Banner Witcoff

By Shawn M. Buchanan and Anthony Denis In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: evidentiary challenges and best practices, the Board’s treatment of late filings, the importance of clarity when combining analyses for independent and dependent claims, and more! Whodunnit doesn’t matter. Medtronic Vascular, Inc. et al.…

By Simon Lasker and Craig Kronenthal In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: several Director review decisions, PTAB jurisdiction when a claim is invalidated in district court, procedures for obtaining adverse judgment, and more! Swaddling suit patent helps PTO Director put issue of first impression to…

Banner Witcoff was recognized in four categories for Managing IP’s annual MIP Americas Awards. Based on the firm’s successes in Patent Prosecution and Trademark Prosecution, the firm received nominations for: Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year (Northeast Region) Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year (Midwest Region) Banner Witcoff attorneys Frederic Meeker and Robert Katz also…

In the continued celebration of Black History Month, Banner Witcoff seeks to share unique stories, perspectives, and experiences with our community. Today we share a story from Benjamin Hogan, who works in our Washington, D.C. office. On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. What followed was rioting and…

Banner Witcoff’s Mercedes Meyer connected with Law360 about being a woman in IP law and how she has worked to bring female lawyers together. The article is part of Law360’s ongoing series of interviews with attorneys who have been on the front lines to make IP a more inclusive area of law. You can read…

Banner Witcoff attorney Anna King has been named a 2023 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow. Additionally, attorneys Janet Lee and Heather Smith-Carra were selected for the LCLD Pathfinder program. The Fellow program was launched in 2011 and is designed for diverse, high-potential mid-career attorneys to provide them with leadership training, professional and personal…

By Paul Qualey and Elizabeth Rielley In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: sanctions issued by the Director, expert credibility, unnecessary stipulations, and more! Abusing IPR proceedings leads to sanctions. OpenSky Industries, LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC., IPR2021-01064, Paper 127 (Feb. 3, 2023) (Vidal) (vacating an…

The European Patent Office (EPO) announced today that it is official—the highly anticipated Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary patent will go into effect on June 1, 2023.  Germany became the 17th EU Member State to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement when today it deposited its instrument of ratification of the UPC-Agreement (UPCA). Although…

Banner Witcoff is ranked as a top trademark firm in Illinois in the 2023 edition of World Trademark Review 1000 – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals. In addition to the firm-wide ranking, the guide recognized three Banner Witcoff attorneys: Anna King, Katie Laatsch Fink, and Richard Stockton – as leading practitioners for trademark prosecution and…