Dr. Watt is a registered patent attorney and concentrates his practice in the field of intellectual property (IP) law as it relates to high technology subject matters and, especially, computer and software law. He has extensive industry experience with complex signal processing algorithms and computer technology. His practice is focused on obtaining, protecting, and enforcing IP rights, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights.  He is adept in preparing and prosecuting patent applications and counseling his clients in connection with their IP issues. He manages a substantial portfolio of international patents and is able to help clients secure protection for intellectual property situated outside the United States.  He is an adjunct professor for Purdue Global University and teaches in its Concord School of Law.

Dr. Watt regularly counsels clients in all aspects of IP, including:

• Obtaining and litigating patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights
• Drafting and reviewing software development and licensing agreements
• Complex signal processing algorithms and computer technology
• Conducting inter partes reviews in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Facilitating due diligence IP reviews. 

Honors and Awards

• Best Lawyers in America®, Copyright, Patent, Litigation (Intellectual Property), Trademark (2010-2019)
• Best Lawyer of the Year, Patent (2014 - 2016)
• Lawyer of the Year (Tulsa) Copyright (2019)
• Oklahoma Super Lawyers® (2012-2019)
• Chambers® ranked lawyer in Intellectual Property 2014-2019 

Education

• University of Tulsa (J.D., 1995, Honors)
• Order of the Curule Chair, University of Tulsa.
• Solicitor/Research Editor for Articles, Tulsa University Law Review, 1994-1995
• American Jurisprudence Awards in Constitutional Law, Legal Writing, and Conflict of Laws
• University of Tulsa (M.B.A., Finance, 1988)
• University of Tulsa (Ph.D., Geophysics, 1984)
• Princeton University (M.A., Statistics, 1977)
• University of Tulsa (B.A., Mathematics, 1975)

Bar Admissions 

• Oklahoma, 1995
• Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1996.
• Northern (1995) and Western (2010) Districts of Oklahoma
• Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2012)

Articles & Publications

• “Not All Copying is Copyright Infringement”, The Oklahoman, July 21, 2019, p. C3.
• “How to Effectively Handle Gripe Sites:, The Tulsa World, October 7, 2018, p. E2.
• “Bird in the Hand – Are Tweets Considered Intellectual Property?”, The Oklahoman, August 19, 2018, p. 2C.
• “Contractor owns software, not business”, Tulsa World, September 17, 2017.
• “Dealing with a Software Copyright Audit”, Journal Record, July 20, 2016.
• “Common Mistakes Made by Inventors”, Journal Record, June 8, 2016.
• “Protecting your Company’s Trade Secrets”, Journal Record, March 16, 2016.
• “Trademark Tips”, Journal Record, September 25, 2015.
• Published Interview:  “NFL team name ruling could change game for state schools”, Journal Record, June 20, 2014.
• "Numerical Analysis for the Geological Sciences", Technometrics, August 1996, book review.
• Internet Training Course for Tulsa University Law Students, prepared for the T.U. Law Library; subsequently published with co-author in Research Instruction Caucus Teach-in, April 9-15, 1995.
• "Applied Statistics: A First Course," 32 Technometrics 224 (1990), book review.
• The Kurzweil 1000 Series Operations Guide (Alexander Press, 1989). Synthesizer programming book.
• Ph.D. Dissertation: Some Applications of Robust Statistical Procedures to Problems in Seismic Signal Processing, 1984.

With co-authors:

• L1 Deconvolution and Its Application to Seismic Signal Processing, 34 IEEE ASSP 1655 (1986).
• Calculating the Complex Cepstrum Without Phase Unwrapping or Integration, 33 IEEE ASSP 1014 (1985). Paper presented at ICASSP Annual Meeting, Toronto 1984.
• Fast Algorithms for LP Deconvolution, 33 IEEE ASSP 174 (1985).
• Alpha-Trimmed Means and Their Relationship to Median Filters, 32 IEEE ASSP 145 (1984).
• “The Role of the Alpha-Trimmed Mean in Combining and Analyzing Seismic Common-Depth-Point Gathers”, paper presented at Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV. November 1983.

