FACULTY
Bradley C. Wright, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd / Washington, DC
Bradley C. Wright is a shareholder in the Washington D.C. office of Banner & Witcoff, where he concentrates on prosecution, litigation and counseling in patent and copyright matters, especially in the electrical and computer areas. He has drafted and prosecuted numerous patent applications in such technologies as computer hardware and software, cable TV systems, electrical devices, facsimile systems, smart cards, Internet applications, operating systems, computer games, business methods, mobile telephones, and video processing techniques. He also handles patent litigation and counseling in patent matters across a broad range of technologies. Mr. Wright is a former law clerk to the Honorable William C. Bryson of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears all patent appeals in the United States. He earned his electrical engineering degree from MIT and his law degree from George Mason University School of Law. He served as Editor-in-Chief and a chapter author of Drafting Patents for Litigation and Licensing, published by BNA Books in 2008. This book, the first of its kind, was written to help patent practitioners draft the broadest possible patent that can sustain a validity challenge by synthesizing and applying lessons from the case law. He has also taught patent law and copyright law for many years at George Mason University School of Law. He is a frequent speaker on patent-related topics around the United States. Mr. Wright has earned an AV peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and was named one of the World's Leading IP Strategists by Intellectual Asset Management magazine in 2009 and 2010. He was named to the Washington D.C. Super Lawyers list, and was named by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Appellate Law. He is also listed as a leader in intellectual property law in the 2014-2016 editions of Best Lawyers in America.
MODERATOR AND PROGRAM CHAIR
John B. Farmer is a member of the Leading-Edge Law Group, PLC, an intellectual property (“IP”) boutique law firm in Richmond, Virginia. He recently completed a three-year term as chairman of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He writes a monthly IP and technology law column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is listed in the top rank of Virginia IP attorneys by Chambers USA and listed for IP in Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Farmer is a past chair of the IP Section of the Virginia State Bar. He is a past president of the Greater Richmond Intellectual Property Law Association. He graduated from the University of Virginia and its law school. After graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Donald S. Russell, Judge of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.