Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Rob Ducatman practices in the areas of litigation and intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, trade dress, unfair competition and trade secrets, covenants not to compete, employment agreement, and civil RICO litigation. He has especially broad experience in dealing with trade secrets enforcement and defense, enforcement of covenants not to compete, fraud, and fraud-related litigation. He also has considerable experience in cybersquatting litigation and litigation related to protection of persona.

Rob's more than 25 years of experience includes the largest verdict in a trademark jury trial in the history of the cyberpiracy statute, and his in-depth global experience helps Firm clients preserve and protect the value of their intellectual property assets. Additionally, Rob has an extensive amount of experience in protecting trade dress and preventing those who would use similar trade dress from capitalizing on the famous brands of others, including numerous matters to protect the MURPHY'S OIL SOAP bottle and design elements, the GINSU knife packaging and design elements, and numerous efforts to trade on the famous trade dress of The Timken Company's products.

Throughout the U.S. and around the world he has litigated trademark matters or controlled litigation for Firm clients. In addition, he has extensive prosecution experience, including working with foreign associates in more than 180 jurisdictions. He draws on his substantial experience to manage large trademark portfolios worldwide and to make them cost-efficient to operate.

He is responsible for thousands of client files and uses his wide-ranging knowledge of government regulations and emerging changes in global geopolitical environments to help clients stay ahead of potential risks or seize advantages in today's fast-changing world.

Representative clients include IBM, The Timken Company, Park-Ohio Corporation, The Scott Fetzer Company, and Sprint Communications Company. He also has represented Tiger Woods, Andre Agassi, Derek Jeter, Sally Ride, and Michael Phelps.

Rob is a member of the Judge John M. Manos Inn of Court and former chairman of the RICO Subcommittee of the Trial Practice Committee of the American Bar Association. He frequently lectures on trademark matters, trade secrets issues, restrictive covenants, and civil RICO matters. He authored jury instructions for the Ohio Judicial Conference for actions brought under the Ohio Corrupt Activities Act (RICO) and has coauthored numerous articles with Jones Day Partner, Ken Adamo, related to the use of RICO in intellectual property matters, as well as inequitable conduct before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Copyrights & Trademarks
• Patent Litigation

Representative Cases

• EMSAT Advanced Geo-Location Technology, LLC et al. vs. Alltel Communications LLC (N.D. Ohio 08:00821) , (2008)
• A. Finkl & Sons v. The Timken Corporation, (U.S.D.C. N.D. Ohio)
• Campbell Hausfeld/Scott Fetzer v. DeVilbiss Air Power Company, Case No. 3:04-0360 (U.S.D.C., MD. Tenn.)
• Charleswater Products Corporation v. Nevamar Corporation
• Chicago Title Insurance Company v. First American Title Insurance Company and James A. Magnuson, No. 07-649 (U.S.S.C.)
• Chicago Title Insurance Corporation v. James A. Magnuson; First American Title Insurance Company, 487 F. 3d 985, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 11883; 2007 FED App. 084P (6th Cir., May 21, 2007)
• Dart Industries, Inc. d.b.a. Ralph Wilson Plastics Company v. Nevamar Corporation, N.D. Tex.
• EMSAT Advanced Geo-Location Technology, LLC et al v. Sprint Spectrum LP et al. (N.D. Ohio 08:00818)
• Levey & Company v. Oravecz, 2004 WL 1465635 (Summit Cty., Ohio, App.)
• Media Arts Group, Inc. v. Artport, Inc. and Kinkade.com, Inc., Case No. CV:00400 (E.D. N.Y.)
• Miller v. Simone et al. Case No. 1:03-CV-2357 (N.D. Ohio 2003)
• Nevamar Corporation v. Charleswater Products, Inc.
• Nevamar Corporation v. Creative Concepts, Inc. (E.D. N.Y.)
• Nevamar Corporation v. The Glassworks (E.D. N.Y.)
• Premier Industrial Corporation v. Kar Products (N.D. Ohio)
• Robinson v. Kirby, No. 8:00CV563 (D. Neb.)
• Stahl/Scott Fetzer v. The Knapheide Manufacturing Co., Case No. 1:02 CV252 (U.S.D.C., N.D. Ohio)
• The Scott Fetzer Company v. Raymond G. Gehring, Case No. 02917 (E.D. Pa.)
• The Scott Fetzer Company v. Steponavicius et al, Case No. 1:07-cv-00870-CAB (N.D. Ohio)
• The Timken Co. v. AM General Corp., U.S. District Ct., Case No. 5:91 CV 3203 (N.D. Ohio 1991)
• Patent Prosecution

West Practice Categories

Copyrights, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property, Patent Litigation, Patents, Technology Licensing, Trade Dress, Trade Secrets, Trademarks

Bar Admissions

• Ohio

Education

• Cleveland State University

Address

North Point
901 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114-1190

Phones

1.216.586.7144 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.216.579.0212 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com