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Christopher V. Carani
Shareholder
Email. ccarani@mcandrews-ip.com
Tel. (312) 775-8000
Practice Areas
Intellectual Property Litigation; Patent and Trademark Procurement, Protection and Portfolio Management; Intellectual Property Licensing; Industrial Design (design patents, trade dress, copyrights); Design Patent Litigation; Intellectual Property Opinions and Investigations; Anti-piracy/anti-counterfeiting solutions.
Education
University of Chicago, J.D.
Marquette University, B.S.
Bar Admissions
Member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Admitted to practice in Illinois.
Professional Experience
Christopher V. Carani is a partner at McAndrews, Held & Malloy, where he has been since 1995. Chris has garnered the requisite litigation experience needed to succeed in this fast-paced, complex field. Chris focuses on advising companies of any size, with special emphasis on securing and enforcing intellectual property rights (patent, trademark and copyright). Through his practice, Chris has gained significant experience counseling clients in a wide-range of industries, including the following: (alphabetical order) apparel and footwear, automotive accessories, baby/children's products, beauty/hair care, bottle design, candies and confectionaries, cell phones and accessories, computers and computer accessories, computer software, consumer electronics and accessories, consumer retail products, cutlery, dental equipment, eyecare and eyewear, fabric design, fashion design, financial services, furniture, gaming, hardware and tools, home furnishings and house wares, industrial machinery, insurance services, jewelry, lawn and garden, lighting (indoor/outdoor), medical devices, music composition, musical instruments and accessories, non-woven fabrics, novelty items, packaging, refractometers, restaurant and beverage industry, safety devices, sporting goods and athletic equipment, toys and games, and visual arts.
Chris possesses particular and extensive experience in the area of design law (design patents, trade dress, copyrighted design), having litigated numerous disputes and served as a consultant and expert in this highly specialized area of the law. Chris also has lectured extensively on the topic of design law.
Chris graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. During his studies there, Chris focused his efforts on intellectual property and antitrust law. Between his second and third year of law school, Chris also completed studies at the Universitá di Siena, in Siena, Italy. Prior to attending law school, Chris earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (minor in Mathematics) from Marquette University.
Chris honed his litigation skills during his appointment as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. While working for Judge Pallmeyer, Chris prepared numerous opinions, attended numerous trials, and observed several judicial settlement conferences. This invaluable experience has provided Chris with substantial and critical insight into the inner workings of the federal judicial system.
Chris was the recipient of the four-year Chick Evans Scholarship issued by the Western Golf Association. During his studies at Marquette University, Chris conducted extensive research on extrusion techniques for engineering thermoplastics, resins, compounds and alloys.
In a survey of his peers published in Chicago magazine and Super Lawyers magazine, Chris was named as one of Illinois' "Rising Stars" in intellectual property law in 2007.
Memberships
• Intellectual Property Owners Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Appointed Chairperson of Committee on Industrial Design (2006-08, 2008-10)
• Federal Circuit Bar Association
• American Bar Association (Member of Industrial Designs Committee)
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Justinian Society of Italian American Lawyers
• Chicago Bar Association
• Federation Internationale des Conseils en Propriete Industrielle
Presentations
Guest Faculty Member: "Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa: Fundamental Change for Design Patent Law," Practicing Law Institute, New York, NY, October 2008
Guest Panelist: "Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa: Design Patent Law And The Shape Of Things To Come," Federal Circuit Bar Association, Washington, D.C., October 2008
Guest Lecturer: Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc.: The Most Important Design Patent Case Since 1871," American Intellectual Property Law Association, Washington, D.C., October 2008
Guest Lecturer: "Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc.: The En Banc Federal Circuit Court Searches For The Rosetta Stone for Design Patent Jurisprudence," Intellectual Property Law Association of Florida, Miami, FL, October 2008
Guest Lecturer: "The Path to Meaningful Design Patent Protection," Industrial Designer Society of America, Chicago, Illinois, February 2008
