Christopher V. Carani
Shareholder
McAndrews Held & Malloy

Mr. Carani is nationally recognized in the field of design law, regarding the protection and enforcement of aesthetic design through the use of design patents, copyrights and trade dress. A registered attorney before the USPTO, Mr. Carani secures and enforces design rights for some of the world’s most design-centric companies and designers. He has litigated design right cases in subject matter areas ranging from footwear and apparel to medical devices and furniture. In 2016, IAM Magazine included Mr. Carani in its IAM 1000 referring to him as one of the U.S.’s “pre-eminent design law experts.” He is currently the Chair of the AIPPI Design Rights Committee and former Chair of both the ABA’s Design Rights Committee and AIPLA Committee on Industrial Designs. Mr. Carani is the Editor-in-Chief of the forthcoming book entitled “Design Rights: Functionality and Scope of Protection.” The book will be published in October of 2017 by publisher Walters Klowers N.V.

Tracy-Gene Durkin
Director
Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

Ms. Durkin heads the firm’s Mechanical and Design Patent Group. With nearly 30 years of experience obtaining and enforcing IP rights, she has a deep understanding of utility and design patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Ms. Durkin has been an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University Law School and has spoken internationally on topics such as the interplay between design patents and trade dress, and protection of user interface and the user experience. She is currently a Vice Chair of the Industrial Designs Committee of IP Section of the ABA.

Robert S. Katz
Principal Shareholder
Banner Witcoff

Both nationally and internationally, Mr. Katz is considered one of the premier practitioners in the field of industrial designs, leading the way in the procurement and enforcement of design patents. On behalf of the firm’s clients, he has helped procure more than 10,000 design patents in the U.S. and more than 30,000 design patents/registrations outside the U.S. and has helped to successfully enforce over 100 design patents. Leaders from foreign design patent offices have consulted with him regarding industrial design policies, and he has served as an expert in design patent litigations. Mr. Katz holds leadership positions in several professional organizations, including ABA, AIPLA, FICPI and INTA. He is the past Chair of INTA’s Designs Committee and Vice President of FICPI’s U.S. Section. For the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, he currently serves as Liaison to FICPI. He also serves as a member of the Industrial Designs working group of the AIPLA Special Committee on Legislation. Mr. Katz is a former Chair of the Industrial Design Section for both FICPI and AIPLA, and also a member of IDSA and IPO.