What Zilka-Kotab PC does

Zilka-Kotab, PC is a Silicon Valley-based intellectual property law firm co-founded by Kevin Zilka and Dominic Kotab that specializes in patent strategy, prosecution, licensing, and litigation support for high-technology clients. The firm maintains its headquarters in a 30,000+ square foot building at 1155 North 1st St in San Jose, deliberately proximate to the USPTO Silicon Valley Satellite Office to support examiner engagement. Zilka-Kotab operates with a small principal-led team (6 principals including Kevin Zilka, Dominic Kotab, Jamie Rossi, Britten Sessions, Derrick Breska, and Nick Breska, plus a patent agent), and serves a client base spanning Fortune 500 enterprises (IBM, NVIDIA, Amdocs, Monolithic Power Systems, Kofax, Clorox, EY Advisory), government research (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), mid-market firms (JustAnswer, Method Home), and a long tail of startups and prolific inventors.

The firm's core practice is built around high-technology patent prosecution, with cumulative issuance of more than 4,000 U.S. patents at an average of over 340 per year, and subject-matter depth across AI, robotics, semiconductors, advanced materials, energy storage, software, hardware, telecommunications, and computer-implemented business methods. Service offerings include patent strategy, IP assessment and portfolio launch, marketing patents, prior art searching, litigation support, defensive and offensive licensing, trademark services, and a proprietary Strategic Patent Management Tool (with patent applications pending) developed by the founders. Revenue is generated through professional services fees, with engagement economics supported by a targeted 2-4 week application draft turnaround and 24/7 responsiveness.

Go-to-market is direct enterprise and field sales to in-house counsel, CTOs, and founders, with no external channel partners and no publicly disclosed pricing. Marketing channels are limited to the firm website, individual attorney LinkedIn profiles, industry publications (e.g., Intellectual Property Today), and earned credibility through industry rankings (Juristat Top 10 for allowance rate in TC2600 and TC2100, IP Watchdog near Top 100, IAM300 World's Top IP Strategists, SuperLawyers). The firm is privately held with no disclosed outside investment, no parent company, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Zilka-Kotab PC

Legal name

Zilka-Kotab, PC

Website

https://zilkakotab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zilka-Kotab, PC is a Silicon Valley-based intellectual property law firm specializing in patent strategy, prosecution, licensing, and litigation support for high-technology clients ranging from Fortune 500 enterprises to startups and inventors, with 4,000+ U.S. patents issued to date.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Law / Patent Prosecution Services

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro primary industry

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

IP Search, Watch & Competitive Intelligence (BPAHAMAI)

Keywords

• Patent prosecution services
• Intellectual property law
• Patent strategy consulting
• Trademark registration services
• IP portfolio management

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Patent Procurement: Full-service intellectual property law firm providing patent strategy, drafting, and prosecution services. Revenue is generated through professional legal services fees.
2. IP Assessment and Portfolio Launch Services: Services to help companies build and manage patent portfolios from inception, including disclosure collection and periodic follow-up assessments.
3. Licensing Services: Both defensive and offensive IP licensing support, including identifying defensive patent trading chips and extracting value from patent portfolios.
4. Litigation Support Services: Support services to in-house counsel and litigators including complex portfolio analysis for defensive counter-claims.
5. Trademark Services: Regular trademark filing and counsel services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Zilka-Kotab, PC is an intellectual property law firm that procures and manages patents for high-technology companies, providing patent strategy, drafting, prosecution, prior art searching, licensing, litigation support, and trademark services. The firm also offers IP assessment and patent portfolio launch services that help startups build programs from inception, along with patent-specific marketing support aimed at communicating portfolio value to investors and consumers.

