Michael P. Bregenzer

I'll research this attorney before writing the summary.

Michael P. Bregenzer — patent litigation summary

Focus areas. Bregenzer's practice is general IP and complex commercial litigation with a patent-litigation core. His tracked case is a mechanical/consumer-products patent dispute (eyewear), and his firm profiles list utility patent, design patent, and other complex litigation, with automotive among the listed industries. His in-house decade at Ranir, LLC — a private-equity-owned oral-care and medical-device/OTC consumer products business acquired by Perrigo — adds consumer products and FDA-adjacent experience to that mix. Firm bios describe a general IP-litigation practice (patent, Lanham Act, contract and business tort claims) rather than a niche technology specialty such as Wi-Fi standards or pharma.

Side preference. On the tracked docket he is defendant-side only (0 plaintiff / 1 defendant), and that is consistent with his litigation history: he appeared for the defendant Altair Eyewear in Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Altair Eyewear, Inc., and docket records show him acting for LKQ Corporation against General Motors. His firm's own description ("we defend clients in high-stakes, bet-the-company matters and help them enforce and monetize their intellectual property") indicates defense-leaning work with some enforcement-side capability; there is no evidence in the sources reviewed that he prosecutes for NPEs/PAEs.

Firm context. He is currently a Member at Miller Johnson, where Irwin IP LLP — the Chicago IP litigation boutique he joined as a senior attorney in 2020 and later became a partner in — has been folded in. Before Irwin IP he was a partner at Reed Smith LLP (the firm listed on his tracked appearance) and, earlier, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in its IP practice, with a 2012–2020 in-house interlude as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Ranir, LLC. (Note: some search results still surface an Irwin IP email address on the Miller Johnson bio, reflecting the merger transition.)

Notable matters and outcomes. Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Altair Eyewear, Inc. (magnetic clip-on eyeglass patents) generated two Federal Circuit appeals: the court reversed the district court's claim construction and summary judgment of non-infringement as to the '054 patent while affirming non-infringement on the '811 and '896 patents, 288 F. App'x 697 (Fed. Cir. 2008), and affirmed on remand, 484 F. App'x 565 (Fed. Cir. 2012). He also appeared in the Honeywell International v. Apple Computer LCD patent litigation in D. Del. (2008) on behalf of Hartford Computer Group, and 2025 docket entries in LKQ Corp. v. General Motors Co. (N.D. Ill., design patents — the case underlying the Federal Circuit's en banc LKQ v. GM decision) show him filing motions and declarations for LKQ. I could not verify specific verdicts or settlement amounts attributable to him. One caution: a Justia "inventor" listing for a Michael P. Bregenzer appears to be a different individual and should not be conflated with this attorney.

PTAB/IPR, bar, and education. The sources reviewed show no individually verified IPR/PGR appearances, though his firm markets patent-office validity work; I cannot confirm regular PTAB practice from the record available. Bar admissions: Illinois, Michigan, and Nevada; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (including Trial Bar), W.D. Michigan, and the Federal Circuit. Education: J.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1994 (cum laude); B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1991.