Richard L. Cruz

Richard L. Cruz practices in the area of intellectual property law with a focus on domestic and foreign patent, trademark and copyright prosecution; trade secrets; unfair competition; clearance, validity and infringement investigations, analysis and opinions; trademark oppositions and cancellations; reexamination and reissue proceedings; intellectual property program development and deployment; inventorship/ownership resolution; strategic portfolio development and website domain name protection.

Mr. Cruz has represented clients in proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in various inter partes and ex parte proceedings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He has also represented clients in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings in the U.S., and has advised in similar proceedings in foreign jurisdictions including Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Brazil, Italy, and others. In addition, Mr. Cruz has represented clients before the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in formal Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings. He has also counseled domestic and foreign clients on matters involving website policies, data privacy, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Mr. Cruz handles patent matters in the electrical and mechanical arts generally, with a particular focus on computer and software technologies, including financial services, blockchain, crypto-transactions, business methods, electronic transactions and platforms, e-commerce, on-line banking, securities trading, on-line healthcare records, electronic data storage and retrieval, online gaming, data privacy /security, Internet-related technologies, networking, and telecommunications.

 Mr. Cruz is a 2002 graduate of Widener University School of Law and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering. He is fluent in Spanish.