eComp Consultants

eComp Consultants specializes in intellectual property and patent litigation in internet, telecommunications, and information technology, including web commerce technologies, web marketing disputes, internet copyright, software contract disputes, computer, cellular and network forensics. eComp's collaborative staff of senior industry experts and executives provides full lifecycle services including technology research, expert reports, depositions, trial testimony, follow-up consulting. We specialize in multi-defendant cases and have developed special case management processes for these cases.

Services

eComp Consultants specializes in advising attorneys and their clients on the technical aspects of patent infringement and portfolio valuation. Our services include:

- Expert Reports: Patent Infringement & Non-infringement

With extensive expertise in the business and technology of Telecommunications, Internet, and eCommerce, eComp can authoritatively provide:

• Overall analysis of the patent(s) to describe the nature (and value) of the invention in clear concise terms.
• Informative Technology Overviews to place the invention in the proper context at the time of the invention.
• Strategic use of terminology including claim construction and contribution to Markman proceedings.
• Compelling presentation of infringement and non-infringement opinions. Clearly defining the meaning of the claim limitation based on the patent specification, the application within the industry, and within patent law requirements.

- Prior Art - Two levels of analysis: Triage & Detailed Analysis

Most large cases and complex patent evaluation benefit from two levels of analysis:

• 1st level: “Triage” – Identifies the primary technical differentiators of the invention over other art in the field. Using those technical differentiators, eComp can quickly identify the scope and depth of prior art candidates. Triage is intended to provide a quick estimate of what will be required in the second level of analysis so that the client can make decisions.
• 2nd level: “Detailed analysis” – applying the best and fewest prior art examples to meet the limitations.

- Software Project Analysis

eComp has consulted and testified in many cases involving software vendor disputes, software trade secrets, software licensing and contracts. An example of the analysis and expertise in this area would be:

• Determine if deliverables met the software contract terms
• Software comparison using Altai and Whelan tests
• Evaluate project management
• Quantify due diligence of both parties according to industry practices

- Deposition and Testimony

Good deposition and testimony usually start with good expert reports. Clear and definitive arguments in an expert report are generally the first step in preparing a good deposition and testimony. eComp knows the characteristics of a good testifying expert versus a good consulting expert. Our testifying experts always perform adequate preparation, know the material, and prepare for specific lines of questioning.

- Special Services for multi-defendant cases

When patent cases involve multiple defendants, eComp utilizes special case management techniques to create better analysis and opinions for less cost than individual defendants. This methodology applies to both infringement and non-infringement positions. This method developed by eComp includes:

• Using early identification of commonality and differences across defendants with “concept driven” contentions vs. claim driven arguments.
• The concept driven contentions make analysis of the accused systems more rigorous and efficient, especially across multiple defendant systems and processes.
• A specialized database manages cross-references with concepts & terms, claims, contentions, and citings. This makes the addition, refinement, and substitution of arguments much easier across multiple defendants.

Litigation Support Services

eComp Consultants testifying experts always perform adequate preparation, know the material, and prepare for specific lines of questioning. Clear and definitive arguments in an expert report are generally the first step in preparing a good deposition and testimony.

eComp implemented a specialized database for managing the large set of infringement and non-infringement arguments. Cross referencing all information in the database made the addition, refinement, and substitution much easier to manage across multiple defendants. Testifying expert in web search engines and auction of search keywords, on e-commerce and online leasing transactions and on non-infringement and invalidity.

Areas of Expertise

Additional Expertise:

Computer Security, Internet, Networking, Software Engineering, Telephony, Utilities, Video, Wireless Technology.

Profile

eComp Consultants has been providing intellectual property consulting and litigation support in the areas of internet technology, telecommunications and information technology for nine years. Ivan Zatkovich founded the company in 2000 when he began providing expert services. Today he serves as principal consultant providing expert services and leadership for the companies testifying and consulting experts.

eComp consists of a collaborative staff of senior industry experts and executives that can provide full lifecycle services including technology research, expert reports, deposition, trial testimony plus follow-up consulting for implementation of judgments. We specialize in multi-defendant cases and have developed a special case management technique to create better analysis, opinion for less cost than individual defendants.

eComp Consultants advises attorneys and their clients on the technical aspects of patent infringement and portfolio valuation. Our services include prior art analysis, non-infringement rebuttal, validity and invalidity evaluation, and markman/claim construction support. Expert reports are produced outlining the details of the analysis in understandable and concise language with clear opinions and conclusions. Our highly skilled experts provide objective but compelling depositions and testimony.

