Chris Renk

Specialty / Focus Areas. Chris Renk is a Chicago-based IP trial lawyer whose practice centers on patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright, and trade secret litigation. His patent work spans mechanical engineering/manufacturing, consumer products and athletic footwear, medical devices, computer software, consumer electronics, electrical controls, and communications technologies (his firm profile also lists contact lenses, fuel injection systems, and textiles). Case-load data reflects a heavy concentration in mechanical engineering and manufacturing matters, with substantial design and communications work. He has long been Nike's primary outside IP litigation counsel, and much of his recent patent docket involves footwear knit-upper and sole technologies.

Side Preference. Renk routinely represents both plaintiffs and defendants as lead and co-counsel in jury trials, bench trials, and appeals. The tracked case list shows one appearance — plaintiff-side as lead counsel for Nike in Nike, Inc. v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc. — and he has appeared for Nike as patent owner in related IPRs. He is not an NPE/PAE specialist; his client base is dominated by operating companies (Nike, Converse, and other multinational retailers and manufacturers).

Firm Context. Renk is a partner in Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer's Chicago office, where he moved in August 2020 as part of an IP litigation trio from Banner & Witcoff. He spent his prior career at Banner & Witcoff after joining as an associate in 1988, including a 1999 secondment to Nike in-house. He is a registered patent attorney and teaches patent litigation as an adjunct at Northwestern University Law School (previously Georgetown).

Notable Cases / Outcomes. Renk served as lead Nike counsel in the tracked C.D. Cal. action against Skechers (2:23-cv-09346), asserting six footwear patents; the case was stayed pending IPR, and Nike's '484 patent claim was later dismissed with prejudice following PTAB institution decisions, with other claims remaining. He also led Nike's defense as patent owner in IPR2021-00160 challenging U.S. Patent No. 7,401,420, and was part of the Banner & Witcoff team that won Converse trade dress litigation against Walmart and Skechers before the ITC and in federal court. His career includes jury verdicts in matters involving athletic shoes, contact lenses, artificial hips, and computer software.

PTAB / IPR Experience. Yes — IPR work is a meaningful part of his practice. He has appeared as lead counsel for patent owners (including Nike) in multiple inter partes reviews, and his docket shows both patent-owner and challenger representations, with an elite PTAB rating on Ex Parte data.

Bar / Education. B.S. (engineering), Iowa State University, 1983; J.D., University of Minnesota, 1988; admitted in Illinois (1988), Minnesota (1990), and D.C. (1991), before the Federal Circuit and USPTO. Prior to law school he was an engineer at General Dynamics.