Don Cox, a Registered Patent Attorney, offers over 40 years of combined legal, engineering, and computer programming expertise, specializing in intellectual property law. He provides extensive legal counsel for patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret rights in the U.S. and abroad, with a focus on areas such as telecommunications, day trading, and gaming technologies. Don excels in strategic IP planning and portfolio assessment for monetization. With over two decades of running his own practice, he has guided entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing robust IP portfolios.

With more than 30 years dedicated to intellectual property law, Don began his legal career in Southern California, serving biomedical, entertainment, and technology sectors. He later moved his practice to New Jersey, advising universities, telecommunications, and semiconductor companies.

Don's tenure as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force included serving as Integration Engineering Chief for the WIS Program, where he played a crucial role in upgrading the Defense Department's Command and Control network to Internet protocols.

As a seasoned practitioner, Don has contributed significantly to landmark cases, including representing copyright owner RTC in a pivotal copyright infringement action against ISP Netcom that helped establish procedures later codified in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). More recently, Don represented Marquis Mills, International, Inc. throughout district court and Federal Circuit litigation in Focus Products Group International, LLC v. Kartri Sales Co., Inc., et al., resulting in reversal or vacatur of a district court judgment of approximately $4 million. As to Marquis, the Federal Circuit reversed patent infringement findings based on prosecution history disclaimer, holding that claim scope cancelled in response to a restriction requirement, and later relied upon to overcome a non-statutory double patenting rejection, could not be recaptured through claim construction. The Court also reversed the EZ ON trademark infringement ruling for lack of standing and vacated the trade dress, willfulness, and attorneys' fees determinations. Don brings over 30 years of experience in internet-related intellectual property rights protection and domain name disputes, leveraging his litigation, prosecution, and appellate experience to serve clients across a wide range of industries.

SCHOLASTIC HISTORY:
Undergraduate: Rutgers University, College of Engineering (B.S.E.E., 1985)
Law School: McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific (J.D., 1992)

PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS:
State of New Jersey
State of California
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
United States Patent and Trademark Office (Reg. No. 37,804)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Member of the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association
Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (Computer Society and Lasers and Electro-Optics Society)

PRESENTATIONS to PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

o Presented talk on “Cracking Down on IP Holding Companies: Fee Awards and Ethical Sanctions in Dragon IP v. DISH and Nimitz v. CNET” for the Joint Patent Practice Continuing Legal Education (JPPCLE), September 2024.

o Presented talk on “2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance” for the Joint Patent Practice Continuing Legal Education (JPPCLE), May 2019.

o Co-authored article on “U.S. Supreme Court Heightens Interest in Patent Law” to New Jersey Law Journal 216, April 14, 2014.

o Co-editor New Jersey Lawyer Magazine's Telecommunications Law edition, October 2012.

o Presented seminar on “Basic IP For Business Lawyers” for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE), November 2010.

o Published article on “Copyright Laws 10 Years Later--Downloading Music” to New Jersey Lawyer Magazine's Intellectual Property edition, June 2009.

o Presented seminar on “Internet Strategies for the Paralegal in New Jersey” for the Institute for Paralegal Education, October 1999 - May 2002.

o Presented program on “Domain Names, Trademarks & Disputes: NSI's New Policy” to Beverly Hills Bar, September 1996.

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