Major consultant and testifying cases include: Ronald A. Katz (multiple defendant Call Center litigation), IBM v. Amazon.com (eCommerce technology), TGIP v. AT&T, et.al. (pre-paid wireless and calling cards), Pay for position v. Google, et.al. (search engine and auction technology). Refer to the eComp Consultants website for more case details.

Areas Served

All States and International

eComp Consultants in the Social Networks

LinkedIn

Professional Experience

Ivan Zatkovich has 28 years of experience in computer science, computer networks, and software engineering. He has provided consulting services for corporations such as McGraw-Hill, Deusche Telecom, Citicorp, GEICO, and Amazon.com. Mr. Zatkovich is also an industry speaker and has 9 years experience providing expert testimony for intellectual property litigation in telecommunications, e-commerce, web publishing standards and software copyright cases. He has participated in over 30 cases providing expert reports, depositions, and trial testimony.

Licenses

Certified eCommerce Solutions Expert, IBM Websphere
Capabilities Maturity Model, US Department of Defense
Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute

Legal Experience & Services

eComp Consultants has provided technical and prior art analysis, expert reports, deposition and testimony in the following cases, among others:

- Patent Evaluation - Internet / Telecommunications
Patent Holding Consortium Consulting expert engaged to determine licensing and infringement potential for e-ticketing patent. Alcatel-Lucent Consulting expert engaged to evaluate prior art, licensing and infringement potential of 50 call center patents.

- Web Marketing Disputes
Testifying expert in search engine optimization and use of paid Ad-word searches. Provided analysis to determine use or mis-use of advertising keywords and estimated resulting damages, and possible misdirection of search engine by competitor.

- Internet Copyright
Testifying expert in media publishing practices, web content licensing and copyright.

- Software Contract Dispute
Provided expert report showing invalid contract termination, performance failure of software and failure to meet requirements.

- eDiscovery / Network Forensics
Testifying expert for e-discovery, email and data recovery in insurance claims case.

Major consultant and testifying cases include: Ronald A. Katz (multiple defendant Call Center litigation), IBM v. Amazon.com (eCommerce technology), TGIP v. AT&T, et.al. (pre-paid wireless and calling cards), Pay for position v. Google, et.al. (search engine and auction technology).

Affiliations

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Qualifications

Information Technology Director and Project Manager - 13 yrs
Responsible for up to $18 million in domestic and international software projects with leadership roles in system design, development and technical architecture.

Internet and e-Commerce - 8 yrs
Areas of expertise include commercial and storefront websites, e-marketing and personalization, search engine optimization, meta tag strategies, enterprise search engines, B2B and B2C portals, ERP and supply chain.

Telecommunications - 11 yrs.
Over 20 years experience working with computer telephony integration, call center, IVR, ACD, VoIP, and unified messaging.

Video, Multi-Media, Communications & Signal processing - 7 years
Video firmware, Media Streaming, Web publishing, Video on Demand. Developed early Ethernet signal collision detection, High speed parallel and serial communication drivers, analog to digital signal processing for peripheral and device control. (Digital Equipment Corporation, Tanning Technology, Utility partners)

Banking, Financial and Manufacturing - 3 yrs.
Provided e-business solutions and infrastructure consulting. Manufacturing experience includes CAD/CAM integration, manufacturing automation and ERP.

Expert Witness - 9 years
Expert testimony and damage assessment for ecommerce litigation, internet & software copyright, telecommunications. Over 24 cases providing expert reports, depositions, & trial testimony.

Publications

Publications & Presentations:

Industry Speaker: Internet Publishing standards (Momentum conference)
Department of Justice: Proposal for internet forensics technology
IBM Websphere – Certified ecommerce Solutions Expert
Byte Magazine – Published Network Design articles
Sync Magazine – Published Programming Techniques and Tutorials
IEEE SigGraph – Presented ICGS Computer Graphic Standards for IEEE SigGraph conference.
CMM & PMP – Project management methodologies
ISO and ANSI – On International ISO and National ANSI Committees for Disk and Media format standards