Daniel J. Burnham

Summary — Daniel J. Burnham (Nixon Peabody LLP, Chicago)

Daniel J. Burnham is a partner in Nixon Peabody's Chicago office (USPTO Reg. No. 39,618; note the tracked-case data lists him as counsel/Of Counsel, reflecting his roles on those specific matters). He is a mechanical engineer (B.S.M.E., University of Illinois) turned IP litigator and patent prosecutor, ranked by IAM Patent 1000 in both patent litigation and prosecution. His practice spans patent, trademark, and copyright matters across medical devices, dental technologies, biosensing, semiconductor lasers, and consumer products. His tracked docket is concentrated in a single technology cluster: Solmetex LLC's dental mouthpiece and amalgam-separation patents, involving utility and design patents.

Side preference. All four tracked appearances are defendant-side, all for Solmetex LLC — including defense of patent-owner positions against both a competitor (Ascentcare Dental Products) and Unified Patents' IPR challenges. The tracked record shows a defense-oriented practice representing operating companies and patent owners; there are no plaintiff or NPE-side appearances in the data. His prosecution practice (including work for entities such as Semiconductor Energy Laboratory, Quanta, and Cedars-Sinai per USPTO affiliation data) is complementary rather than NPE-enforcement oriented.

Firm context and notable matters. Burnham has practiced in Chicago IP firms; his prior-firm history before Nixon Peabody could not be reliably verified from available sources (public records reference a "Daniel J. Burnham, A Professional Corporation" affiliation). His most prominent tracked matters are the Solmetex–Ascentcare Dental dispute — the W.D. Mich. infringement action Solmetex, LLC v. Ascentcare Dental Products, Inc. (1:24-cv-00954) and the related IPRs IPR2025-01020/-01057/-01059/-01104 — plus Unified Patents v. Solmetex LLC. Nixon Peabody also publicly credits its Solmetex defense with winning PTAB denial at the institution stage of a Dental Recycling North America post-grant review petition; the Ascentcare IPRs were still pending with discretionary-denial disputes as of late 2025.

PTAB/IPR experience. Burnham appears regularly in IPR/PGR proceedings as patent-owner counsel, including lead counsel in a 2017 PTAB matter and back-up counsel on the 2025 Solmetex IPRs — this is a genuine and recurring part of his practice.

Bar and education. University of Illinois, B.S.M.E. (1989); Saint Louis University School of Law, J.D. cum laude (1995); admitted Illinois (1995) and Missouri (2001); registered to practice before the USPTO.