Banner Witcoff

Erik Maurer and Alex Bruening analyze the United States Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) recent report: “More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Fair Competition and Innovation in Seed and other Agricultural Inputs.” The duo explores actions the USDA and the USPTO are taking to ensure that the intellectual property system incentivizes innovation in seed and other agricultural…

May 22, 2023 — Banner Witcoff proudly launched its 2023 summer associate program this month and welcomes nine law students to the Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices. The summer associate program is a key component of Banner Witcoff’s recruiting efforts offering law students the opportunity to work closely with attorneys, assist in a variety of…

The world of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)-related patents is new and complex. With the technology still developing and rapidly changing, it can be hard to keep-up. Banner Witcoff attorneys, who handle hundreds of different AI-related patents a year, wrote the guide (available here on Lexis Plus) which many other firms today use for drafting and prosecuting…

By Shambhavi Patel and Y. Michelle Zhang In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: sua sponte Director review to revive IPRs, institution of multiple petitions based on priority dispute, fixing service defects and more! Nothing Spontaneous About Reviving Five IPRs. Volvo Penta of the Americas, LLC…

Happy Star Wars Day, and May the 4th be with you! Banner Witcoff’s Brian Emfinger is celebrating by exploring the patent portfolio of Lucasfilm, Ltd., which holds a number of design and utility patents going back to the early 1980s. Lucasfilm’s first patent—a design patent—was for a toy figurine of Boba Fett, who made his…

Banner Witcoff is pleased to share that Binal Patel is among the honorees who will receive the 2023 Vanguard Award from the Chicago Bar on May 2. According to its website, The Vanguard Award honors individuals and institutions who have made the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community at…

Eleven Banner Witcoff attorneys have been selected for inclusion on the 2023 Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists for their work in intellectual property law. 2023 Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers Robert F. Altherr John R. Hutchins Robert S. Katz Fred M. Meeker Darrell G. Mottley Bradley C. Wright 2023 Washington, D.C. Rising Stars…

Starting in 2023, Robert Katz is now serving in two leadership roles for FIPCI: President of the US Chapter of FICPI and Vice President of the FICPI CET Committee.  Commenting on his appointment to president of the section, Rob said, “FICPI represents a critical constituency within the international IP industry. Since 1906, the organization has…

By Jordan Bodner and Scott Burow In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: references previously considered, enablement of amended claims, ownership challenge estoppel, discretionary denial and more! Reference not meaningfully addressed during prosecution. ironSource Ltd. v. Digital Turbine, Inc., PGR2022-00053, Paper 10 (March 17, 2023) (Ahmed,…

Managing IP ranked Banner Witcoff’s trademark practice in its 2023 edition of “IP Stars,” a guide to the world’s top intellectual property firms. IP Stars “highly recommended” the firm’s trademark practice in Illinois, the guide’s highest recognition. Banner Witcoff is one of only seven firms to be “highly recommended” in the category, and is placed…