Professional Biography
Image of Kevin Patariu

Kevin J. Patariu, P.E. Partner

Firmwide Co-Chair, ITC Litigation Practice

  • San Diego

    D +1.858.720.5726

    F +1.858.720.5799

    San Diego

    11452 El Camino Real, Suite 300

    San Diego, CA 92130-2080

    +1.858.720.5726

    KPatariu@perkinscoie.com

  • Chicago

    D +1.312.263.5611

    F +1.312.324.9400

    Chicago

    110 North Wacker Drive, 34th Floor

    Chicago, IL 60606

    +1.312.263.5611

    KPatariu@perkinscoie.com

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Overview

Kevin Patariu assists clients with intellectual property, data privacy, and cybersecurity issues. Kevin litigates complex intellectual property matters throughout the United States and before the International Trade Commission (ITC), where he has successfully litigated several Section 337 investigations through trial. In Patexia’s 2020 ITC Intelligence Report, Kevin is ranked as the #2 Best Performing ITC Attorney Overall (Representing Complainants or Respondents) out of over 7,500 attorneys who appeared at the ITC between 2014 and 2019. In Patexia’s 2021 Patent Litigation Intelligence Report, Kevin is ranked in the Top 100 Best Performing Patent Litigators Overall (Representing Plaintiffs or Defendants) out of over 12,300 attorneys who appeared in U.S. District Court patent litigations between 2017 and 2020.

Kevin also has significant experience in patent post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) which covers post-grant review (PGR), covered business method (CBM) patent review, inter partes review (IPR), patent reexamination, supplemental examination and reissue proceedings. Kevin is counsel of record for petitioners and patent owners in over 70 IPR proceedings, and successfully argued before the PTAB in oral hearings. Kevin advises his clients on the strategic use of PTAB proceedings to meet his clients’ litigation objectives. In Patexia’s 2019 IPR Intelligence Report and 2020 IPR Intelligence Report, Kevin is acknowledged as one of the Top 100 Most Active Practitioners Representing Petitioners at USPTO PTAB between 2014 and 2020, placing him among the top 2% of all IPR lawyers.

Kevin also has prepared and prosecuted numerous inter partes and ex parte patent reexamination requests, and successfully argued before the USPTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI, predecessor of the PTAB) in connection with an inter partes reexamination proceeding.

In addition to his patent litigation and validity work, Kevin represents clients in trademark, trade secret, trade dress, and copyright disputes. Kevin also practices in the areas of due diligence and freedom to operate investigations, patent and trademark prosecution and counseling, preparation of infringement and validity opinions, and technology legal counseling for large and small enterprises. 

Kevin also helps technology clients with data privacy matters, providing guidance on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other data use and compliance issues in a dynamic regulatory environment. A licensed professional engineer with years of practical experience, Kevin’s deep understanding of web architectures and computing systems gives him a unique edge in crafting data use contractual provisions, performing product reviews, and crafting privacy policies that actually reflect how companies are collecting, storing, and using personal data. Kevin is a Certified U.S. and Europe Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US, CIPP/E) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Kevin has litigation, patent prosecution, transactional, product counseling, and engineering experience in a wide variety of technical areas, including:

  • Semiconductor device design
  • Semiconductor fabrication, characterization and testing
  • Software design and testing
  • Computer architecture and embedded systems and firmware
  • Computer graphics systems
  • Human-computer interface (user interface) design
  • Digital rights management (DRM) and cryptographic systems
  • Data security architectures
  • E-commerce and payment processing architectures
  • Test and measurement equipment
  • Medical devices
  • Touch screens and touch screen controllers
  • Digital cameras and image processing
  • Automated mechanical transmission systems
  • Wired and wireless communication devices and systems
  • Vehicle navigation, mapping and route guidance systems
  • Location determination systems for cellular networks
  • Activated carbon processing

Before attending law school, Kevin worked as an electrical engineer for eight years, designing integrated circuits for a variety of applications, including copier/printer/scanner products, satellite and digital cable set top boxes, removable media card interfaces, and forward-looking infrared array (FLIR) sensors. Kevin is the co-inventor of eight U.S. patents and four foreign patents in the field of data encryption/decryption and information security:

  • U.S. Patent No. 7,194,627, titled "Method and system for data encryption and decryption"
  • U.S. Patent No. 7,313,239, titled "Method and system for data encryption/decryption key generation and distribution"
  • U.S. Patent No. 7,533,273 titled "Method and system for controlling an encryption/decryption engine using descriptors"
  • U.S. Patent No. 7,912,220 titled "Packetization of non-MPEG stream data in systems using advanced multistream POD interface”
  • U.S. Patent No. 7,925,024 titled "Method and system for data encryption/decryption key generation and distribution"
  • U.S. Patent No. 8,234,504, titled "Method and system for data encryption and decryption"
  • U.S. Patent No. 8,467,534, titled "Method and system for secure access and processing of an encryption/decryption key"
  • U.S. Patent No. 9,094,699, titled "System and method for security key transmission with strong pairing to destination client"
  • European Patent No. EP1460797, titled “Secure access and processing of an encryption/decryption key”
  • European Patent No. EP1457859, titled “Data encryption/decryption device”
  • Chinese Patent No. CN1655495, titled “System and method for security key transmission with strong pairing to destination client”
  • Taiwanese Patent No. TW I271079, titled “System and method for security key transmission with strong pairing to destination client"

Kevin is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in California. Kevin’s electrical engineering and software development experience gives him better insight on the merits of intellectual property issues and the business objectives and challenges facing his clients. This experience allows him to work with his clients to develop tailored legal strategies that achieve his clients’ business objectives in cost-efficient manner.

