Banner Witcoff, Ltd. is an American law firm that specializes in the practice of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, computer franchise and unfair competition law. The firm engages in the procurement, enforcement and litigation of intellectual property rights throughout the world, including all federal and state agencies, and the distribution of such rights through leasing and franchising. The firm has approximately 125 attorneys and agents in its Chicago, IL; Washington, DC; Boston, MA; and Portland, OR offices.

History

Banner Witcoff traces its history from 1920, in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. The company's name was chosen when two regional intellectual property law firms, Allegretti & Witcoff and Banner, Birch, McKie & Beckett, joined forces to create a national firm. The firm opened the Chicago office of Banner & Witcoff in 1937. Subsequent offices were opened in Washington, DC (1960), Boston, MA (1985) and Portland, OR (1997). In 2021, the firm announced the election of firm president, Binal Patel.

Diversity

The firm has offered the Donald W. Banner Diversity Scholarship for Law Students annually since 2008.

Practice Groups

It has groups specializing in practicing: copyrights, design patents, jury trials, licensing, litigation, patent prosecution, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Notable cases

Banner Witcoff has represented clients in landmark intellectual property law cases, including

New York Times Co. v. Tasini ''New York Times Co. v. Tasini'', 533 U.S. 483 (2001), is a leading decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of copyright in the contents of a newspaper database. It held that ''The New York Times'', in licensing back issues of the ...

and

Diamond v. Chakrabarty ''Diamond v. Chakrabarty'', 447 U.S. 303 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with whether living organisms can be patented. Writing for a five-justice majority, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger held that human-made bacteria could ...

. ''New York Times Co.'' v. Tasini (2001) is a leading decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of copyright in the content of a newspaper database. Tasini held that ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' could not license articles appearing in the newspaper that were written by freelance journalists.

Justice Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...

wrote the 7–2 ruling in favor of the freelance writers, who were represented by Banner & Witcoff. In

(1980) the U.S. Supreme Court held for the first time that a living, genetically-altered microorganism constituted patentable subject matter. The Chakrabarty decision spurred new interest in patents, particularly in the then-nascent biotechnology industry. Diamond v. Chakrabarty was a pivotal decision that has led to numerous breakthroughs in medical therapies, the development of bioengineered plants and food, and the issuance of thousands of patents. Banner & Witcoff was one of several law firms representing Chakrabarty.

Notable attorneys and alumni

* Donald W. Banner, a founding member of Banner Witcoff, former U.S. Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, former Chair of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

Section of IP Law, former President of the

American Intellectual Property Law Association The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, is a U.S., voluntary bar association constituted primarily of lawyers in private and corporate practice, in government service, and i ...

, former President of the International Patent and Trademark Association, Co-founder and President of the

Intellectual Property Owners Association {{single source, date=July 2012 The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) is a trade association that is composed of owners of intellectual property, represented mostly by in-house corporate counsel and private practice attorneys practici ...

, United States delegate to numerous international diplomatic conferences. He was the first American to receive the Pacific Industrial Property Association Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Intellectual Property Field. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Sedona Conference for his dedication to the practice of intellectual property law and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also opera ...

. * Mark T. Banner, Former Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law. * Darrell G. Mottley, Former President of the D. C. Bar, former Chair of the District of Columbia Bar's Council on Sections. * Joseph M. Potenza, Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law, former Publications Officer and Chair of the Content Advisory Board for the ABA-IPL Section, former Federal Circuit representative for the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.

Reputation and awards

* Banner Witcoff is ranked as a top Illinois trademark firm in the 2021 edition of the ''World Trademark Review 1000''. * The 2021 edition of Chambers and Partners listed Banner Witcoff as an intellectual property law firm, with a Band 2 ranking for patent prosecution in the District of Columbia and Band 2 for intellectual property law in Illinois. * Banner Witcoff is ranked in the 2021 edition of IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals. The firm was ranked among the top firms nationally for patent prosecution. It also ranks the firm for litigation and patent prosecution in Illinois. Additionally, the firm was ranked for litigation and recommended for patent prosecution in Washington, D.C. * Banner Witcoff's patent and patent prosecution practices were "recommended" and "highly recommended" in Managing IP's 2021 edition of IP Stars. Additionally, IP Stars “highly recommended” the firm’s trademark practice in Illinois. Banner Witcoff is one of only six firms to be “highly recommended”— the guide’s highest recognition — in the category. *In the 2021 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms” Banner Witcoff received a National Tier 1 ranking in intellectual property litigation, patent litigation and patent law. * Banner Witcoff currently holds the record for the most U.S. design patents procured in a calendar year and has held that record for the past 18 years. * Banner Witcoff’s trademark practice was named by Managing Intellectual Property “2019 Trademark Contentious Firm of the Year” and “2019 Trademark Prosecution Firm of the Year” among Midwest law firms.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banner Witcoff Patent law firms Law firms based in Chicago Intellectual property law firms