Timothy C. Meece
Attorney
Timothy C. Meece has eighteen years of experience litigating and trying complex intellectual property matters. His reputation as an effective and winning first-chair trial attorney has been earned representing Fortune 500 companies as well as individual clients in numerous intellectual-property infringement lawsuits, primarily suits for patent infringement in electrical, electronic, computer hardware/software, mechanical, and chemical patents, and also for copyright infringement with respect to computer software. He has represented clients in actions pending in numerous jurisdictions throughout the country, including California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. Meece has won repeatedly on behalf of defendants facing potential liability of over a billion dollars. In addition, he recently won a General Exclusion Order for a complainant in one of the largest ITC investigations ever initiated which, according to the Office of Unfair Import Investigations, involved assertion of an "unprecedented" number of patents. Further, he has won many multimillion dollar judgments, multimillion dollar settlements, and injunctions for plaintiffs. A non-inclusive list of recent, exemplary, high-dollar amount wins is set forth below.
Mr. Meece has been recognized by both peers and colleagues as an outstanding litigator and has an AV LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating. He was featured as a top patent litigator in the country and quoted in the National Law Journal’s 2012 “Intellectual Property Hot List” of the top 20 IP firms in the U.S. He has been named repeatedly as an outstanding attorney in the field of Intellectual Property Litigation by the Illinois Super Lawyers magazine and has been selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer by the Leading Lawyers Network. He has also been selected as one of the top 3% of attorneys in the United States by The Legal News, and has been listed in Who's Who Among Law Professionals and Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals. In addition, he was named in IAM Strategy 250 --The World’s Leading IP Strategists as an individual who offers world-class services relating to the development and implementation of strategies that enable IP owners to maximize the value of their intellectual property portfolios.
Sample articles and publications authored by him, press interviews, press releases, representative clients and their subject matters of representation, his bar association memberships, bar committee assignments, and his teaching activities are listed below as well.
Mr. Meece practices in the firm’s Chicago office.
- Won dismissal of complaint on $500M claim for alleged false-patent marking on myriad patents and products, which was the largest case under 35 U.S.C. 292 ever filed in the United States
- Won GEO and multiple CDOs for complainant in ITC investigation in which 15 patents were asserted against over 20 respondents
- Won judgment of no infringement of software patents for defendant in East Texas on $30M claim
- Single-handedly tried and won patent infringement arbitration on three patents and obtained $3M damage award
- Won JMOL of no patent infringement during trial at close of plaintiff’s case in chief on $650M in accused sales
- Won JMOL of patent infringement during trial at close of defendant’s case in chief
- Won summary judgment on $1B counterclaim for alleged antitrust violation
- Won multiple summary judgments of infringements, validity, and enforceability
- Million dollar attorney-fee award and multiple multimillion dollar settlements with large royalty rates
Sample Articles and Publications
- “Is TS Tech the Death Knell for Patent Litigation in the Eastern District of Texas,” co-authored with V. Bryan Medlock, The IP Litigator, Volume 16, Number 6, (November/December 2009) (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/IPTLJ%20Medlock%20Meece.pdf)
- “Is TS Tech the Death Knell for Patent Litigation in the Eastern District of Texas,” co-authored with V. Bryan Medlock and published at the 8th Annual Hot Topics in Patent Law Symposium at George Mason University (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/VBM%20Paper%20re_%20Patent%20Litigation%20in%20E%20D%20%20Tex%20.pdf) (July 21, 2009)
- "Strategies Regarding Patent Exhaustion After Quanta," 53rd Anniversary Conference on Developments in Intellectual Property Law (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/Strategies%20Regarding%20Patent%20Exhaustion%20After%20Quanta.pdf) (2009)
- “Federal Circuit Grants Mandamus Relief in In re Tech USA Corp. et al. for Refusal to Transfer Case" (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/BW%20IP%20Advisory.pdf) (2008)
- "U.S. Supreme Court Decides Patent Exhaustion Case in Quanta Computer, Inc. et al. v. LG Electronics, Inc." (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/QUanta.pdf) (2008)
- "Is Federal Circuit Obviousness Law "Gobbledygook" and "Irrational"? Why Justice Scalia says So, and What May Come of That," Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, Volume 19, Number 5 (2007)
- "Is Federal Circuit Law Gobbledygook?" Intellectual Property Today (2006)
- "What Do Legally Unlocked Cell Phones Mean for the Consumer?" Law.com (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1171015368100) (2006)
- "Copyright Law Gives Mobile Users New Freedom with Legally Unlocked Cell Phones," Law.com (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170410587623) (2006)
- "Slaying the Patent Troll - How to Avoid Being Sued for Patent Infringement," Toy Directory Monthly (2005)
- "Venue Selection in Patent Cases: Where to Obtain Preliminary Injunctive Relief," IP Litigator (2004)
- "Fact or Fiction: Trial Counsel Should Author Patent Opinions," Patent Strategy & Management (2003)
- "A Little Infringement Is All That Counts" (http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/_docs/library/articles/suntiger.pdf) (1999)
- “Intellectual Property Hot List,” National Law Journal (2012)
- "Innovation: Law Firms Use Apps to Creatively Reach Clients," Chicago Lawyer Magazine (2011)
- “2010 Banner & Witcoff Lawyers Create an App,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (2010)
- “2009 Federal Circuit Curbs Texan Rocket Docket,” Managing Intellectual Property (2009)
- "Federal Circuit Moves Infringement Case Out of Eastern Texas 'Plaintiff-Friendly' Court," BNA (2008)
- "Eastern District of Texas Under Threat After Federal Circuit Ruling," Managing Intellectual Property (2008)
- "DMCA Exemption Could Unlock Cell Phones," E-Commerce Times (2007)
