Roy Mankovitz

Mankovitz resided in Montecito, California, with his wife Dr. Kathleen Barry. He leaves behind three children, Jill Hurwitz, Alan Mankovitz and Andrea Mankovitz. In 2009, Mankovitz was named vice chair of the Board of Trustees at Antioch University in Santa Barbara, California. He died on July 10, 2011.

In 2005, Mankovitz founded Montecito Wellness, LLC, with his wife, Kathleen Barry, PhD. Montecito Wellness is an organization dedicated to research in the field of primary illness prevention, where he had researched and developed technology, products and processes, based on nature, to maintain a state of wellness. The first book he published on the subject is entitled The Wellness Project – A Rocket Scientist’s Blueprint for Health.

In 1998, Mankovitz founded Patentlab, LLC, devoted to researching, designing, patenting, and licensing his intellectual property. Mankovitz was continuing his entrepreneurial interests in the field of consumer electronics as co-founder, director, counsel, and Chief Strategy Officer for Web Tuner Corp., a Redmond, Washington, based high-tech startup devoted to the convergence of the internet and television viewing. He was also directing his entrepreneurial interests into the field of health by co-founding Berrynol, Inc. to promote his patented technology in the area of topical photo-protective preparations.

In 1991, Mankovitz joined a start-up company, Gemstar Development Corporation as its in-house intellectual property counsel, as well as a member of its research and development team. During his tenure, he became a director and officer, and built Gemstar into a patent powerhouse in the field of consumer electronics. One of their first projects was VCR Plus, built into virtually every VCR to simplify the recording process by replacing the old one, which was too complicated. Along the way, he assisted in developing the on-screen television guide, widely available from most cable companies, to replace the print guide provided in newspapers. Now, those electronic guides make it even easier to record programs using a digital recorder. Mankovitz was a named inventor in several patents in this area, and was also the inventor of technology that makes radio listening an interactive experience, a feature destined to be deployed by the broadcast industry.

From 1980 to 1991, Mankovitz was a member of several intellectual property law firms, including Reagin and King, Karon, Morrison and Savikas, and Christie Parker and Hale. From 2001 to 2005, Mankovitz assisted Acacia Research Corp. in refining their business model, aimed at protecting and monetizing the patent rights of companies and individuals, spawning an entire industry devoted to doing just that. He served as their senior vice president of intellectual property and provided licensing and litigation strategy to assist the company in acquiring and exploiting intellectual property portfolios.

In 1968, Mankovitz took a position as director of engineering at a division of Teledyne which produced electromechanical relays, where he developed and patented the first commercially produced solid state relays. His entry into the commercial world of electronics was based on a bold statement he made to the president of the company that he could develop a relay that had no moving parts, and hence not wear out. Mankovitz was hired to do just that, and the result was the formation of a new industry that produced solid state relays and circuit breakers to replace the old versions in critical applications. He guided the development of the product line to a multimillion-dollar division, with Teledyne becoming a leader in the field of solid state relays. Mankovitz was awarded several patents in the field.

Roy Jack Mankovitz (1941–2011) was an American entrepreneur. Mankovitz worked as a rocket scientist, lawyer, inventor, entrepreneur nature-based illness prevention researcher, and author. He also described himself as a disruptive innovator.