March 8, 2022 — Banner Witcoff, a national intellectual property law firm that procures, enforces, and litigates intellectual property rights throughout the world, announced that three new patent prosecutors have joined the Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices from Schiff Hardin.
Laura C. Brutman, Washington, D.C., joins as a Shareholder and will concentrate on patent prosecution and client counseling. She also advises clients on post-grant proceedings, license negotiations, due diligence, and litigation. Prior to law school, Laura was an electrical engineer for Polaroid Corporation. She designed and installed programmable logic controllers for film assembly machines. She also was a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office where she examined patent applications in a variety of arts, including medical imaging, business methods, language translators, and control systems.
Laura earned her B.S.E.E. from Boston University and her J.D. from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law.
Jay Bombien, Chicago, joins as Of Counsel and will focus his practice on patent prosecution. He has experience counseling clients on all types of patent-related matters while focusing on securing patent rights in electrical, computer, and mechanical technologies. He also prepares and prosecutes utility and design patent applications in the United States and internationally for a broad range of clients, from independent inventors and start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Jay earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and his J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.
Shawn M. Buchanan, Chicago, joins as Of Counsel and will focus on the preparation and prosecution of utility and design patent applications in the US and internationally, including Patent Cooperation Treaty applications. Shawn has over ten years of experience as an electrical engineer working in a variety of different technologies, which he is able to effectively leverage into his practice to focus on a wide range of patents. Shawn was also a patent examiner for the USPTO, where he examined patent applications for antenna technology.
Shawn earned his B.S.E.E. from the University of Illinois Chicago and his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law.
“We are thrilled to welcome Laura, Jay and Shawn to the firm as we are in a period of expansion,” said Banner Witcoff President Binal Patel. “They bring fresh talent and experience that will be of great value to our patent prosecution team and our clients.”
Patent prosecution was the impetus for Banner Witcoff’s founding in 1920, and it remains one of the cornerstones of our firm. We believe that the best patent litigators are those who have skills in patent prosecution, and that the finest prosecution skills are honed by experience in dealing with litigation matters. That’s why our patent prosecution activities center on the specialized technologies that our attorneys are uniquely trained and experienced to handle, such as biotechnology and electronics, and why we’re one of the world’s leading law firms in patent prosecution.
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About Banner Witcoff For 100 years, Banner Witcoff has been protecting IP and propelling business. Our team of seasoned litigators fiercely protects, enforces, and defends our clientele’s intellectual property and interests — all over the world. We pride ourselves on our vast knowledge of IP law, serving all its facets, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, and more. www.bannerwitcoff.com
Posted: March 9, 2022
