Bernard S. “Ben” Klosowski, Jr., J.D.

Ben entered the practice of law after serving in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer. During his naval service, Ben was an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, his alma mater. Following active duty and prior to becoming an intellectual property attorney, Ben managed an electro-optics engineering center and also worked as a program manager for a computer systems company.

Ben represents a variety of clients in various technical areas, including computer (software, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning), electrical, mechanical, optical, and electro-mechanical arts. His clients include automotive, software and diagnostics companies, maritime, energy systems, metal and plastics fabrication, and medical device companies. Ben has prepared numerous U.S. and international patent applications including those directed to software and electrical inventions relating to cellular telephone technology, programmable logic controllers, software to control lasers for real-time chemical analyses of pharmaceuticals and consumables, junction box controllers, fiber optic components, and business methods involving various levels of code.

Ben has obtained hundreds of patents for his clients in the United States and around the world, and has also prepared dozens of opinions, including patentability, clearance, infringement/non-infringement, validity/invalidity, due diligence, pre-litigation, and many other types of opinions for his clients.

In addition to patents, Ben helps his clients protect their other intellectual properties such as copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, and trade secrets. Ben advises his clients with respect to these and related business matters such as licensing, employee issues, corporate set-up, and tax credit qualification and strategy. Like patent matters, Ben has also provided many opinions regarding trademarks, copyrights, other forms of intellectual property.

Ben has litigated intellectual property and related business issues in federal and state courts and at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well as domain name disputes via the National Arbitration Forum using Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedures (UDRP). He has experience litigating contentious corporate management disputes in close corporations, and leverages that experience to foreclose corporate structures that germinate such disputes.

Ben is a member in good standing of numerous state and federal bar associations. Ben’s South Carolina Bar activities include CLE OnDemand webinars such as “Intellectual Property in the Fast Lane,” www.scbar.org, and a seminar entitled “Patenting a Software-Related Invention After Alice Corp. et al.” He has also recently presented seminars regarding Artificial Intelligence to various professional organizations such as AUTM and the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association (TIPLA).

Ben is a past president of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association’s Palmetto Chapter.

Maryland Bar, 1999
United States District Court, District of Maryland, 1999
District of Columbia Bar, 2000
South Carolina Bar, 2001
United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2001
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2004
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, 2004
United States District Court, District of South Carolina, 2004

University of Baltimore, J.D., cum laude
United States Naval War College at Annapolis
United States Naval Academy, B.S.

American Intellectual Property Law Association (Member, 2000-Present)
Carolina Patent, Copyright, and Trademark Law Association (Member, 2000-Present)
PTAB Bar Association (Member, 2021-Present)

“Artificial Intelligence & Patents” presented to the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association (TIPLA), May 7, 2021.

“The Hand of Artificial Intelligence in Intellectual Property” presented to AUTM, June 3, 2021.

CLE seminar Patent Eligibility in 2018: Current Status and Best Practices, February 20, 2018.
“Is Your Company’s Knowledge Protected?” Radio Interview: Mike Switzer (Host, Producer) South Carolina Business Review, August 2017.

“South Carolina Business & Research Mission to Israel,” Selected Delegate, January 2017.

“Intellectual Property and Angel Investment in High-Growth Start-Ups,” Title Sponsor Comments at the Charleston Angel Conference, Charleston, SC, November 2016.

“The Lawyer’s Swiss Army Knife Part I: Tools for Advising the Small Business Owner or Start-up,” Speaker/Instructor (Employment Agreements, Confidentiality Agreements, etcetera), South Carolina Bar, October 2015.

“Patenting a Software-Related Invention After Alice Corp., et al.,” Instructor, South Carolina Bar, CLE OnDemand, www.scbar.org, September 2015.

“Starting Your Medical Device Company – Designing, Developing and Prototyping,” Presenter at Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing & Technology, Florence, SC, 2015.

“Intellectual Property in the Fast Lane,” Instructor at South Carolina Bar, CLE OnDemand, www.scbar.org, 2014.

“Will the New Patent Law Kill the Garage Inventor and Startup?” Entrepreneur.com, November 2013.

“Patent Troll Myths and the Law of Unintended Consequences,” IP Today, November 2013. Download Publication

“Don’t Let Your Bottom-Line Influence IP Protection,” Law360, October, 2013.

“Collaboage – Identifying your inventor node to exponentially leverage your IP protection,” speaker presentation Innoventure Conference, May 2013.

Quoted in First-to-File Patent System to Favor Big Biz, Law360, 2011.

“Why Is the U.S. Attempting to Mirror the Sickly European Patent System?” Bloomberg Law Reports, 2011.

“Patents and Collectivism: Snowballs in Hades?” Intellectual Property Law360, 2010.

“Capitalizing on Intellectual Property Rights,” South Carolina ETV Radio, 2009.

“Copyleft, Mash-up and Other Cutting-Edge IP Issues,” University of West Florida, 2009.

“Patent Litigation: The Sport of Kings, and Microsoft Corp.” IP360, 2009.

“Capitalizing on Your Intellectual Property in An Uncertain Economy,” IP360 and The Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2009.

“Orphan Works: Finding a Home for a Copyrighted Work That Has “Lost” Its Author, or Theft In the Night?” DRI: The Voice of the Defense Bar, 2008.

“Intellectual Property and Your Business, Florence Country Club,” Florence Country Club, 2008.

These examples are based on specific facts and do not guarantee similar results in other matters.

• United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia. Represented client-plaintiff in a patent infringement action that also included copyright infringement, conspiracy, and other causes of action. Achieved settlement for client prior to trial.
• United States District Court, District of South Carolina. Defendant retained services in a patent infringement action after entry of Default Judgment. Achieved vacated judgment and favorable settlement for client.
• Obtaining multiple worldwide patents for medical device company directed to electromagnetic shielding technology.
• United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Represented trademark holder in cancellation action against infringer. Obtained trademark cancellation of infringing mark and favorable settlement for client.
• Represent associations and cities in South Carolina to protect corporate intellectual property including service marks and trademarks.
• Represented clients in Domain disputes in National Arbitration Forum using Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy per the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
• United States District Court, District of South Carolina. Represented defendant in trademark infringement action against national chain. Favorable results obtained for client.
• Representing multiple clients in obtaining patents directed to software-related and computer-implemented inventions in light of Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014).
• Representing clients in obtaining patents directed to clean methods of oil extraction.
• United States District Court, District of South Carolina. Represented patent holder in patent infringement action against competitor. Obtained favorable settlement for client.
• Representing clients in obtaining patents directed to power tools and machine shop advancements.
• Represented multiple clients in favorably settling demands related to copyright and trademark infringement accusations, including public broadcast of music, pay-per-view shows, et cetera.
• Represent clients in due diligence and licensing of intellectual property.
• Provide clients with opinions, corporate set-up guidance, non-disclosure agreements, non-compete agreements, intellectual property assignments, et cetera.
• Delaware Chancery Court. Represented client in manager-managed LLC dispute. Obtained favorable settlement for client.