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John L. Cordani is chair of our firm's Intellectual Property + Technology group. He litigates patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and antitrust cases through trial and appeal in federal courts across the United States, obtaining successful results in cases involving a diverse array of technology from specialty chemical products and software to automated pitching machines and wastewater treatment systems.

John maintains a world-wide patent litigation, prosecution, licensing and counseling practice. He is a registered patent attorney with extensive experience handling complex business and scientific disputes before the U.S. District Court nationwide, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

John handles all phases of the patent litigation process, including claim construction, summary judgment, trials, and appeals in infringement matters. He has also tried complex commercial litigations, contract disputes, products liability cases, and land use matters through verdict and appeal.

John is a contributor to our firm's Manufacturing Law Blog.

Prior to attending Cornell Law School, where he was the salutatorian of his class, John worked as a chemist, and is a named inventor on multiple patents covering aspects of his research. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law, where he teaches a course on Patent Litigation and Strategy, and serves as the co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section. He has also served as a Special Public Defender in a pro bono capacity providing representation for indigent defendants in criminal matters before the Connecticut Supreme Court and Appellate Court.

  • Cornell Law School (Juris Doctor, summa cum laude)
  • Cornell University (Bachelors, magna cum laude)
    • B.A.

  • State of Connecticut
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Received a Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business in the State of Connecticut in the area of Intellectual Property for 2025 and 2026

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© as Hartford Lawyer of the Year in the area of Trademark Law for 2025

Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of Litigation-Intellectual Property since 2022 and in the areas of Trade Secrets Law and Trademark Law since 2023

Selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list for 2023.

Selected as a Rising Star in the Connecticut Super Lawyers list from 2016 to 2021

Presented with the Distinguished Leader Award by the Connecticut Law Tribune, 2020

Named a Connecticut Law Tribune 2015 "New Leader in the Law"

Named a BusinessNewHaven 2014 "Rising Star"

2025 "Ch. 11 Reorganization of the Year”" in the under ($100MM) for the restructuring of Mariner Health Central Inc. and affiliates, presented at M&A Advisor's 19th Annual Turnaround Awards

2024 "Restructuring of the Year" in the ($50MM TO $100MM) for the restructuring of Mariner Health Central Inc. and affiliates presented at the 23rd Annual M&A Advisor Awards

Quinnipiac University School of Law
Adjunct Faculty

Connecticut Bar Association
Intellectual Property Section, Co-Chair (2019)

Connecticut Bar Foundation
James W. Cooper Fellow

Judge Janet Bond Arterton American Inn of Court
Barrister (2023)