Richard P. Bauer is co-head of Katten's Patents practice and concentrates on patent prosecution, validity and infringement opinions, intellectual property licensing and client counseling. He devotes a significant portion of his practice to advising clients on monetizing patent portfolios, including licensing, due diligence, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he has substantial experience in US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) ex parte and inter partes reexaminations, reissues, interferences and various petitions, and is currently involved in several inter partes review proceedings.

Richard frequently spends time at the PTO interviewing examiners and consulting with PTO management to better facilitate and expedite patent applications. This relationship with the PTO enables him to research and discover abandoned applications, lapsed patents and lost files. He is very knowledgeable in the areas of telecommunications and aircraft software electrical technologies with additional focus on radio frequency communication devices, integrated circuits, software, business methods, satellite communications and optical waveguides.

After serving a tour of duty in the US Army, Richard began his career as a mechanical engineer at Ingersoll-Rand. He then worked as an electrical engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company where he earned his private pilot’s license and was a systems and design engineer for the radar data processor of the F-15 radar system. After working at E-Systems, where he handled classified communications programs for the US government, he became an attorney focusing his practice on patent litigation and prosecution.

A frequent presenter on patent matters, Richard speaks to organizations such as the American Intellectual Property Law Association and numerous Canadian patent bar groups. He lectures on recent court decisions, the America Invents Act, new PTO rules and guidelines and current best-practices for in-house patent lawyers.