John V. Hanley

Partner

• jhanley@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Century City Office

John V. Hanley is a partner in the Century City office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Intellectual Property Group, concentrating on patent, trademark, trade dress, and copyright law. Mr. Hanley leads the west coast patent litigation team and serves as Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Medical Device group.

Over the years, Mr. Hanley has practiced primarily in the area of intellectual property while servicing diverse clients from various fields of endeavor. He has been active in counseling clients from small start-up companies to Fortune 500 companies and has taken a particular pride in meeting clients' needs and expectations. Before practicing law, Mr. Hanley worked as an engineer and in project management for Beckman Instruments, a manufacturer of automated medical instrumentation.

Mr. Hanley specializes in the prosecution and litigation of patents, trademarks and copyrights throughout the world. His practice covers a broad range of technologies including optics, mechanical and electronic arts, Ecommerce/Internet, and systems. Additionally, Mr. Hanley is well-versed in the medical device industry having prosecuted and enforced medical device patents in areas relating to treating neurovasculature and cardiovasculature as well as orthopedics.

Mr. Hanley has extensive experience in conducting patent clearance studies and rendering opinions concerning patent validity and infringement. He also has substantial experience in conducting studies concerning trademarks and copyrights and in licensing matters across all fields of intellectual property. Additionally, he has been involved in litigation both at the district and appellate levels and has patent trial and mediation experience.

Representative Matters

Some of Mr. Hanley's representative matters include:

• Newport Controls v. Balboa Instruments (C.D. Cal.) - Representing Balboa Instruments in a patent infringement action involving spa controllers.
• Balboa Instruments, Inc. v. Consumer Engineering, Inc. (C.D. Cal.) - Represented Balboa in a patent infringement action involving electronic spa controllers.
• Balboa Instruments, Inc. v. Presair, LLC (C.D. Cal.) - Represented Balboa in a patent infringement action involving circuit board construction and electronic spa controllers.
• Sorensen v. Alltrade Tools LLC (S.D. Cal.) - Represented Alltrade Tools in a patent infringement action concerning injection molding technologies. Successfully obtained a dismissal of the patent infringement action. 
• Panelite Inc. v. Vehicle Safety (S.D. Cal.) - Represented Panelite in a patent infringement action concerning light designs.
• New Tech Stainless Steel Products Co. Ltd. v. Sun Manufacturing Corporation (C.D. Cal.) - Represented Sun Manufacturing in an infringement action involving manufactured products.
• Panelite Inc. v. Panor (C.D. Cal.) - Represented Panelite in a patent infringement action involving ornamental light designs.
• David M. Duckett v. Equine Digit Support, et al - Represented Equine Digit in a patent infringement action concerning horse products.
• Siege Industries, Inc. v. Balboa Instruments, Inc. (S.D. Tex.) - Represented Balboa in a patent infringement action concerning electronic spa controllers.
• Sherwood Medical Co. v. Alaris Medical Systems (S.D. Cal.) - Represented Alaris in a patent infringement action concerning temperature probe covers.
• General Surgical v. Origin Medsystems (N.D. Cal.) - Represented Origin Medsystems in a patent infringement action involving medical devices.
• Hess v. Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (N.D. Cal.) - Represented ACS in a patent dispute concerning inventorship.
• Ormco Corporation v. Lancer Orthodontics, Inc. (26 F.3d 137) (1994) - Represented Lancer in a patent infringement action relating to orthodontic brackets.

Noteworthy

• Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers, Intellectual Property: Patent (California), 2011
• Daily Journal's Top 25 Intellectual Property Portfolio Managers and Patent Prosecutors in California, 2011
• Daily Journal's Top 25 Biotech Lawyers in California, 2011

Select News & Events

• Daily Journal Names Steptoe’s Hanley to Inaugural List of 25 Leading Biotech Lawyers in California
• Three Steptoe Partners Named Among Top 25 IP Portfolio Managers in California by Daily Journal
• Steptoe Receives 18 Practice, 56 Individual Mentions in Chambers USA 2011
• Steptoe Continues Rapid Growth of IP Practice - John V. Hanley Joins as Partner

Professional Affiliations

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Member, State Bar of California