Practice Summary
Karl devotes a significant amount of his time to writing and reviewing infringement and validity opinions on patents, particularly in the area of molecular genetics, and has served as an expert witness. His practice also encompasses advising clients regarding the development of intellectual property portfolios, preparing and prosecuting U.S. patent applications and foreign patent matters, invention and trade secrecy issues, and consulting and licensing agreements covering many biological, chemical and medical device technologies. Karl represents a wide range of clients including pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, universities, and research institutions.

Following completion of his studies in Chemistry at Tulane University and award of his J.D. degree from Nova University, Karl practiced patent law in Tokyo, Japan for over two years, and has lectured on patent law in the U.S. and Japan. His published works include papers in English and Japanese, such as: “Distinguishing Products of Nature from Products Derived from Nature,” 69 J. Pat. & Tm. Office Society 415, 1987; “Contributory Infringement and the Molecular Biologist,” 70 J. Pat. & Tm. Office Society 237, 1988; The Reverse Doctrine of Equivalents in the World of Reverse Transcriptase,” 71 J. Pat. & Tm. Office Society 353, 1989; “Reversing In re Ruscetta,” 71 J. Pat. & Tm. Office Society 814, 1989; “Patenting DNA - Obviousness Rejections,” 74 J. Pat. & Tm. Office Society 750, 1992; “Commercial Implications of In re Bell--A Landmark Decision on Patenting DNA in the U.S.,” 3 Financial Times #57, June 4, 1994; “Patent Strategies in Molecular Diversity,” Annual Reports in Combinatorial Chemistry and Molecular Diversity, Volume 1, pp. 298 313, 1997; and “Patent Tactics in Molecular Diversity,” Molecular Diversity, Volume 3, pp. 235-246, 1998.

Prior to establishing his own firm, Karl worked for several years as in-house counsel for Agrigenetics Corporation, an agricultural bio-engineering company, and simultaneously pursued graduate studies in molecular genetics at Case Western Reserve and Cleveland State Universities. In addition, he studied under Professor Irving Kayton at George Washington University and completed his thesis to receive an LLM. degree in Intellectual Property Law in 1985. Karl subsequently spent several years each at prominent Bay Area law firms Morrison & Foerster and Fish & Richardson as a patent attorney and partner before starting Bozicevic, Field & Francis in 1997.

Karl is a “Visiting Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University” and a member of multiple state Bar Associations. He has practiced patent law since 1978.