Robert S. Schwartz

Bob Schwartz joined Constantine Cannon in October 2005 as a partner in the Washington Office. For three decades he has been a counselor and Washington advocate for consumer electronics and other technology companies, associations, and public policy coalitions. He focuses his practice on legislative and telecommunications matters, particularly those related to intellectual property, trade, investment, and antitrust.

Bob has extensive experience in forming and maintaining legislative coalitions. On behalf of consumer electronics manufacturers, Bob has played key roles in all legislative and regulatory issues related to home recording and copyright. He has played similar roles in coalitions and advocacy groups devoted to trade, investment and telecommunications issues.

Bob has been a drafter of key elements of major intellectual property and telecommunications legislation, including the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998; and Section 304 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — which mandates competition in the market for Cable Navigation Devices. He has been heavily involved in regulatory and other proceedings flowing out of these initiatives, especially in the Federal Communications Commission. In 1996 Bob was one of the founders of the Copy Protection Technical Working Group (CPTWG), an open forum for business people, engineers, and counsel from the electronics and entertainment industries that has resulted in the development of widely supported and licensed technologies for distribution and storage of digital media. He has represented clients in several other cross-industry, multi-national technical forums pertaining to new technologies, products, and systems.

Bob has served as outside counsel to several national associations and advises manufacturers and retailers on an individual basis. In 2003 he was inducted into the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers, one of the few lawyers to be inducted without having served in some capacity in the Congress or at the Federal Communications Commission. On many occasions he has spoken at industry technical forums, nationally and internationally, and has published articles on subjects as diverse as antitrust, international trade, and High Definition Television.

After serving a federal court clerkship in the District of Delaware, Bob served as a litigator in the Patent (later Intellectual Property) Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and has litigated important trade cases as well. In private practice he has given extensive counseling to overseas and domestic trade associations and companies, and has successfully defended major antitrust grand jury investigations.

Bob earned his bachelor’s degree, cum laude and with distinction, from Cornell University in 1971. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1974.

In his spare time Bob leads BSQ, The Bob Schwartz Quartet.  Their 2011 CD release, Tain’t Whatcha’ Do, is available on Amazon, CD Baby, etc. The Quartet’s web site is www.groovem.com. Through his music production company, Shebam Productions LLC, Bob is Executive Producer of the 2008 release, I Had The Craziest Dream – The Music of Harry Warren, and the 2010 release, Sing Me A Love Song – Harry Warren’s Undiscovered Standards, which features legendary vocalist Freda Payne.