Banner & Witcoff remembers our friend and partner Mark T. Banner, one of the nation’s leading intellectual property law attorneys who died on December 30, 2007 in Tucson, Arizona. Mark, who was a partner with Banner & Witcoff for over three decades, focused his practice on the litigation of patent and trademark matters.
Mark was the lead trial counsel in many successful intellectual property trials from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s perspectives. He had a particular passion for jury trials of patent cases and computer-related technologies. Despite battling cancer for the last five years, Mark continued his involvement in litigation and counseling work.
“Mark made significant contributions to the field of intellectual property law. He was an extremely gifted attorney, a loyal partner, and a devoted friend. Mark was an integral part of the firm and will be greatly missed,” said Thomas K. Pratt, President of Banner & Witcoff.
Mark was a Past-Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law. He served as a member of the 16-lawyer Council of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law for many years. He was the past Editor of the ABA Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, and a past Contributing Editor of the Quarterly Journal of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He was a past chairman of the Illinois State Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law. He was named one of the top 10 lawyers in the state of Illinois as chosen through a peer balloting process involving 47,000 Illinois lawyers and through a research and review panel organized by Law & Politics magazine.
Mark frequently lectured on patent law, patent trials, trade secrets, and other intellectual property matters. He served as a faculty member of the first National Institute of Trial Advocacy program specially designed to develop patent litigation trial skills. He was also an adjunct professor at the John Marshall Law School and the Georgetown Law Center, teaching courses on patent trial advocacy and enhanced use of technology in the trial of complex cases.
He was also a bar course administrator for the Master Class on Appellate Advocacy, taught by the Hon. Paul R. Michel, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, at the Center for Intellectual Property Law at the John Marshall Law School.
Read a tribute to Mark T. Banner written by his friend and partner, Joseph M. Potenza. This article was originally published by the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law.
Posted: December 30, 2008
