Curtis E. von Kann, a former trial lawyer and retired judge, has been a full-time ADR neutral since 1995. He handles complex cases involving copyright royalty and licensing payments, patent and trademark infringement, trade secrets, and related matters in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, software design, cable television, internet services, satellites, and telecommunications. Judge von Kann’s expertise in managing and resolving difficult intellectual property cases led to his selection to speak to the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association on a variety of ADR topics.
Representative Matters
- Copyright and Trademark. Mediation concerning royalty and licensing payments allegedly owed by Fortune 100 Company for use of copyrighted interactive video games and disputes concerning alleged infringement of trademarks licensed to hundreds of franchisees
- Copyright Royalties Distribution. Library of Congress arbitration to determine distribution of $200 million in cable television royalties among major national suppliers of copyrighted television programming
- Copyright Royalty Rates. Library of Congress arbitration to set royalty rates to be paid by AOL, MTV, Viacom, and other webcasters for internet streaming of recorded music
- Copyrighted Software. Mediation of dispute between competing satellite encryption services concerning alleged infringement of copyrighted software to secure communications over government satellite network and alleged breaches of licensing agreements
- Patent and Antitrust. Mediation of international patent infringement and antitrust dispute between U.S. and Japanese steel companies concerning use of certain manufacturing processes
- Patent Validity/Infringement. Neutral case evaluation of opposing claim construction arguments to be presented at a Markman hearing in litigation asserting patent infringement and patent invalidity regarding design of sophisticated software program marketed by one of the nation’s largest software companies
- Trade Secrets. Neutral case evaluation of dispute alleging theft of trade secrets, breach of confidentiality agreement, and breach of fiduciary duties by former employees of nationwide housing provider who left former employer’s company to set up competing business