- "New Unlocking Rule Good for You, IP Lawyer Says," Wired Magazine (2006)
- "Supreme Court Throws Out eBay Injunction," IP Law 360 (2006)
- "eBay Scores Supreme Court Win in Patent Case," E-Commerce Times (2006)
- "Supreme Court Ruling Could Change Balance of Power in Patent Infringement Cases," InformationWeek (2006)
- "As Gaming Industry Grows, Patent Suits Abound," IP Law Bulletin (2005)
- "Research In Motion Gets Measured for New Suit," National Post (2005)
- "Research In Motion Loses Latest NTP Ruling, Risks U.S. Shutdown," National Post (2005)
- American Bar Association
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
- Chicago Bar Association
- Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago
- Patent Litigation committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association
- Intellectual Property Litigation committee (Section of Litigation) of the American Bar Association
- Trial Evidence committee (Section of Litigation) of the American Bar Association
- Trial Practice committee (Section of Litigation) of the American Bar Association
- Patent Litigation Committee (Section of Intellectual Property Law) of the American Bar Association
- Trial and Appellate Rule and Procedure Committee (Section of Intellectual Property Law) of the American Bar Association
- EchoStar Monitoring Subcommittee (Section of Intellectual Property Law) of the American Bar Association
- Patent Jury Instructions Subcommittee (Section of Intellectual Property Law) of the American Bar Association
- "Strategies Regarding Patent Exhaustion After Quanta," 53rd Anniversary Conference on Developments in Intellectual Property Law (2009)
- "Changes in Patent Trial and Appellate Practice," presented with United States District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly at the John Marshall Law School 48th Annual Conference on Developments in Intellectual Property Law
- Adjunct law professor on the claim drafting portion of the "Patent Bar Review" offered by the Practicing Law Institute at the John Marshall Law School
- Frequent lecturer for Law Seminars International on topics including, but not limited to, calculating damages in patent infringement cases, defending against patent infringement cases, obtaining and enforcing patents on computer software inventions, and protecting and exploiting internally developed computer software
Representative Clients (and Sample Subject Matter of Representation)
- CIBA Vision (colored contact lenses, chemical processes for making colored lenses, and extended wear contact lenses)
- Delphi Automotive (automobile condensers)
- Digimarc (software digital watermarking of images and audio files)
- Georgia-Pacific (computer system controlling programmable logic controllers)
- Ionit Technologies (compression technology used in digital video recording security systems)
- Jagex (server software for RuneScape, a massive multiplayer online game, which holds the World Record for the most popular MMOG with approximately 104 million subscribers worldwide)
- Lexmark International (toner cartridges for printers and encoding wheels for printer toner cartridges)
- Logitech (voice-over IP telephony equipment)
- Lydall (thermal and acoustical insulating shields for automobiles)
- NIKE (Internet websites and online tools)
- PepsiCo (Internet websites and electronic communication)
- RTX Telecommunications (voice-over IP telephone equipment)
- Scientific-Atlanta (subscription television systems and interactive program guides)
- Skype (voice-over IP telephony equipment)
- Team Play (video games and computer source code)
- U.S. Robotics (voice-over IP telephony equipment)
- WMS Gaming (casino gaming equipment and software)
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Early Dismissal of Patent Infringement Claims for Lexmark
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Judgment of Copyright Infringement, Violations of the DMCA, and Trademark Infringement for Jagex as well as Extraordinary Permanent Injunction
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Dismissal of False Marking Complaint for Lexmark
- Timothy C. Meece Wins General Exclusion Order and Cease & Desist Orders for Lexmark
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Federal Circuit Affirmance of No Patent Infringement for NIKE, Inc.
- Timothy C. Meece Obtains Judgment of No Patent Infringement for Jagex, Ltd.
- Timothy C. Meece Discusses Banner & Witcoff's App in Chicago Lawyer Magazine
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Summary Judgment of No Patent Infringement for NIKE
- Timothy C. Meece presents at John Marshall Law School's 53rd Intellectual Property Law Conference on “Strategies Regarding Patent Exhaustion After Quanta”
- Timothy C. Meece named Illinois Super Lawyer in field of Intellectual Property Litigation
- Timothy C. Meece comments on the Federal Circuit ruling in the TS Tech case
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Final Judgment in Copyright Infringement Case, including Award of Attorneys’ Fees, Defendant’s Gross Profits, and Treble Damages
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Affirmance in a Trademark Infringement Case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
- Banner & Witcoff Announces that it Prevailed in a Patent Infringement Suit on behalf of CIBA Vision Corp.
- Timothy C. Meece Obtains Second Multimillion-dollar Award for SunTiger, Inc.
- Jury verdict ends latest chapter in the toner cartridge patent and copyright case Static Control Components, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc.
- Timothy C. Meece Wins 7th Circuit Appeal in Trademark Infringement Case
- Timothy C. Meece and Aseet Patel quoted in E-Commerce Times on the exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and their impact on the mobile phone industry.
- Timothy C. Meece Obtains $969K Award for B&W Client in Trademark Infringement Case.
- Timothy C. Meece featured in Wired's privacy security blog on the new copyright ruling for unlocking cellphones.
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Trademark Infringement Case
- Timothy C. Meece comments on U.S. Supreme Court's decision in MercExchange v. eBay
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Summary Judgment Striking Down Affirmative Defenses in Patent Case
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Permanent Injunction in Patent Infringement Lawsuit
- Timothy C. Meece Wins Summary Judgment of Patent Infringement
- Timothy Meece Comments on Gaming Industry Patents in the IP Law Bulletin
- Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. Wins Summary Judgment of No Copyright Infringement
