Your “Chicken Scratch” May Be Confusing , In Re R.S. Lipman Brewing Co., LLC, 2025 WL 1099603 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 14, 2025)
Nick Wheeler is an intellectual property litigator and counselor with experience in a broad range of intellectual property topics including utility patents, design patents, intellectual property licensing, trademark litigation, cybersquatting, and copyright litigation. He has played a significant role within multiple patent litigations, including assisting in managing discovery, authoring non-dispositive motions, taking and defending expert and fact depositions, and drafting summary judgment motions. Nick’s practice is primarily focused on patent litigation and has represented clients in matters and proceedings in United States federal district courts, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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Prior to joining Irwin IP, Nick was a summer associate for Irwin IP. Nick also represented clients in various patent, trademark, and copyright matters through Indiana University’s Intellectual Property Clinic and through his externship with Indiana University’s Office of Licensing and Trademarks, which included drafting patent applications, drafting trademark applications, counseling clients on various intellectual property protection schemes, drafting cease and desist letters, drafting opinion letters, responding to patent and trademark office actions, drafting software developer agreements, and drafting licensing agreements.
As a student at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Nick served as a managing editor of the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, as the audio editor of the Indiana University IP Theory Journal podcast: Fire of Genius, and as a research affiliate with Indiana University’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. Nick was also involved with Maurer’s Intellectual Property Association, the Indianapolis IP Inn of Court, and was a member of Maurer’s 2019 1st place International Patent Drafting Competition team.
Member, Chicago Bar Association
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Volunteer, Lawyers for the Creative Arts
Indiana University Maurer School of Law, J.D. 2019 (cum laude)
Cybersecurity Law and Policy Certificate
CALI Awards Recipient in International Intellectual Property & Intellectual Property Clinic, 2018
International Patent Drafting Competition Team Champion, 2019
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S. General Engineering, 2016
Minor in Business
Illinois
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Your “Chicken Scratch” May Be Confusing , In Re R.S. Lipman Brewing Co., LLC, 2025 WL 1099603 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 14, 2025)
Omitting Engineers in Design Patent Applications is Timeless , Apple Inc., v. Masimo Corp. et al., No. CV 22-1377, 2024 WL 4436629 (D. Del. Oct. 7, 2024)
On-Sale Bar Arguments Fizzle Out at the Federal Circuit , Celanese Int’l Corp. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, No. 2022-1827, 2024 WL 3747277, at *1 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 12, 2024)
Money Talks: Trade Secret’s New Extraterritorial Reach , Motorola Sols., Inc. v. Hytera Commc’ns Corp. Ltd., No. 22-2370, 2024 WL 3268954 (7th Cir. July 2, 2024)
Are Hard Seltzers Considered Beer? The Jury is Still Out. , Cerveceria Modelo De México, et. al, v. Cb Brand Strategies, Llc, et. al, 2024 WL 1253593 (2d Cir. Mar. 25, 2024)
Patents Have Mistakes; You Should Fix Them At The PTO , Canatex Completion Sol. Inc. vs. Wellmatics LLC, et al., Case No. 4:22-cv-03306, Dkt. No. 100 (S.D. Tex. Dec. 14, 2023)
The Functionality Bar is “Low” Hanging Fruit , PIM Brands Inc. v. Haribo of Am. Inc., No. 22-2821, 2023 WL 5763347 (3d Cir. Sept. 7, 2023)
Supreme Court Drives Train Through Jurisdiction Loophole , Mallory v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 143 S. Ct. 2028 (2023)
No Handling Necessary: Industry Demo Was A Public Use, Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., 2023 WL 1999900 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 15, 2023)
Can You Sell a Patented Method? Perhaps… But Not Today, F45 Training Pty Ltd. v. Body Fit Training USA Inc., 2022 WL 17177621 (D. Del. Nov. 17, 2022)
Section 101 Survives Attack, In re Killian, No. 2021-2113, 2022 WL 3589496 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 23, 2022)
Obvious Claim Error Does Not Excuse Willful Infringement, Pavo Sols. LLC v. Kingston Tech. Co., Inc., 2022 WL 1815050 (Fed. Cir. June 3, 2022)
Chord Progression Katy Perry Found to Have Copied Deemed Uncopyrightable, Gray v. Hudson, 2022 WL 711246 (9th Cir. Mar. 10, 2022)
CAFC Allows More “Standing” Room In Article III Cases, Intel Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., No. 2020-1664, 2021 WL 6122360 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 28, 2021) & Intel Corp. v. Qualcomm Inc., No. 2020-1828, 2021 WL 6122434 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 28, 2021)
PTAB Still Constitutional, But A Weakness Emerges, Mobility Workx, LLC v. Unified Pats., 2021 WL 4762265 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 13, 2021)
Covid-19 Instagram Account Crude But Not Confusing, Arizona Bd. of Regents, v. John Doe, 2021 WL 3631269 (D. Ariz. Aug. 17, 2021)
PTO Director May Review Final Decisions From IPRs, United States v. Arthrex, Inc., No. 19-1434, 2021 WL 2519433 (U.S. June 21, 2021)
Uncorroborated Testimony by Creator of Prior Art System Fails To Demonstrate Date of Availability, Network-1 Sec. Sols., Inc. v. Hewlett-Packard Co., 6-13-cv-00072 (E.D. Tex. May 7, 2021)
CAFC Can Use Mandamus Jurisdiction to Review PTAB’s Decision to Deny Institution—But Don’t Get Hopes Up, Mylan Lab’ys Ltd. v. Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V., 2021 WL 936345 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 12, 2021)
Rubik’s Cube Design Not Functional, Rubik’s Brand Limited, v. Flambeau, Inc., et al., No. 17CV6559PGGKHP, 2021 WL 363704 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 31, 2021
Windy City’s Patent Could Not Weather The Alice Storm, Windy City Innovations, LLC v. Facebook, Inc., 411 F. Supp. 3d 886 (N.D. Cal. 2019), aff’d, No. 2020-1153, 2021 WL 423151 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 8, 2021)
Copyright and Trademark Owner Obtains Biting Injunctive Relief, Versah LLC, et al. v. UL Amin Indus., et al., (E.D. Mich. Dec. 9, 2020)
TTAB Catches Mayweather Looking, In Re Mayweather Promotions LLC, Case No. 86753084 (TTAB Oct. 29, 2020)
Supreme Court Says: States Maintain Sovereign Immunity for “Piracy”, Allen v. Cooper, No. 18-877, 2020 WL 1325815 (U.S. Mar. 23, 2020)
PTAB Cannot Cancel Claims for Indefiniteness in IPR Proceedings, Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc. v. Prisua Eng’g Corp., No. 2019-1169, 2020 WL 543427 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 4, 2020)
Fisher Is Stood Up At The Federal Circuit, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd. v. ResMed Ltd., No. 2018-2262, 2019 WL 6358699, at *1 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 27, 2019).
The Space and Marketplace Between: SmartSync Not Confusingly Similar to Smart Sync, Ironhawk Techs., Inc. v. Dropbox, Inc., No. CV1801481DDPJEMX, 2019 WL 5538831 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 24, 2019)
Allstate’s “Drivewise” Suit Against Kia’s “Drive Wise” Mark Finally Runs Out Of Gas, Allstate Ins. Co. v. Kia Motors Am., Inc., No. 18-55164, 2019 WL 4233634 (9th Cir. Sept. 6, 2019)
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