Banner Witcoff

In its article, “Law360 Reveals Largest IP Boutiques,” Law360 names Banner & Witcoff as one of the largest intellectual property boutique law firms in 2016. Law360 also points out that Banner & Witcoff experienced a 6.4 percent rise in attorney headcount in the past year. Please click here to read the article.

Ross A. Dannenberg discusses the importance of intellectual property protection in the April edition of the Russian magazine, Legal Insight. Mr. Dannenberg, who was in Moscow to present “IP Protection Strategies in the U.S. for Russian Companies” at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, also discusses Apple’s ongoing patent disputes and issues with patent trolls. Please click here to read…

Bradley J. Van Pelt examines when patent applicants may want to consider obtaining a continuation patent in the Law360 article, “4 Times To File A Continuation Patent Application.” In the article, Mr. Van Pelt explains that if prosecutors work with inventors to predict where technology is headed and capture that in their initial application, they will have more flexibility…

On March 15, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit entered judgment in favor of firm clients Skype Technologies S.A. and RTX Telecom A/S. The Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s March 2014 final decision in two inter partesreexaminations initiated by Skype Technologies and…

R. Gregory Israelsen offers his reaction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in In re Simon Shiao Tam in the April/May 2016 edition of World Trademark Review. The Federal Circuit reversed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s refusal to register THE SLANTS as entertainment in the form of a…

FEDERAL CIRCUIT PANEL NOT SWEET ON TC HEARTLAND’S PETITION TO CHANGE RULES FOR PATENT VENUE By R. Gregory Israelsen “Boy, doesn’t this feel like something a legislature should do?” So said Judge Moore on March 11 in the oral argument on the pending petition for a writ of mandamus in In re TC Heartland LLC.1…

PATENT AGENT PRIVILEGE CONFIRMED BY FEDERAL CIRCUIT By Ernest V. Linek Yesterday, in a 2-1 mandamus decision in the case In re Queens University, the Federal Circuit ordered the district court to withdraw its order compelling discovery of communications with non-attorney patent agents. The decision here recognizes “patent agent privilege:” [W]e find that the unique roles…

Banner & Witcoff client Airlite Plastics Co. has prevailed in defense of a patent infringement claim asserted by Phil-Insul Corp (d/b/a IntegraSpec) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The patent at issue relates to insulated concrete forms used to make energy efficient concrete buildings. The district court granted summary judgment of…

Banner & Witcoff represents the Licensing Executives Society in its effort to persuade the Supreme Court in Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC v. Michelle K. Lee that post-grant proceedings, including inter partes review, post-grant review and covered business method review, using the broadest reasonable interpretation standard, diminish the value of patents. The Supreme Court will hear…

Brian Emfinger discusses how stakeholders can approach Congress amid continuing uncertainty about subject matter eligibility and offer their suggestions for improving Section 101 in World Intellectual Property Review. Please click here for digital access to the article,”Clarity of thought: telling Congress how to improve §101.” (Subscription is required.) Please click here for a PDF of the article.