As Banner & Witcoff celebrates National Industrial Design Day, the firm also celebrates the achievements of clients who continue to inspire the world through their popular and prominent designs.
In 2017, Banner & Witcoff obtained 1,424 U.S. design patents, including design patents covering NIKE’s groundbreaking Zoom VaporFly marathon shoe and, on behalf of Microsoft, the first design patent ever granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office directed to a three-dimensional graphical user interface. According to the 2017 U.S. Design Patent Toteboard and confirmed by USPTO records, it was the second year in a row the firm obtained more than 1,000 U.S. design patents and the 15th year in a row the firm obtained more U.S. design patents than any other firm in the country.
In addition to protecting designs for NIKE and Microsoft, Banner & Witcoff increased the number of U.S. design patents obtained for Electrolux, Spectrum Brands, Toshiba, YETI Coolers, Yokohama Rubber and dozens more in 2017. The firm continued to expand its design patent practice and has now procured portfolios of 20 or more U.S. design patents for more than 40 different companies, as well as portfolios of 10 or more U.S. design patents for 50 different companies.
“Our clients continue to ramp up their efforts to create cutting-edge designs and in seeking to protect them,” said Robert S. Katz, a principal shareholder at Banner & Witcoff. “They call on us for our creativity, knowledge and vast experience in protecting their designs, and we are ecstatic to work with them.”
Banner & Witcoff has worked on design patents with NIKE, Toshiba and Shure since the 1980s, Microsoft since the 1990s, and Nokia and Electrolux since the early-to-mid-2000s. In the last decade alone, the firm obtained more than 9,000 U.S. design patents — a total that exceeds that of the next three highest law firms combined.
Banner & Witcoff also continues to lead in procuring international design patent portfolios. In addition to direct design filings in countries around the world, the firm has filed hundreds of design registrations in the World Intellectual Property Office, enabling protection in up to 66 contracting party countries of the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
About Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
A national intellectual property law firm with more than 100 attorneys and nearly 100 years of practice, Banner & Witcoff provides legal counsel and representation to the world’s most innovative companies. Our attorneys are known for having the breadth of experience and insight needed to handle complex patent, trademark and copyright issues as well as handle and resolve difficult disputes and business challenges for clients across all industries and geographic boundaries. For more information, please visit www.bannerwitcoff.com.
Please direct all media inquiries to Amanda Robert at (312) 463-5465 or arobert@bannerwitcoff.com.
Posted: March 5, 2018
