Direct: 312.655.1500
Fax: 312.655.1501

A. Sidney Katz

Partner

As Managing Partner of the firm’s Chicago office and chair of the national intellectual property group, Sidney is engaged in client counseling, licensing and litigation concerning all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, trademarks and copyrights. He has received significant recognition for his work in the protection of computer programs and video games under copyright laws.

Sidney has served as a patent expert in numerous patent infringement lawsuits. He is also an accomplished lecturer at conferences and seminars sponsored by groups such as the Patent Resources Group, the U.S. Trademark Association Forum, the Practicing Law Institute, the Conference of the Computer Law Association and the Second International Conference of the Japanese Amusement Machine Manufacturers in Tokyo.

Sidney’s background includes serving as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent Office and as an electrical engineering technician with Filmotype Corp. After law school, Sidney was an Associate in Chicago with the late Leonard G. Nierman and a partner in the Chicago firm of Fitch, Even, Tabin, Flannery & Welsh, where he practiced 15 years before co-founding Welsh & Katz in 1983. He was the Managing Partner of Welsh & Katz from 1991 to 2008, when the firm merged with Husch Blackwell.

Awards & Recognitions

  • Chambers USA, Intellectual Property Law (Illinois), 2009, 2011
  • Crain’s, Top 100 Lawyers in Illinois, Intellectual Property Law
  • Illinois Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property Law, 2005-2012
  • Illinois Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property Law, Top 100, 2009
  • Leading Lawyers, Intellectual Property Law
  • Patent Resources Group, Award of Distinction for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Intellectual Property Law, 1982
  • Who’s Who in America
  • Who’s Who in American Law
  • Who’s Who in the World

Professional Associations & Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • Association of Patent Law Firms, President, 1999; Treasurer, 1998; Emeritus Board, 2000-2007
  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
  • Institute for Transnational Arbitration, Associate Member
  • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago
  • The IP Litigator, Advisory Board
  • International Trademark Association, mediator on Panel of Neutrals, 2005-present
  • Licensing Executives Society
  • The Licensing Journal, Advisory Board
  • Mealey’s Litigation Reports on Intellectual Property, Advisory Board

Civic Involvement

  • American Friends of Hebrew University, board member, 1997-present; Executive Committee, Midwest Chapter, 1999-present
  • The George Washington University Law School IP Advisory Board
  • Hebrew University, International Board of Governors, 2007-present; honorary fellow, 2008
  • Standard Club of Chicago
  • Union League Club of Chicago