Product overview

Zilka-Kotab PC is an intellectual property law firm, not a technology product company. It offers a suite of legal and consulting services centered around patent procurement, strategy, and management. The firm's services include Patent Strategy, IP Assessment/Patent Portfolio Launch, Marketing Patents, Prior Art Searching, Litigation Support, Licensing, Trademarks, and Cost-Effective Patent Prosecution. The firm also developed its own proprietary Strategic Patent Management Tool to support its patent strategy services. These services are designed to help clients build, manage, and monetize patent portfolios aligned with their business objectives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patent Strategy Services Strategic patent portfolio development and management services, including full-scale strategic patent initiatives designed to organize and align clients' patent portfolios with the activities of their competitors. Targeted at high-technology companies seeking patents built to withstand modern legal challenges.
• IP Assessment and Patent Portfolio Launch Services Service offering that helps companies build patent programs from ground zero to strategically constructed portfolios, including disclosure collection and periodic follow-up assessments. Targeted at startups and companies establishing new IP programs.
• Marketing Patents Services Generation of patent-specific marketing information and assessments designed to communicate with consumers and investors, emphasizing key aspects of clients' patent portfolios. Targeted at companies needing to demonstrate IP value to investors or customers.
• Prior Art Searching Services Patentability searches and comprehensive invalidity searches conducted using leading cross-collection databases to support patent prosecution and to defuse patent suits. Targeted at in-house counsel and litigators needing technical and legal prior art analysis.
• Litigation Support Services Support services for in-house counsel and litigators, including complex patent portfolio analysis used for defensive counter-claims and identification of defensive trading chips. Includes a case example of mining a portfolio of over 100 patents to identify defensive trading chips.
• Licensing Services IP licensing support on both offensive and defensive sides, including extracting value from patent portfolios and providing defensive responses to licensing requests. Targeted at companies seeking to monetize patents or defend against assertions.
• Trademark Services Regular trademark filing and related counsel services delivered as part of the firm's full-service intellectual property law offerings. Targeted at clients needing trademark prosecution in addition to patent services.
• Cost-Effective Patent Prosecution Full-service intellectual property handling at competitive pricing, featuring a 2-4 week target turnaround for patent application drafts and 24/7 responsiveness to client needs. Targeted at clients seeking high-volume or fast-turn patent prosecution.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,000th U.S. patent issued with average of over 340 patents per year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Harrity & Harrity: Mid-sized patent prosecution boutique with a strong focus on electrical engineering and software patents. Closely comparable boutique model, similar TC2100 specialization, and competing for similar high-tech and startup clients.
• Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox: Washington D.C.-based patent prosecution and litigation boutique specializing in electrical, software, and biotech technologies. Comparable boutique scale with strong TC2100/2600 prosecution credentials and enterprise technology clients.

Broad incumbents

• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati: Premier Silicon Valley law firm with significant IP practice serving technology companies from startups to F500. Competes for the same high-tech patent prosecution work but with extensive corporate, litigation, and venture practices.
• Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner: Minneapolis-based IP boutique with one of the largest patent prosecution practices in the U.S. Comparable focus on software/EE technologies and similar ranking-driven culture, but with substantially greater scale.
• Finnegan: Premier IP boutique with deep patent prosecution capabilities across electrical and software technologies. Comparable client base (F500 tech companies) and prosecution focus, but with a much larger attorney roster and international reach.
• Oblon: Large IP-focused firm with deep patent prosecution capabilities and a roster of senior patent attorneys. Competes for high-volume technology prosecution work but offers broader IP services including litigation and PTAB practice.
• Cooley LLP: Major tech-focused full-service law firm with a substantial patent prosecution practice. Serves many of the same enterprise technology and startup clients (especially in Silicon Valley) but offers broad corporate, litigation, and regulatory capabilities.
• Fish & Richardson: One of the largest IP-focused law firms in the U.S. with ~400 attorneys and offices nationwide. Directly competes for high-tech patent prosecution work in TC2100 and TC2600, but at significantly greater scale and with broader geographic coverage.
• Knobbe Martens: Major IP boutique headquartered in Irvine, CA with strong patent prosecution practice in semiconductors, software, and medical devices. Overlaps with Zilka-Kotab's TC2100/2600 focus and serves many of the same enterprise technology clients.

Others

• IPWatchdog (Juristat): Not a law firm but the primary industry data provider whose rankings (Top Patent Firms, Juristat TC rankings) underpin Zilka-Kotab's marketing claims. Relevant as the analytics platform that defines competitive positioning in the patent prosecution market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zilka-kotab-pc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zilka-Kotab PC