What Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. does

Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. is a national U.S. intellectual property law firm founded in 1923, headquartered in Chicago with offices in Washington D.C., Boston, and Portland. The firm focuses exclusively on IP services, organized across patent prosecution, patent litigation, PTAB post-grant proceedings, trademark portfolio management, copyright registration and enforcement, trade secret protection, design patents, Section 337/ITC litigation, jury trials, and appellate litigation. More than 90 attorneys and agents serve a client base that spans Fortune 500 multinationals, startups and emerging companies, and individual inventors, with active engagement managed across roughly 20,600 trademark applications for over 1,000 clients in 220+ countries.

The firm's core assets are human expertise and brand reputation rather than technology. It maintains differentiated credibility through 23 consecutive years as the top U.S. law firm for design patents, a sustained track record at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (IPR institution rate approximately 15% above the average institution rate and 4% above average invalidation rates at final decisions), and consistent recognition across Chambers USA, IAM Patent 1000, IAM Strategy 300, IP Stars, World Trademark Review 1000, Lawdragon 500, Super Lawyers, and Illinois Leading Lawyers. Senior practitioners include Life Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and faculty at George Mason University in patent trial practice and trade secret law. GTM is relationship-driven enterprise field sales: the firm positions itself as an extension of in-house IP departments and supports this with an industry library of thought leadership, Corporate IP Roundtables, WITCON Delivered on-site events, and conference presence at AIPLA and INTA.

Revenue is generated through professional services billed by the hour for litigation and matter-based work, with fixed fees on certain prosecution and portfolio management engagements. The firm is privately held as Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., has no parent company or external investors, and elects its president and board annually. Notable disclosed engagements span YETI, Orbia, Kimberly-Clark, Lexmark, Fiserv, Playboy, Toshiba, Shure, Wargaming, and Rogue Fitness. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

Legal name

Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

Website

https://bannerwitcoff.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Banner & Witcoff is a Chicago-founded (1923) national intellectual property law firm with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, and Portland, providing patent prosecution and litigation, PTAB proceedings, trademark portfolio management, copyright, and trade secret services to Fortune 500 companies, startups, and individual inventors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Legal Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trademark Prosecution & Brand Protection (BPAHAMAB), Copyright Services & Content Protection (BPAHAMAC)

Keywords

• Patent prosecution services
• Intellectual property law
• Patent litigation
• Trademark prosecution
• Copyright enforcement

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Intellectual Property: Banner Witcoff generates revenue through legal services including patent prosecution, IP litigation, trademark portfolio management, copyright enforcement, and related IP counseling. Services are billed primarily through hourly rates for litigation and matters, with fixed fees for certain prosecution and portfolio management services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Banner & Witcoff is an intellectual property law firm that procures, enforces, and litigates IP rights on behalf of corporate clients. Core offerings include patent prosecution, patent litigation (including PTAB post-grant proceedings and Section 337/ITC matters), trademark prosecution and global portfolio management, copyright registration and enforcement, trade secret protection, design patents, and related IP counseling and licensing. The firm manages more than 20,600 active trademark applications on behalf of over 1,000 clients across 220+ countries.

Product overview

Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. is a national intellectual property law firm providing legal services rather than technology products. The firm offers a comprehensive suite of intellectual property legal services organized by practice area, including: Patent Prosecution (preparing and prosecuting patent applications), Patent Litigation (enforcing and defending patents in court), Trademark Services (managing, growing, prosecuting, and enforcing global trademark portfolios), Copyright Registrations and Enforcement (securing copyright registrations and litigating copyright matters), Trade Secrets protection, Design Patents, PTAB Litigation (Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings), Section 337/ITC Litigation, Jury Trials, and Appellate Litigation. The firm manages over 20,600 active trademark applications and registrations on behalf of over 1,000 clients. Additionally, the firm offers WITCON Delivered events for IP education and networking, and MyIPLaw, an online interactive overview of intellectual property law. The firm does not operate a software product platform but provides legal counsel as a service offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patent Prosecution Preparing and prosecuting patent applications before the USPTO and in foreign jurisdictions, covering utility, design, and mechanical/software/chemical/life sciences subject matter, on behalf of corporate and emerging-company clients.
• Patent Litigation Enforcing and defending patents in district court, including jury trial representation and appellate work, for clients such as Kimberly-Clark, Orbia, Lexmark, and Fiserv across chemical processes, consumer products, toner cartridges, and electronic banking technologies.
• PTAB Litigation (IPR and Post-Grant Proceedings) Representation in Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, including inter partes reviews (IPRs), with reported IPR institution rates 15% above industry average and patent invalidation rates 4% above average at final decision for petitioners. Frederic M. Meeker has served as lead counsel in over 170 IPRs.
• Trademark Prosecution and Global Portfolio Management Managing, growing, prosecuting, and enforcing global trademark portfolios for over 1,000 clients across 220+ countries, covering more than 20,600 active trademark applications and registrations for clients including YETI, Playboy Enterprises International, Toshiba Corp., Shure Incorporated, Wargaming, and Coulter Ventures/Rogue Fitness.
• Copyright Registrations and Enforcement Securing copyright registrations and litigating copyright matters, including defenses against contributory copyright liability claims.
• Trade Secrets Protection Advising clients on trade secret protection and enforcement, including advisory roles for foreign government delegations on trade secret legislation (e.g., Ukraine, via the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program).
• Design Patent Prosecution and Litigation Prosecution and enforcement of design patents across mechanical, consumer product, and industrial designs. Banner Witcoff has been recognized as the top U.S. law firm for design patents for 23 consecutive years.
• Section 337/ITC Litigation Section 337 investigations and litigation at the U.S. International Trade Commission as part of the firm's IP litigation portfolio.
• Appellate Litigation Appellate representation in IP matters, including at the Federal Circuit, building on shareholder experience as Global Fellows of the Federal Circuit Bar Association.
• Counseling, Opinions and Licensing Strategic IP counseling, written opinions, and licensing transactions, including freedom-to-operate analyses and post-grant strategy.
• Brand Protection and Counterfeit Goods Seizure Enforcement against counterfeit goods through seizure actions and brand protection programs for major consumer brands.
• Jury Trials Trial representation in patent and IP disputes tried to juries in U.S. district courts.
• WITCON Delivered Corporate IP Events Exclusive corporate IP events including the WITCON Delivered series held at client locations, providing IP education and networking for in-house counsel.
• MyIPLaw Online IP Law Overview Online interactive overview of intellectual property law offered by the firm.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15% above average IPR institution rate at PTAB
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• U.S. Department of Commerce - Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP)notableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 July 2008Banner & Witcoff partners Dale H. Hoscheit, Frederic M. Meeker, and Joseph M. Skerpon were requested by CLDP to advise an official Ukrainian delegation on drafting new trade secret law for Ukraine. The firm provided expert advice on U.S. legislation and practice regarding trade secret protection and enforcement.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bannerwitcoff

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.