Christopher Galfano
Attorney
Chicago, IL
cgalfano@bannerwitcoff.com Main: 312.463.5000 Fax: 312.463.5001
Chris focuses his practice on preparing and prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical arts, computer-electrical innovations, software, chemical sciences, life sciences and biotechnology. Representative technologies include aircraft ordnance release systems, nuclear powered batteries for aerospace vehicles, chemical compositions for the preservation of whole blood sample antibodies, gene editing and related therapies, vaccines, devices directed to nerve regeneration, photomechanical treatment of skin pigmentations and pigmented lesions, systems and methods for the ablation of undesirable cellular tissue such as cancerous or non-cancerous tumors, cranial intervention devices, synthetic cannabinoid compounds, and genetically modified tobacco plants. Chris has also assisted with the prosecution of dietary and food supplement patent applications.
Chris also has experience in procuring design patents and providing counseling on patent infringement risks and strategies for reducing such risks, as well as preparing freedom-to-operate, non-infringement and invalidity opinions for utility and design patents.
Additionally, Chris has participated in all aspects of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings and won multiple IPR proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, invalidating all challenged claims in patents related to cable television systems and communication software, claims in a patent directed to using blue light to inactivate certain types of bacteria, and claims in a patent directed to chemical compositions for use in sealing automobile tires.
Prior to joining Banner Witcoff, Chris served in the United States Marine Corps as an F/A-18D and F-15E Weapon Systems Officer and Forward Air Controller. He is a graduate of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, TOP GUN, and has conducted multiple overseas deployments, including combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Chris is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and the NDIA IP Working Group (IPWG). The NDIA IPWG helps him focus on defense companies and government contractors and helping the Defense Industrial Base with patents and intellectual property.
Chris earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property. While in law school, Chris served as a judicial extern for the Honorable William V. Gallo of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and is currently earning a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Aerospace Systems Engineering.
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United States Air Force Academy
B.S.
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Chicago - Kent College of Law
J.D., Cum Laude
Bar Admissions
- 2015, Illinois
- 2019, Idaho
- 2021, Texas
- 2022, Alabama
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
