20th Anniversary SAC Attorneys
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Elite Lawyers Business James Cai 2017
Best Litigation Attorneys in San Jose
Expertise - Best Employment Lawyers in Santa Clara 2021
Expertise - Best Employment Lawyers in Santa Clara 2022

Applying for a Patent, and What it Means for You

Patents are vital to the world of intellectual property. Whether a company is trying to protect a mass-produced product, or a small, independent content creator is trying to protect their work, a patent is crucial to ensuring that the company or individual receives the credit they deserve for creating that work.

But ultimately, what is a patent? Formally, it is a legal protection that forbids other people from recreating, repurposing or using your work for their purposes without your consent. This is referred to as a “negative right.” In other words, it grants you the right to exclude other people from doing something. Once a patent is granted, then no other person or company can make an independent claim that they created or invented the work protect under patent.

Before a patent is granted, though, there is an extensive patent application process, and the rights granted to the creator applying for a patent are important during this process. For example, before you apply for a patent, you have no legal protections whatsoever. That means that another company or creator could be independently creating a similar (or identical) piece of work to your own and they would not be violating any rules or laws.

Once you apply for a patent though, your work will be deemed as “patent pending.” This alerts other people that your product or work is closing in on an official patent, and that they should refrain from utilizing your product or work. There is another side to this though: falsifying a “patent pending” designation. If you do this, you will be subject to a fine.

Ultimately, once your patent is approved, it effectively grants you a “monopoly” over your work. The patent lasts for 20 years and grants you a wide range of rights.

Client Reviews
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Mr. Cai Is a Diligent Attorney. My sister and I were defendants in a civil litigation case. We hired James Cai and his law firm, SAC Attorneys LLP. Mr. Cai is a diligent attorney and responded to our questions in a timely fashion. He and his staff were very helpful in keeping us informed of the proceedings of the case and in explaining each step. Mr. Cai is also very conscientious of fees and costs, and avoided unnecessary charges. The results of the Summary Adjudication sided with us. The Court Trial resulted in the “Final Statement of Decision” and “Judgment after Court Trial” overwhelmingly siding with us. Cynthia F.
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I Am Truly Impressed. After spending a significant amount of time, money and efforts with my previous counsel at a larger law firm without getting meaningful results, I transferred my employment matter to SAC Attorneys LLP. The attorneys there were able to understand the complex situations of my case and put together an aggressive litigation strategy. We were able to file a compelling complaint within a week and forced the opposing party, which was represented by one of the largest law firms in California, to make a substantial settlement offer shortly thereafter. I am truly impressed by the no nonsense and results oriented approach by SAC Attorneys LLP attorneys. A job well done! X. Gao
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They Took Time to Understand Our Technology. I am the founder of a bioinformatics start-up in the Silicon Valley and chose SAC Attorneys LLP as our corporate counsels. Their attorneys have great experience with high tech start-ups and were able to offer a highly competitive service plan while not sacrificing a bit of their quality of services. They took time to understand our technology and provided value added services by introducing investors and job candidates to us. We regard our attorneys at SAC Attorneys LLP not only as our legal advisors but also our venture partners. Dr. Pete S.