Guest Lecturer: "The Big Five: The Federal Circuit's Five Most Recent Design Patent Opinions - What's Going On?," American Intellectual Property Law Association, Washington, D.C., October 2007
Guest Lecturer: "U.S. Design Law: Driven to Tears, Driven to a Sui Generis Design Registration System," Intellectual Property Owners Association, New York, New York, September 2007
Guest Lecturer: "Mediation, Improvisation, and All That Jazz," Chicago Bar Association and the Center for Conflict Resolution, Chicago, IL, May 2007
Guest Lecturer: "Design Patent Litigation: Design Patent's Point of Novelty Test," Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, IL, February 2007
Guest Lecturer: "What's the Point?: A Comprehensive Analysis of Design Patent's Point of Novelty Test," American Intellectual Property Law Association, New Orleans, Lousiana, January 2007
Guest Lecturer: "The State of Design Patent Infringement in View of Federal Circuit's Opinion in Lawman Armor v. Winner," American Intellectual Property Law Association, Washington, D.C., October 2006
Guest Lecturer: "Claim Construction and the Application of Markman to Design Patent Litigation," American Intellectual Property Law Association, Washington, D.C., October 2005
Guest Lecturer: Design Patent Infringement Remedies: Profits, Damages and Injunctions, American Intellectual Property Law Association, Orlando, FL, January 2005
The Industrial Design Trinity: Copyrights, Trade Dress and Design Patents, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, IL, April 2004
Design Patent Litigation: The Functionality Doctrine, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, IL, July 2003
Publications and Press
Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa: En Banc Federal Circuit Court Puts Teeth Back In Design Patents, Intellectual Property Today, September 2008. View File.
Federal Circuit Scraps Point of Novelty Test, IP Law 360, September 2008. View File.
En Banc Court Weighs Eliminating Litton's Point of Novelty Infringement Inquiry, Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) Patent Trademark & Copyright Journal, Vol. 76, No. 1871, June 2008. View File.
Federal Circuit Examines Design Patent Test, IP Law 360, June 2008. View File.
Principal Counsel of Record for Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) before the United States Supreme Court in the design patent case Calmar, Inc. v. Arminak & Assoc., No. 07-1263 (U.S. Supreme Court 2008). On May 5, 2008, Mr. Carani filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of IDSA in support of the petition for Writ of Certiorari. To view a summary of the argument, click here: View File. To view the brief as filed, click here: View File.
"Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc.: Will The En Banc Federal Circuit Court Find The Rosetta Stone for Design Patent Jurisprudence," Illinois Continuing Legal Education credit pending, Chicago, Illinois, March 2008. View File.
Principal Counsel of Record for American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) in the precedential design patent case Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 2006-1562 (Fed. Cir. 2007). On February 5, 2008, Mr. Carani filed a brief on behalf of AIPLA as an Amicus Curiae at the En Banc stage. This case represents the first time the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has addressed a design patent case en banc. View File.
Design Patents Get Their Day in Court, The American Lawyer, January 2008. View File.
Principal Counsel of Record for American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) in the precedential design patent case Egyptian Goddess, Inc. v. Swisa, Inc., 2006-1562 (Fed. Cir. 2007). AIPLA filed a brief in the matter as an Amicus Curiae at the petition for rehearing stage. View File.
Principal Counsel of Record for American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) in the precedential design patent case Lawman v. Winner, 05-1253 (Fed. Cir. 2006). AIPLA filed a brief in the matter as an Amicus Curiae. View File.
Looks Matter: Protect Your Product Designs with Intellectual Property While Creating Valuable Assets, The Super Show, Sporting Goods Convention, International Business Intelligence Series, Orlando, FL, January 2005. View File.
Design Patents: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, Sports Product Innovation Network, 2005. View File.
 Design Patents: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, Sports Products Innovation Network, 2005 (Chinese Translation). View File.
Technology Transfers In and Out of China, Global Intellectual Property Asset Management Report, October 2004. View File.
What Every U.S. Corporation Should Know About China's Patent Protection and Enforcement, Association of Patent Law Firms, Chicago, IL, September 2004. View File.
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