Banner Witcoff

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…

Banner Witcoff honors Black History Month by celebrating and sharing the stories of four notable Black inventors. We invite you to continue to learn about the many Black inventors who have impacted the way we live by clicking here. Lewis Howard Latimer Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts to parents who had escaped…

By Zachary Getzelman and Daniel Moon In this installment of the PTAB Highlights, Banner Witcoff examines recent decisions at the PTAB featuring: the reach of a POSITA’s knowledge, evidence of industry praise, supporting numerical ranges, and more!POSITAs are never so regimented that their knowledge can’t switch regimes. Becton, Dickinson and Company v. Sage Products, LLC,…

Banner Witcoff’s newly elected president, Janice Mitrius, spoke with Law360 Pulse about her time at Banner Witcoff, the firm’s strategy moving forward, its diversity initiatives, and its culture. Read the full article by clicking here.