Oct. 16, 2014
Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP
See more on Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLPLos Angeles, Sunnyvale, Costa Mesa, Portland, Seattle, Denver | Patent law specialists
For patent lawyers, that time was perhaps the late 1990s when the dot-com bubble was growing and the federal patent office was perhaps more lenient in accepting applications.
"The late 1990s was the high-water mark," said Lester Vincent, a partner at the Sunnyvale office of Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman LLP, a boutique firm that has concentrated on patent law since its founding in 1975.
"You could patent life forms, business methods, everything under the sun," Vincent recalled. "But there has been somewhat of an erosion of the subject matter to get a patent on."
Blakely Sokoloff lawyers cited recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that have further defined the limits of what can be patented. Namely, business methods are too abstract to be patented, even if certain computer software is used to apply them.
Blakely Sokoloff lawyers are watching for potential implications since the firm is focused on tech.
Firm co-founder and partner Roger Blakely estimates that more than 90 percent of their business is with tech companies. These include Santa Clara-baed Intel Corp., which Blakely Sokoloff have represented since 1977, as well as computer software and wireless technology companies.
"We try to hire people right out of law school with good technical backgrounds," Blakely said.
The firm's Los Angeles office also represents clients in the entertainment and clothing industries.
Blakely Sokoloff is a large shop in the realm of patent boutiques. According to Blakely, they represent "one-seventh" of all companies on the Nasdaq 100, a listing of the largest publicly traded nonfinancial companies in the world.
A growing number of their patent application volume is from international clients. According to Vincent, the firm made significant inroads into the international market around 2005.
International business increased further following 2012 implementation of the America Invents Act, federal legislation that more closely aligned U.S. patent law with the World Trade Organization and countries such as China and South Korea.
"I think patent law has become more international, because of these structural changes," Vincent said.
Blakely said that the firm has no desire to diversify beyond intellectual property. ""We've never seriously thought about doing that," Blakely said.
- Matthew Blake
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