Dunstan H. Barnes practices in all areas of intellectual property law with an emphasis on protecting and analyzing design rights. His work in that area includes drafting and prosecuting design patent applications and conducting opinion work and due diligence investigations. In addition, drawing on his doctorate work in materials science and metallurgy, Dr. Barnes has considerable experience drafting and prosecuting utility patent applications across a range of technological fields and industries.
Dr. Barnes is particularly skilled at communicating complex, abstract technical concepts clearly and compellingly. He is a skilled intellectual property advocate and advisor who helps his clients protect their innovations, particularly new designs, in the U.S. and in global marketplaces. He helps his clients acquire and protect their IP rights, as well as navigate the world of existing rights. In 2021, Dr. Barnes was honored as a 40 Under Forty attorney in Illinois. In recommending him for the honor, a senior IP counsel at a major international pharmaceutical company wrote, “I consider him to be one of the top 10 design patent attorneys in the United States, period.”
Prior to joining MBHB, he was a Partner at McAndrews, Held & Malloy in Chicago and a doctoral researcher at the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials in Cambridge, England.
In his spare time, Dr. Barnes enjoys football (soccer) in pretty much any weather, bass guitar, poker, and keeping up with his two energetic young children.
- Managing IP Stars: Rising Star (2024)
- Super Lawyers, Illinois Rising Star – Intellectual Property (2017-2023)
- 40 Under Forty: Illinois Attorneys to Watch (2021)
Dunstan H. Barnes, Wil Rao, & Andrew W. Mills, A “Road Just as Fair”: Potential Pathways for the Adoption and Use of Artificial Intelligence in Patent Drafting Expert Analysis Chapter in Patents 2025, ICLG (2025).
Christopher V. Carani, Dunstan H. Barnes & Sarine R. Hagopian, & William E. Danziger, Designs 2025: USA, ICLG (2025).
Christopher V. Carani, Dunstan H. Barnes, Sarine R. Hagopian, & John C. Dewar, Copyright 2025: USA, ICLG (2025).
Christopher V. Carani & Dunstan H. Barnes, A 360-degree approach: why fashion brands are relying on more than just trademarks: USA, WTR SPECIAL REPORTS Q3 (2023).
Christopher V. Carani & Dunstan H. Barnes, DESIGN RIGHTS: FUNCTIONALITY AND SCOPE OF PROTECTION (US CHAPTER), Kluwer Law International BV, 2d ed. (2022).
Dunstan Barnes, Christopher Carani, & Megan Trick, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’: SCOTUS to Determine What’s Fair in Warhol v. Goldsmith, IPWATCHDOG.COM (Aug. 30, 2022), available at https://ipwatchdog.com/2022/08/30/nothing-compares-2-u-scotus-determine-whats-fair-warhol-v-goldsmith/id=151167/.
Christopher V. Carani, Dunstan H. Barnes & Perry Saidman, LESI Design Study—USA, LES NOUVELLES (March 2020).
Dunstan H. Barnes, Design Patent Rejections – Update, guest post on BIGPATENTDATA.COM (April 14, 2019).
