Brian K. McKnight is an Associate Chair of the firm's Patent Prosecution Practice Group and part of the firm's nationally recognized Post Grant Law/Patent Reexamination Practice and Litigation Practices. He is also the Associate Administrative Partner of the firm's Cupertino office. Mr. McKnight’s practice includes defending patent owners in contentious litigation-driven reexaminations, requesting reexamination on behalf of third party requesters and prosecuting critical reissue projects.
Mr. McKnight has also represented many patent applicants in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the fields of biotechnology, computer software, medical devices, mechanical devices and designs. His practice includes the management and prosecution of an international patent portfolio consisting of several hundred matters, as well as providing counsel to several start up companies. Mr. McKnight has a strong interest in early stage companies and enjoys working with entrepreneurs to develop intellectual property protection strategies that are appropriate for the stage of the venture.
Before joining Novak Druce, Mr. McKnight was part of a well-respected prior art search and analysis group. This experience led to his participation as one of the founding managers of Novak Druce’s prior art search group. Many of the search and analysis techniques employed by the firm’s search group are directly attributable to improvements in conventional searching techniques which result in the best quality results and analysis.
Recent Highlights
Successfully defended U.S. 4,930,160 and U.S. 4,930,158 in reexamination
Successfully defended U.S. 7,479,949 in reexamination
Successfully defended U.S. 7,084,859 in reexamination
Successfully challenged U.S. 7,009,655 and 7,283,172 (on appeal)
Successfully challenged U.S. 6,926,609 (on appeal)
Practice Areas
Admissions
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- Texas
- California
Education
- Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law), J.D.
- Brown University, B.S. Biology
Professional Affiliations
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
- IP Practice in the Far East (AIPLA Committee)