifies in his mind the pivotal role emotions play in negotiation and settlement, even in IP cases.
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While proficient in mediating diverse disputes across many legal domains, Robert leverages his IP experience to handle cases related to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and IP-oriented contracts. His deep-rooted expertise in science and technology informs his mediation skills in complex IP-related disputes as well as other technology intensive disputes.
Biography
Robert grew up in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago. He graduated from Wabash College in 1985, majoring in chemistry and minoring in comparative religion. After graduation, he attended Indiana University from 1985-1987 as a graduate student in Organic Chemistry. After deciding he did not want a career as a chemist , changed and graduated with honors from Valparaiso School of Law in 1990.
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Robert's legal career began as a patent attorney for The Dow Chemical Company. At Dow, he primarily worked on global patent prosecution, licensing, patent strategy, new business ventures, validity and infringement analysis, and IP-related agreements. In 1994, Robert and his family moved to Austin where he was an associate at the IP law firm, Arnold, White & Durkee from 1994-1998. At AWD, he worked as a senior associate on IP litigation involving patents, trademarks, and trade secrets; opinions of counsel; and patent prosecution. In 1998, Robert co-founded a boutique IP law firm, where he focused on opinions of counsel, patent prosecution and IP strategy, due diligence, and licensing. Since 2013, he has been in solo IP practice, where he has primarily worked on patent prosecution, patent strategy, validity and infringement analysis, due diligence, and licensing.
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Robert's commitment to the IP legal community is evident through his leadership roles in various bar associations, including president of the Saginaw Valley Patent Law Association in Michigan and the Austin Intellectual Property Law Association. Additionally, he has been a member of the Michigan State Bar, Texas State Bar, Austin Bar Association, and Licensing Executives Society, as well as the IP sections of the Michigan and Texas State Bars and the ADR sections of the Texas State Bar and Austin Bar Association.
In his spare time, Robert is an artist, working in pastel, charcoal, oil, and ink. He has a passion for Chinese ink landscape paintings from antiquity.