Mr. Vanek has practiced in the fields of intellectual property and commercial litigation for over 25 years, with a particular focus on trademark and antitrust matters.

In the antitrust arena, Mr. Vanek focuses on opt-out litigation in the role of representing large corporate clients who have over paid for products or services.  Recent notable cases include the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation pending against Visa and MasterCard and the American Express Anti-Steering Rules Antitrust Litigation.

Mr. Vanek also has considerable experience in the area of trademark law. In this regard, he has represented numerous clients in the domestic and worldwide clearance, selection and registration of trademarks. Mr. Vanek’s trademark clients range from internationally renowned branding companies, entrepreneurial startups, and Fortune 100 companies, including the work related to the renaming of Philip Morris to Altria.  Mr. Vanek’s work with Wilcox IP focuses on this area of practice.

Beyond the strict confines of the practice of law, Mr. Vanek has been involved in founding and fostering several companies. In 2004, he co-founded Automark Technical Systems, LLC which designed and sold voting machine solutions for the disabled. In less than four years, Automark achieved in excess of $100 million in sales, and resulted in Mr. Vanek being awarded two patents. After Automark achieved in excess of 40% market share for its products, the company was sold to a leading election company.

After Automark was sold, Mr. Vanek co-founded an inspirational publishing company, Simple Truths, LLC, which focused on corporate and personal development.  Simple Truths, which developed several innovations in the direct to consumer publishing model, was sold in early 2012.

Mr. Vanek also serves as a partner in the firm of Sperling & Slater, P.C. a notable corporate and commercial litigation firm located in Chicago, Illinois.