Vince Gnoffo, a shareholder at Brinks since 2007 and practicing at the firm since 1999, is an accomplished intellectual property attorney with a discrete focus on companies in the technology sector. Named a Leading Lawyer in 2011 by the Leading Lawyers Network and an Illinois Super Lawyer "Rising Star" in both 2008 and 2009, he focuses his practice on IP prosecution—in the U.S. and overseas jurisdictions—and on providing patent opinions relating to complex technology products.
Mr. Gnoffo is deeply versed in managing patent portfolios and providing counseling on patent matters, including on patent harvesting, and he has prosecuted reexamination and protest cases. His clients have included networking and telecommunications giant Broadcom, internet search provider Yahoo!, audio technology company Haram International and telecommunications company Ameritech (now part of AT&T).
Other clients have included global consulting firm Accenture, packaging manufacturer LBP Manufacturing, electronic control equipment manufacturer Intermatic Inc., crane company Manitowoc, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Mr. Gnoffo's experience includes patent prosecutions and/or opinions on a range of technologies, such as electronic circuitry, digital encoding, semiconductors, telecommunications and computer networks, as well as related electronic equipment such as antennas and power meters. His experience also includes reviewing software, business methods, medical devices, construction equipment, electro-optical devices, learning tools, packaging, home automation, diodes and medical analysis equipment.
Mr. Gnoffo graduated cum laude from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Ill., where he served on Law Review. An electrical engineer by training, he received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also served as a judge at the University’s engineering exposition. Prior to attending law school, he worked as an application engineer for Inland Detroit Diesel-Allison. During law school, he served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Judge Blanche Manning, at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.
Mr. Gnoffo is currently chair of Brinks' Pro Bono Committee; he also serves on the board of directors for the Chicago-based nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing and has provided pro bono courtroom representation to indigent clients in eviction proceedings. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law for advanced legal research and writing courses in intellectual property.