Kevin is also active in pro bono matters, and is the chair of the San Diego office pro bono committee. He was awarded the 2017 Perkins Coie Pro Bono Leadership Partner Award, awarded to one partner annually. Kevin was also a recipient of the 2017 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate presented by the USPTO. The certificate, given to 85 individuals nationwide in 2017, is a recognition of individuals who help make the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program available to financially under-resourced inventors and small businesses by preparing and prosecuting patent applications. He is on the San Diego Steering Committee for California Lawyers for the Arts, the administrator of the California Inventor Assistance Program (CIAP), a USPTO pro bono program in California designed to assist financially under-resourced independent inventors and small businesses with patent applications. He is also a member of the CIAP Advisory Committee and the office liaison with the California Lawyers for the Arts. Kevin is a member of the board of directors of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program (SDVLP), which provides free civil legal services to low income and disadvantaged San Diegans. Kevin successfully appealed multiple cases involving denials of Social Security disability benefits for clients referred by SDVLP. In each case, the client was found to be disabled and entitled to benefits after a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Externships

  • The Hon. Amy St. Eve, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, September 2006 - April 2007

Ranked by Patexia, Inc.

Patexia Insights 10 Best Performing ITC Section 337 - 2020 2022 Best Performing Palexia Badge Top 100 Best Performing Patent Litigation - Patexia 2021 100 Most Active Inter-Partes Review - Patexia Insights 2020 100 Most Active Inter Partes Review - Patexia Insights 2019  
  • #2 Best Performing ITC Attorney Overall—Representing Complainants or Respondents, 2014 - 2019
  • Top 100 Best Performing Patent Litigator Overall—Representing Plaintiffs or Defendants, 2017 - 2020
  • Top 100 Most Active Practitioners—Representing Petitioners at USPTO PTAB, 2014 - 2021

Professional Recognition

  • #2 Best Performing ITC Attorney Overall (Representing Complainants or Respondents) between 2014 - 2019, 2020 Patexia Insights ITC Intelligence Report
  • #68 Best Performing Patent Litigator Overall (Representing Plaintiffs or Defendants) (Top 0.6% of patent litigators) between 2017 - 2020, 2021 Patexia Insights Patent Litigation Intelligence Report
  • Ranked in top 4% for performance of ITC Practitioners Representing Respondents between 2016 - 2021, 2022 Patexia Insights Patent Litigation Intelligence Report
  • #72 Most Active ITC Attorney representing Respondents between 2016 - 2021, 2022 Patexia Insights Patent Litigation Intelligence Report
  • Top 100 Most Active Practitioners Representing Petitioners at USPTO PTAB 2014 - 2019 (Top 2% of All IPR Attorneys), 2019 Patexia Insights IPR Intelligence Report
  • Top 100 Most Active Practitioners Representing Petitioners at USPTO PTAB 2015 - 2020 (Top 2% of All IPR Attorneys), 2020 Patexia Insights IPR Intelligence Report
  • Certified U.S. Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)

  • Certified Europe Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
  • Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
  • Recipient of the Wiley W. Manuel award for Pro Bono Service
  • Recipient of the 2017 USPTO Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate
  • San Diego Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, 2015
  • Illinois Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, 2009

*The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and no certificate, award or recognition is a requirement to practice law in Illinois.

Professional Leadership

  • American Bar Association, Member
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association, Member
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association, Member
  • ITC Trial Lawyers Association, Member
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member
  • PTAB Bar Association, Member
  • San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, Board of Directors
  • San Diego Intellectual Property Law Association, Member
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals, Member

Related Employment

Legal Employment

  • Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, P.C., Chicago, IL, Associate, 2007 - 2010
  • Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, P.C., Chicago, IL, Law Clerk, 2006
  • Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, San Diego, CA, Law Clerk, 2006
  • McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Law Clerk, 2005

Non-Legal Employment

  • Broadcom Corporation, San Diego, CA, Senior Staff Design Engineer, 2001 - 2004
  • Netgear Incorporated, San Diego, CA, System Architect/Printed Circuit Board Designer, 2000 - 2001
  • Hewlett-Packard Corporation, San Diego, CA, ASIC Design Engineer, 1997 - 2000
  • Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, Design Engineer, 1996 - 1997

Experience

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Insights

RELATED INFORMATION

Bar and Court Admissions

  • California
  • Illinois
  • District of Columbia
  • Minnesota
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Texas
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Education

  • Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2007, Journal of International Law and Business, Executive Editor
  • Cornell University, M.Eng., Electrical Engineering, 1996
  • Cornell University, B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1995