Robert J. Duminiak has been with Howson & Howson LLP since 2004, becoming a partner in 2011. Mr. Duminiak represents clients in patent procurement, brand protection, transfer/license, management of international intellectual property portfolios, adversary proceedings, including both administrative proceedings (e.g., before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) and in the Federal Courts. He has been involved in the protection and evaluation of technologies worldwide in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and life sciences, with emphasis in vaccines, vectors, and small molecule cancer therapeutics. His trademark/service mark practice includes marks for pharmaceutical preparations, medical devices, and general business applications.
His litigation practice includes pre-litigation counseling, including assessment of areas where a company may face intellectual property challenges or needs to enforce its rights, and negotiation of settlements avoiding unnecessary costs. Where litigation is unavoidable or has already commenced, Mr. Duminiak guides his clients early in planning for the case as a whole, with effective discovery and motions practice built on a strategy for trial as the starting point. His litigation and trial techniques were refined and reinforced within the nationally recognized Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Trial Advocacy program at the Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law.
Robert has been both a speaker and an author, most recently as a judge-instructor for Temple’s LL.M. in Trial Advocacy program and as a co-author of an article in the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society.
Admitted
Mr. Duminiak is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. He is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Education and Associations
Mr. Duminiak earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2000, followed shortly by a J.D. from Temple University School of Law in 2003. He extended his education with a LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Temple University School of Law in 2009. He has been active in the American Intellectual Property Law Association, including serving as a contributing author on AIPLA’s patent litigation subcommittee report on the impact of Ashcroft v. Iqbal on patent complaints.
He currently serves as President of the Benjamin Franklin American Inn of Court, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Eberly College of Science Alumni Society of The Pennsylvania State University. He is also a member of the Souderton-Telford Rotary.
Practice/Focus Areas
Patent procurement and patent portfolio management, trademark procurement and portfolio management, IP litigation, opinions, agreements, and licensing.
Publications
Palovich and Duminiak, “Pitfalls Associated with Post-Patent Issuance Supplementation or Replacement of a Biological Deposit – 37 CFR §1.805″, Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, 91(7/8/9):517-522 (July/August/September 2009).
