OUR PEOPLE

Prior Experience 

Prior to forming RKM Law Group, Rob held Partner and leadership roles at several prestigious New Jersey and Philadelphia area law firms.  He was elected partner as a 6th-year lawyer at a major law firm in 2004 and later served as the Chairman of the Intellectual Property Department at a large regional firm in Philadelphia, where he specialized in intellectual property and litigation.  For the past ten years, McKinley grew an intellectual property practice from the ground up at a firm in southern New Jersey, managing the intellectual property assets of over 150 clients,  while advising companies on a daily basis on general corporate matters and engaging in high-profile business and intellectual property litigation.

Mr. McKinley has been bestowed the honor of being selected as one of "America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators." 

With his unique blend of transactional and litigation experience, Rob is well-positioned to help companies identify the practical boundaries of intellectual property rights, the protection that may be available for those rights, and any potential roadblocks to avoid along the way.   He also helps businesses "get their house in order" by assessing their corporate documents, vendor contracts, and employment agreement and making recommendations where necessary to further protect the company from any potential disputes.

Mr. McKinley accomplishes this by working closely with his clients, to assess what protection  may be available to cover the client’s brands, inventions, designs, ideas, business methods, and original works, then to develop patent, trademark, and copyright filing strategies, as well as Non-Disclosure, Confidentiality and Employment Agreements, to  protect  those assets in view of the client’s business goals and objectives.  

Once protection is achieved, Attorney McKinley works with his clients to maximize the value of their intellectual property assets through cooperative business agreements or, if necessary, litigation.   

When a conflict arises, Mr. McKinley's 20+ years of patent and trademark litigation experience as an Attorney against companies such as Motorola, Lockheed  Martin, American Airlines, Planet Hollywood, Berkshire Hathaway, Master Wok, The  Steak  Umm Company, and  Victoria’s Secret, provides him with the tools to aggressively pursue claims on behalf of his clients and, where appropriate, to find practical and efficient business solutions to resolve intellectual property disputes.     

Rob’s litigation representations expand beyond intellectual property, representing clients on both sides of breach of employment agreement cases, as well as breach of contract cases.  For example, Mr. McKinley secured a $600,000 Final Binding Arbitration Award for his client against Bulova Technologies in an Arbitration proceeding in Philadelphia arising out of a breach of an exclusive distributorship agreement. 

On the technical side, Rob is a degreed Electrical Engineer and has expertise in the mechanical, electrical, and computer arts, which includes mechanical devices and systems, telecommunications, computer hardware and software.  Robert’s technical experience in engineering and design includes positions at Vitro Corporation, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and UNISYS Corporation.  

Rob has served clients in a wide variety of industries, including:

» Manufacturing 

» Software 

» Transportation 

» Restaurants/Food Service 

» Casinos 

» Banking and Credit Card Services

» Financial Services 

» Higher Education 

» Fashion 

» Consumer Products 

» Hi-Technology 

» Retail 

» Private Equity 

» Real Estate 

» Professional Athletes 

» Packaging 

» Hospitality 

» Medical 

» Pharmaceutical 

» Industrial Chemical  

Education 

» J.D., Widener University School of Law, with honors in appellate and trial advocacy (1998) 

» B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Drexel University (1992)  

Bar Admissions 

» New Jersey 

» Pennsylvania  

» U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

» U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

» U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

» U.S District Court for the Eastern District fo Michigan

» U.S  Federal Circuit Court of Appeals 

» U.S  Third Circuit Court of Appeals