The Hipskind & McAninch Firm

The Hipskind & McAninch Firm, publicly known as Hipskind & McAninch, LLC, is a regional law firm with its headquarters in Belleville, Illinois, and additional offices in St. Louis, Missouri, and Highland, Illinois. The firm is primarily recognized for its practice in personal injury law, including auto accidents, wrongful death, and other negligence claims. Publicly available information does not indicate that it is a BigLaw or IP boutique firm, nor are there reliable AmLaw or Chambers rankings for a patent litigation practice. The firm's attorneys have received recognition such as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, primarily for their personal injury work.

While the firm's public profile focuses heavily on personal injury, a single tracked case, Vision Works IP Corp. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC et al., indicates involvement in patent litigation. This case involved patents related to automotive technology, specifically a vehicle monitoring system for turning off an idling engine. However, a dedicated and extensive patent litigation practice is not prominently featured in the firm's public descriptions or verified by web searches.

Based on the internal tracking data, the firm has one recorded appearance as plaintiff's lead counsel in patent litigation and no recorded appearances on the defendant's side. This limited data suggests a plaintiff-side preference in the singular instance of patent litigation tracked.

In the notable case Vision Works IP Corp. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC et al., concerning U.S. Patent 8,437,935, the asserted claims of the patent were ultimately subject to a final rejection by the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) in March 2024. Unified Patents, an organization focused on deterring abusive patent litigation, also filed ex parte reexamination proceedings against the '935 patent and a related Vision Works IP Corp. patent (U.S. Patent 8,315,769) concerning vehicle anti-rollover technology. A separate but related case, Vision Works IP Corp. v. Tesla, saw a voluntary dismissal without prejudice in January 2026.

There is no public information to suggest that Hipskind & McAninch, LLC maintains a notable practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or a significant volume of Inter Partes Review (IPR) or Post-Grant Review (PGR) filings or defenses. The reexamination proceedings involving Vision Works IP Corp. patents were initiated by Unified Patents, not by Hipskind & McAninch, LLC.

The firm's internal data lists Daniel P. Hipskind and Robert P. McAninch as top attorneys in patent litigation. However, public records and the firm's website consistently identify its founding partners as John Hipskind and Brady McAninch. John Hipskind and Brady McAninch are recognized in Illinois and Missouri as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, respectively, primarily for their extensive experience in personal injury law.