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

How to Protect Valuable Intellectual Property despite California’s Policy against the Enforcement of Employee Covenants Not to Compete

19 Dec 2016

Our firm is frequently contacted by companies and small business owners who request that we prepare agreements for them that would prevent or limit their employees from engaging in competitive work following the end of the employment relationship. Specifically, what many businesses are looking for is to include a “covenant not to compete” or “non-compete...

Will President Trump tinker with the USPTO?

23 Nov 2016

As we all know, Donanld Trump is a master brander. We saw him at work during the campaign use his skill to effectively eliminate his competition during the primary season. His campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” may go down in history as one of the most effective slogans ever created. Many say that Trump...

To Search Or Not To Search, Inventors Want To Know

21 Nov 2016

In my many initial client consultation meetings, this is the first question: Should we do a search first? The short answer is yes, but not always. A patent search usually means searching the USPTO database to see if the invention has already been disclosed by another patent or patent application. If it has, there is...

VIRTUAL PATENT MARKINGS

17 Nov 2016

The America Invents Act (AIA) allows patented products to be marked “virtually” by using a notice directing consumers to visit a site on the internet. See USPTO’s Report on Virtual Markings, September 2014. To comply with virtual marking requirements, the owner must mark the product itself, or the product’s packaging if it is not possible...

What Is a Joint Work in Copyright Law?

24 Sep 2014

We should all know by now that songs, movies, and books are copyrighted works. Every time we see a movie, for example, we are reminded of this by the “FBI Warning” stating that federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted motion pictures. And copyright owners take this seriously....

Protect Your Website With Copyright Registration

17 Sep 2014

Copyright Registration for Websites The first thing that comes to mind for many people when discussing the Copyright issues of websites are cases such as Napster and Grokster, where the website owner was found to have infringed on the Copyrights of others.[1] These cases, and many others like them, have made it clear that website...

What Is a Copyright and How to Register Your Work

9 Sep 2014

What Is a Copyright? What does it mean to copyright something? We always see the copyright symbol © on the second page of a book, on the bottom of websites, and in the bottom right hand portion of paintings and lithographs, such as Chuck Jones’ famous 1994 work of art with Daffy Duck and Porky...

Inter Partes Review of Patents

25 Aug 2014

Inter Partes Review The America Invent Act (AIA) brought new changes to the way the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) conducts review of patents challenged by third parties. Some of these changes include new rules to institute an inter partes review of a patent with a new standards for showing of sufficient grounds...

Overview Of The Trial Proceedings Conducted By The USPTO

24 Aug 2014

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced several new trial proceedings that are now available for reexamining or challenging issued patents. These procedures are an attempt to streamline the process of reviewing issued patents, and to minimize the costs to challengers or patent owners, by providing a less costly alternative to litigation. While...

When Is The Purchaser Of A Business Assets Liable For The Seller’s Liabilities?

22 Aug 2014

The issue of successor corporation liability has been the subject of many cases in California. When it comes to purchasing an existing corporation’s assets, you can never be too sure of the issues that will arise once the sale date passes and the agreement is complete. A corporate successor is a corporation that takes on...

Attacking An Issued Patent Without Filing Suit

22 Aug 2014

Standards for Third Party Review of Issued Patents The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act replaced inter partes reexamination with a new proceeding similarly called an inter partes review proceeding. This process took effect on September 16, 2012, one year after enactment of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. Part of the changes implemented into the newer proceeding include the standard required...

What is the difference between a California Close Corp, an S-Corp, and a C-Corp?

15 Aug 2014

In business discourse, particularly in California, one may hear the terms S Corp, C Corp, and Close Corp thrown around, sometimes interchangeably. However, each of these terms has a distinct meaning. This article seeks to explain each term and their implications to a California business. What is a corporation? A corporation is a fictional legal...

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