Christopher Renk focuses his practice on litigating patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, false advertising and unfair competition cases. His broad experience includes successful representation of both plaintiffs and defendants as lead and co-counsel in jury trials, bench trials and appeals. His cases have involved a broad range of topics, including computer software, consumer electronics, product designs, electrical controls, internet content delivery, medical and surgical devices, heat transfer, distilled spirits, contact lenses, fuel injection systems, athletic footwear, and textiles processing.
Christopher is a registered patent attorney. In addition to his active practice, he is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and is a Member of the Sedona Conference Working Group on Patent Remedies. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center and serves at Northwestern University Law School, where he teaches Patent Trial Practice and Patent Litigation II. He is a contributing author of the Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook (Fourth Edition), BNA, 2015; Patent Litigation (Third Edition), PLI, 2015; and Patent Trial Advocacy Casebook (Third Edition), ABA, 2015.
Clients have called him "…an amazing trial attorney and a force of nature. He can make something very complicated sound clear and has this ability to get juries to resonate toward him. He is also 'friendly, highly professional and enjoyable to work with'" (World Trademark Review).
Perspectives
Recognition
Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (IL) (2023)
"Trademark Star" (Illinois) (2023)
Trademark Litigation and Enforcement (2017–2020)
Credentials
Education
- J.D., University of Minnesota
- B.S., Iowa State University
Admissions
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- District of Columbia
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- Supreme Court of Minnesota
- District of Columbia Court of Appeals