Practice Expertise

  • Intellectual Property
  • Intellectual Property Licensing
  • Privacy, Data Protection & Internet ...
  • International Business

Areas of Practice

  • Intellectual Property
  • Intellectual Property Licensing
  • International Business
  • Privacy, Data Protection & Internet ...
  • Intellectual Property Acquisitions
  • Trademark Procurement/Management & Copyright
  • View More

Profile

Joe focuses his practice on trademark, copyright and licensing matters. He supervises trademark searching, filing, maintenance and protection programs for a number of multinational companies. He has worked on numerous acquisitions and divestitures involving intellectual property. Client counseling is a major focus of his practice.

He received a B.A. degree with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Dayton in 1972. He received a J.D., with honors, from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1975.

Upon admission to the Ohio bar, Joe practiced in the private and corporate sectors for several years. Since 1978, he has practiced exclusively in the field of intellectual property, specializing in trademark and copyright matters. He was a founding partner of Killworth, Gottman, Hagan & Schaeff in 1985, which grew to be Dayton, Ohio’s largest intellectual property firm before its merger with Cincinnati-based Dinsmore in 2003.

Joe currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton School of Law. He taught as an adjunct at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law during 2003. He has lectured on intellectual property matters at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Wright State University, the University of Dayton and Sinclair Community College. He has served on the faculties of a number of continuing legal education programs.

Bar Admissions

    Ohio

Court Admissions
    U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
    U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

Education

  • The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (J.D., with honors, 1975)
  • University of Dayton (B.A., 1972)

Areas of Practice

  • Intellectual Property
  • Intellectual Property Licensing
  • International Business
  • Privacy, Data Protection & Internet Technologies
  • Intellectual Property Acquisitions
  • Trademark Procurement/Management & Copyright

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
  • Peer Review Rated AV in Martindale-Hubbell
  • Ohio Super Lawyers®
  • Best Lawyers® 
    • "Lawyer of the Year" in Dayton for Litigation - Intellectual Property (2015, 2017) 
    •  Litigation - Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patent and Trademark Law (2022,2024)


Professional Associations
  • American Bar Association
  • Ohio State Bar Association
    • House of Delegates, past member
    • Legal Assistants Committee, past chairman
  • Dayton Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • International Trademark Association 
  • The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, adjunct professor (2003)
  • University of Dayton School of Law, adjunct professor (1983-1997, 2010, 2015 - present)
  • INVENTING FLIGHT Centennial Celebration, Dayton, Ohio, intellectual property counsel (1999 - 2004)



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