Banner Witcoff

On April 14, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sua sponteordered an en banc hearing on whether the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., should cause the appeals court to “overrule Jazz Photo Corp. . . . to the extent it ruled that a sale of a patented item outside the United…

Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, visited Chicago on April 16 to discuss current developments and topics in patent law and policy. Banner & Witcoff shareholder Richard S. Stockton played a key role in organizing the program, which included a roundtable discussion between…

H. Wayne Porter discusses several ways post-grant reviews differ from other types of contested patent proceedings in his article, “The Role of Post-Grant Reviews in Patent Challenges Before the PTAB.” Please click here to read the article.

Steve S. Chang discusses the issues and outcomes in lawsuits filed by former collegiate athletes in the article, “Face Value: Where’s My NCAA Football Game?” in the March/April 2015 issue of Landslide magazine. Please click here to read the article.

SUPREME COURT MARKS TTAB DECISIONS AS HAVING PRECLUSIVE EFFECT By R. Gregory Israelsen On March 24, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States held in B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc., that some decisions by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) may have a preclusive effect on judgments by federal district courts.…

In the March 2015 issue of Intellectual Property Today, Banner & Witcoff ranks as a “Top Patent Firm.” The firm also ranks No. 1 for design patents. Please click here for the complete list of rankings.

Helen Hill Minsker discusses the significance of the Supreme Court’s ruling in trademark case B&B Hardware Inc. v. Hargis Industries Inc. in Law360. Please click here to read the article, “Attorneys React to Supreme Court’s TTAB Preclusion Ruling.” A subscription is required.

Banner and Witcoff is recognized in Vault’s Top 150 Under 150, an inaugural list that highlights the best small and midsized firms with 150 or fewer attorneys. Vault, a comprehensive resource for employer, university and internship program rankings, ratings and insight, developed the Top 150 Under 150 to provide information to students and lateral candidates…

Actionable Intelligence, a publication that covers the digital printer, MFP, copier and supply industry, discusses Timothy C. Meece’s oral argument on behalf of client Lexmark International, Inc., in “Federal Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in Lexmark v. Impression Products.” In its March 19, 2015 article, Actionable Intelligence provides background of the case, which is an appeal…

FEDERAL CIRCUIT CONSIDERS WHETHER ITC CAN PROPERLY EXCLUDE IMPORTED PRODUCTS THAT ONLY INFRINGE AFTER IMPORTATION By Erin E. Bryan On February 5, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sitting en banc heard oral arguments in Suprema, Inc. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, Fed. Cir., No. 2012‐1170, a case involving the ability of the…