McAndrews

Firm overview:

Chicago-based firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy is dedicated exclusively to IP, offering clients a full-service model. Many of the firm’s attorneys are experienced in both patent prosecution and litigation. Patent prosecution is one of McAndrews’ largest practices and the firm takes a personal approach to the work, devoting senior-attorney time to clients and fostering long term relationships. Clients praise the firm’s “cost-sensitive approach” as well as quality of work.

Litigation is the firm’s biggest practice, and it claims one of the largest single teams of US Patent and Trademark Office-registered attorneys with science and engineering degrees. As a midsized firm, McAndrews is able to staff litigation teams efficiently while drawing on a bench of technical expertise to handle complex disputes.

Team overview:

Christopher Carani is named by a peer as one of the country’s top design patent lawyers and he has earned significant recognition for his work in the field. A shareholder at the firm, Carani has been at McAndrews since 1995 and represents some of the world’s most design-centric companies, procuring design rights around the globe as well as litigating them in court. A peer says he “really knows what he’s doing both in litigation and prosecution. I recommend him totally, without reservation.”

Peter McAndrews is involved in all aspects of patent litigation, acquisition and counselling and his name is brought up by peers as a go-to IP attorney. Most recently, he has worked with innovators in the fields of wireless communications, computer engineering and science, and food and beverage packaging.

Departures from the team over the past year include Malaika Tyson, who left after 16 years at the firm to join Lathrop GPM. Tyson has experience in life sciences IP management, particularly patent protection strategies and portfolio development.

Key matters:

• General Video v Lenovo Group

Peter McAndrews represents General Video in a patent infringement dispute with Lenovo in Texas. General Video alleges infringement of patents related to the high-speed, efficient and secure transmission of digital audio and video data.

• Purdue Pharma v Accord Healthcare

In December 2024, a panel of circuit judges affirmed the decision of a lower court invalidating five patents asserted by Purdue against Accord. Generics and biosimilars manufacturer Accord had filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) to market its own version of Purdue’s OxyContin tablets, which Purdue alleged would infringe the patents-in-suit.

A team of Alex Menchaca, Raj Chiplunkar, Ben Mahon, and Brad Loren (now at Casimir Jones) from McAndrews represented Accord.

In October 2025, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Purdue’s appeal.

Clients:

Accord Healthcare, General Video