John P. Kong

Mr. Kong concentrates his practice in patent litigation, counseling, and procurement.  Mr. Kong has taken lead roles in many patent infringement cases, as well as supportive roles in trademark infringement cases, representing both plaintiffs and defendants.  He is experienced in complex case management, discovery and deposition practice, expert witness handling, dispositive motions, Markman hearings, pretrial motions practice, ITC section 337 investigations, CAFC appellate practice, and ADR/settlement negotiations.  In one matter, he served as lead counsel for a plaintiff in a patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas, leading to a favorable settlement from the defendant prior to trial.  In another matter, he represented a large international company in a key U.S. patent infringement assertion component of a worldwide intellectual property strategy against a copycat infringer, resulting in favorable settlements for both ITC and Northern District of California actions.  His handling of an expert witness’s testimony in another ITC section 337 investigation was instrumental in the judge’s determination of non-infringement in favor of the client respondent. 

Mr. Kong counsels clients on patent validity and infringement issues, which often entails prior art searches, product analysis, design-around solutions, patent portfolio development, licensing and/or enforcement of IP assets.  He has lectured on corporate patent management practices and numerous patent prosecution and litigation topics, including specialized e-commerce and software related issues. He also participates in a bi-annual training program for corporate IP personnel and professionals, demonstrating patent litigation practices in a mock trial.

As a seasoned IP attorney, Mr. Kong has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications for both large international companies and small inventors in the electrical, mechanical and computer arts, with representative technologies including semiconductors, data storage devices and methods, computer operating systems, data compression and encryption, telecommunications, LCD/LED displays, image reproduction/projection systems, automotive components and control systems, supersonic engines, wind turbines, medical devices, and golf clubs.  He is also experienced in post-issuance proceedings including reissue, reexamination and interference practice, the skills for which carry over into the post grant proceedings under the America Invents Act.

Prior to joining WHDA, Mr. Kong worked at IBM, securing a patent as an inventor, entitled “Multicomputer Complex Having a Distributed Shared Memory System for Providing a Single System View from Multiple Consoles” (U.S. Patent No. 5,390,316).   Outside of work, he enjoys hiking, racquetball, and golf.