He has obtained nearly 1000 US design patents, trademark registrations, copyright registrations and utility patents for clients. He has also handled patent opinion and litigation matters involving, for example, computer software design, DRM, embedded systems, semiconductors, DSP, digital communications and biomedical instruments.
Internationally, Richard manages enforcement matters and thousands of intellectual properties in more than 70 foreign jurisdictions, and has visited more than 50 countries.
Richard earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997, where he was a member of the Mortar Board, Eta Kappa Nu, Knights of St. Patrick and Senior 100 honor societies.
Richard graduated, cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2000, where he was the Editor-in-Chief of The University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy and the Legislation Editor of the Illinois Law Update section of The Illinois Bar Journal. He participated in the Giles S. Rich Intellectual Property Moot Court competition, was a founding editor of Modern Trends in Intellectual Property and received a Rickerts award.
Richard continues his involvement with the University of Illinois as a member of the Board of Visitors for the College of Law and as a member of the President’s Council, Chancellor’s Circle and Cribbet Society. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Illinois Law Alumni group, is a member of the Campus Alumni Advisory Board and has volunteered for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Illinois Imprint leadership program. Richard regularly returns to campus to discuss careers in patent law and has mentored dozens of students.
Currently, Richard is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he co-teaches “Intellectual Property Pre-Trial Litigation Skills.” He also serves on the Midwest Coordinating Committee for the INTA-sponsored Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Moot Court Competition, and has been a panelist, moderator or speaker at the University of Illinois College of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law and The John Marshall Law School. Richard is the Editor-in-Chief of the newsletter for the Technology for the Litigator committee of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section.
Richard also has experience with governmental relations and is politically active. He has drafted legislation for members of the Illinois General Assembly, including P.A. 91-778, which substantially amended the University of Illinois Board of Trustees Act. Richard also interned for a Congressman in Washington D.C. and served as a legislative extern to the Illinois House of Representatives. He currently works on several political campaigns.
Richard has been named an “Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star,” which touts the state's top 2% of up-and-coming attorneys under the age of 40.
Richard is admitted to the Illinois State Bar and is also admitted to practice in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a registered patent attorney. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, International Trademark Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Richard practices in the Chicago office of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