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Oklahoma Bar Association
• Tulsa County Bar Association

Community Leadership & Activities

• Chairperson of “Information Services and Communications” committee of the Tulsa University Law School Alumni Board, 2005-2011.
• Past President, Intellectual Property Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association
• Past President, Princeton Club of Tulsa
• Semi-professional musician (jazz, blues, and rock keyboard)

Speaking Engagements

Talks & Presentations 

• “Patent 101:  Counseling Clients re Patent Issues”, OBA CLE presentation in session titled “Intellectual Property is Relevant to Every Business", Dec. 16, 2014.
•  “The Art of Copyright:  What Every Working Artist Needs to Know”, Green Country Water Color Association, April 10, 2014.
•  “There Ought to Be a Law: Questionable Internet Practices and the Law”, Feb. 26, 2008, National Association of Legal Secretaries (Tulsa).
• “Fair Use and Other Murky Copyright Concepts”, Sept. 26, 2007 (Oklahoma State University – Presentation for university faculty and staff).
• “Firmly in the Gray: Questionable Internet Programming Practices and Legal Theories for Attacking (or Defending) Them”. Presented for:
• University of Tulsa Technology Law Student Association, Sept. 2005,
• Tulsa Association of Computer Systems Management, March 2006,
• OBA Intellectual Property Section Mid-Year Meeting, Tanglewood Resort, June 2006, Tulsa Bar Association Intellectual Property CLE, December 2006.
• “Software Protection through Copyright and Patent”, Oklahoma Investment Forum, May 3, 2005 (Tulsa).
• “Copyright Ownership of Joint Works” (OSU, 2005).
• “What Every Oil and Gas Practitioner Should Know About Intellectual Property”, invited lecturer at the Eugene Kuntz conference on Natural Resources Law & Policy’, Nov. 12, 2004 (Oklahoma City, OK).
• “Who is an Inventor?” (OSU, April 2004).
• “The Business of Copyright”, Tulsa Rotary Club, March 2003, Bartlesville Kiwanis March 2004.
• “The Art of Copyright: What every working artist should know”, Bartlesville Art Association, February 2003.
• “Internet Jurisdiction: The Really Long Arm of the Law”, for the OBA “Cyberspace Law Symposium”, March 2001.
• “Statistics and the Courts: Bridging the Divide”, for the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Statistical Association, February 2001.
• “Pitfalls for the small business in e-commerce, hardware, and software”, for OBA annual meeting, November 2000.
• “Intellectual Property for the General Practitioner: Common Copyright Questions”, for Tulsa Bar Assn., August, 1999.
• “Emerging Issues in Intellectual Property Law”, for Oklahoma Bar Assn. symposium “Current Issues in Computer Law,” Oklahoma Bar Association CLE Symposium, March 5 & 26, 1999 (Presented in Oklahoma City and Tulsa).

University Courses Taught

•  “Patent Law Fundamentals” (Concord Law School / Purdue Global, 2009 - 2020).
• “Patent Claim Drafting” (Concord Law School / Purdue Global, 2011-2019)
• “Patent Litigation” (Concord Law School / Purdue Global, 2011-2017)
• “Intellectual Property Survey Concord Law School / Purdue Global, 2017, 2018)
• “Trademark Law” (TU Law School, Fall 2002-2008).
• “Patent Law” (TU Law School, Spring 2003, 2004).
• “Intellectual Property Law” (TU Law School, Fall 1998,1999).
• “Statistics and the Law” developed and taught for the College of Law (TU, Spring 1996).
• "Statistical Methods in Geophysics" developed and taught for Department of Geophysics (TU, Spring 1990, graduate course).
• “Geophysical Signal Processing" (TU, Fall 1989, graduate course).
• "Stochastic Systems" (Oklahoma State University, Summer 1988, Electrical Engineering graduate course).
• "Business Statistics" (TU, Spring 1988, MBA course).
• “Ordinary Differential equations (TU Spring 1984-1985).
• “Calculus III" (TU Fall, 1983-1984).