McAndrews’ Christopher V. Carani Participates in USPTO’s Trademark and Design Patent Forum in Chicago
06.03.15
McAndrews, Held & Malloy Shareholder Christopher V. Carani was one of the featured panelists at the USPTO’s Trademark and Design Patent Forum in Chicago on Monday, June 1, 2015. The event was hosted by Catalyze Chicago, and addressed intellectual property topics relevant to IP practitioners, start-ups and small businesses.
The Forum began with Mary Boney Denison, USPTO Commissioner for Trademarks, discussing current trends in trademark law and policy. Following, Dr. Christal Sheppard, Director of the Elijah J. McCoy USPTO in Detroit, Michigan, facilitated the subsequent panel discussion.
Panelists included:
- Rick Biagi, Neal & McDevitt (Representing the International Trademark Association)
- Christopher V. Carani, McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd.
- David Fleming, Brinks Gilson & Lione
- Uli Widmaier, University of Chicago Law School
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Christopher V. Carani, Esq., a McAndrews shareholder, counsels clients on a wide range of strategic design protection and enforcement issues. He is the immediate past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Design Rights Committee, and the past chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Committee on Industrial Designs. He has litigated numerous disputes regarding design rights and has served as a legal consultant and expert witness in design law cases in a wide range of industries, including consumer electronics and accessories, consumer retail products, furniture, medical devices, apparel, footwear, and sporting goods, to name a few. In addition, Carani has authored amicus briefs for landmark U.S. design patent cases, such as Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa, Lawman Armor Corp. v. Winner Int’l LLC, Calmar, Inc. v. Arminak & Assoc. and Richardson v. Stanley Works, Inc. Carani earned an engineering degree from Marquette University and a law degree from the University of Chicago, and went on to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Rebecca Pallmeyer at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is a registered patent attorney and licensed to practice before the USPTO.
Carani is a frequent contributor to CNN on intellectual property law issues, and is often called upon to provide commentary to other major media outlets, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NPR, PBS TV, CNBC TV, BBC, Bloomberg TV, and Reuters. Away from the law, Chris is a studied jazz musician who plays upright bass on the Chicago jazz circuit. Follow Carani (@ccarani) on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccarani.