Patents Archives - Jafari Law Group | California Employment Litigation & Patent Lawyers

What is the Difference Between a Trademark, a Patent, and a Copyright?

September 17 2021

When you or a group of collaborators come up with a work, invention, or idea through your own creativity and original thought process, you’ve created intellectual property. Unfortunately, unlike most physical property, intellectual property is easily stolen or misattributed, which can result in its rightful owners being denied credit and compensation for their work. People …

Continue reading “What is the Difference Between a Trademark, a Patent, and a Copyright?”

How Much Is Your Patent Worth?

March 12 2021

When most people want to file a patent, they do so with one major goal in mind: making money—or at least, protecting their idea from OTHERS making money off of it! Patents can range from obscure, niche applications that may never be used, to schematics and designs of products that can and will change the …

Continue reading “How Much Is Your Patent Worth?”

Does Your Idea Qualify for a Patent?

February 08 2019

You may have an idea, and you want to protect ownership of that idea. Before you start the complex process of applying for a patent, you should carefully determine whether your idea is patentable. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has strict eligibility requirements when it comes to patents, and the following is just …

Continue reading “Does Your Idea Qualify for a Patent?”

Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks: The Basics

December 17 2018

The economy of California has always been greatly dependent upon the ideas of inventors and entrepreneurs. Entertainment, technology, fashion, and many other industries are dependent upon new ideas. These ideas are intellectual property. Their owners have legal property rights in them, and it is important for these property rights to be protected. For decades, inventors …

Continue reading “Copyright, Patents, and Trademarks: The Basics”

The Benefits of Obtaining a Provisional Patent

October 17 2018

When you come up with the design for a new invention, the last thing you want to risk is someone else using your design to get the invention on the market. For this reason, you should seek a patent as soon as possible to protect your ownership of your intellectual property. Time is of the …

Continue reading “The Benefits of Obtaining a Provisional Patent”

You Got Your Patent, Now What?

March 12 2018

Congratulations! You’ve received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a task which you appreciate is no easy feat. Now that you are someone who can proudly say, “I have a U.S. patent,” you should know there are other requirements for you to complete in order to fully maintain and …

Continue reading “You Got Your Patent, Now What?”

"Write Once, Run Anywhere" – POS Patent Infringement Lawsuit Reversed on Appeal

December 10 2014

In this POS patent infringement lawsuit, CardSoft sued VeriFone and others asserting infringement of its software patents. Both companies are in the point of sale (POS) industry that consumers recognize as credit card readers, and also the industry that Apple is seeking to gain market share in with its new concept of Apple Pay. At …

Continue reading “"Write Once, Run Anywhere" – POS Patent Infringement Lawsuit Reversed on Appeal”

Incomplete Disclosures Lead to Unenforceable Patents: American Calcar, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co.

November 28 2014

On September 26, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s findings that several patents asserted against Honda, were invalid as a result of inequitable conduct during prosecution. According to the Court’s findings, an eager inventor acted with intent to deceive the United States Patent and Trademark Office …

Continue reading “Incomplete Disclosures Lead to Unenforceable Patents: American Calcar, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co.”

Public performance under the Copyright Act

November 16 2014

This past summer the Supreme Court ruled against Aereo, Inc. in the case of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc.[1] The decision hinged on the meaning behind two critical terms of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C.): “perform” and “publicly”. The Court first had to decide whether the actions by Aereo constitute a performance as …

Continue reading “Public performance under the Copyright Act”

Message to Patent Trolls: Lose & You Will Pay Attorney’s Fees

November 04 2014

The American system is unlike many others when it comes to paying the attorney’s fees of the winner in litigation. Patent cases have always been a little different in that the relevant statutes allowed for the district court judge to consider a fee motion in favor of the winner in a patent infringement suit. Until …

Continue reading “Message to Patent Trolls: Lose & You Will Pay Attorney’s Fees”

$147.2 Million Jury Award against Blackberry Overturned

August 24 2014

On August 22, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s findings that Research In Motion Limited and Research In Motion Corporation (BlackBerry) did not infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,970,917 (“’917 patent”), owned at the time of suit by MFormation Technologies, Inc. and mFormation Software Technologies, Inc. (MST). After a jury trial …

Continue reading “$147.2 Million Jury Award against Blackberry Overturned”

One Plus One Does Not Equal New. The Federal Circuit Invalidates I/P Engine’s Patents

August 15 2014

I/P Engine brought a patent infringement lawsuit against Google and several other defendants for infringing on several of its patents. The patents at issue relate to a method for filtering Internet search results. The patents’ main operational features determine the relevance of an Internet search by, for example, extracting text from a web page (known …

Continue reading “One Plus One Does Not Equal New. The Federal Circuit Invalidates I/P Engine’s Patents”

IP Now