Hello.... To facilitate the introduction, I'll post my bio below. As an executive summary, I'm a litigator with a primary focus on intellectual property issues... but really a jack of all trades. I like to say I practice "Rick do this" law... I'm also a registered patent attorney and about 20 percent of my practice is patent prosecution work. I find the litigation background very helpful in drafting the patent specifications.

Well... Here's the bio:

Mr. O’Hare is a Registered Patent Attorney with over 12 years of experience in intellectual property law, critical thinking, legal interpretation, and solving complex legal issues and policy problems. He has successfully litigated multi-million dollar infringement cases involving technology licensing, trademarks, patents, copyrights, and commercial agreements. He is skilled in negotiating complex and controversial issues and providing advice to executives in both domestic and international environments. His superior communication skills enhance his ability to construct and present legal strategies and plans in a coherent and persuasive manner.
Trained as a Chemist, Mr. O’Hare began his career at Chevron where he performed chemical research and provided technical support to its chemical manufacturing facilities throughout the world. After attending law school, Mr. O'Hare transferred to Chevron’s Trial Unit where he specialized in complex litigation. Later, Mr. O’Hare transferred to Chevron’s Patent Unit where his responsibilities included developing technology protection strategies for internal clients. In 1999, Mr. O'Hare moved to private practice, where he continued his complex litigation practice focusing on intellectual property and insurance coverage matters. Mr. O'Hare also provides patent and trademark prosecution services and counsels clients on intellectual property protection.
A representative list of Mr. O’Hare’s representations:

• Instrumental in obtaining a summary judgment for a client being sued for patent, trade dress, copyright infringement, and for misappropriation of trade secrets. The court ruled in favor of client finding no infringement and also that the plaintiff’s patent was invalid and its product was not entitled to trade dress or copyright protection.

• Developed the intellectual property protection strategy for a telecom startup company. The strategy included canceling patent applications, preventing disclosure of valuable trade secret information, which the patents would not have protected in the most lucrative markets.

• Prevented further harassment to a large Internet solutions provider, VeriSign Inc., by having the District Court for the Eastern District of California declare the plaintiff a vexatious litigant.

• Obtained insurance coverage for a client sued for trademark infringement after the insurance company denied coverage while client was being represented by former counsel.

• Represented Infosys Technologies Ltd., a large foreign software/hardware solutions provider, in obtaining substantial settlements on breach of contract matters.

• Represented the descendants of a deceased celebrity in prosecuting large publishing and entertainment companies for copyright infringement. The clients obtained settlements well in excess of expectations.

• Convinced plaintiff, who was alleging client infringed on the plaintiff’s trademark, to pay for all costs associated with the clients’ re-branding, including change of signage, business cards, stationery, and advertising.

• Represented client accused of misappropriation trade secrets; successfully obtained exclusive licensee territories for client from plaintiff.
Associations
Mr. O’Hare is committed to the local community and involved in these and other organizations: Sonoma County Bar Association Intellectual Property Group (Chair 1999- 2002); Cinnabar School District, Trustee, Active 20/30 club member, Summerfield Waldorf School Board of Directors (2001-2004)
Admissions
Mr. O’Hare is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is admitted to practice before the following courts: All California courts (1993); U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1993); U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit (2004); U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (1993); U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (2000); U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2000) U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (2000).
Undergraduate Education
Mr. O’Hare holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry & Microbiology from the University of California At Santa Barbara in 1987.
Law School
Mr. O’Hare received his Juris Doctorate with Honors from McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, in 1993.
Publications
Author: Protecting Intellectual Property Now Top Priority, North Bay Business Journal, 2002 Author: Protecting Your Trademark Assets, Wine Business Monthly, 2001
Presentations
Host: Verdicts and Settlements Roundtables on the Federal Circuit’s "Festo" decision.
Lecturer: University of San Francisco's Community Lecture Series: "Intellectual Property."
Lecturer: Santa Rosa Junior College; guest speaker on Intellectual Property Law.

Hello. I am solo practitioner in Oakland, California. My primary areas are criminal defense and 1983 cases (police abuse). I just had a Ninth Circuit decision published (see Baldwin v. Placer County, 0415848 (filed April 19, 2005, amended August 8, 2005), which was nice, as I haven't had a decision published before.

I consider myself very lucky to have trained under some great criminal defense lawyers. The Bay Area is a great place to practice. I've been on my own now for couple of years, and things seem to get better every year. While being a solo can be isolating sometimes, I'm in a building that is almost exclusivel lawyers, so I can still sound things out to others and vent on occasion, which helps.

Thanks for moderating this tribe.

Paul

Thanks for letting me join this tribe, Jules!

IMNAL (I'm not a lawyer), but I just might become one in the future (BIJMBOITF?).

My undergraduate education focused on two areas, art and biology, so I was thinking that IP law might be good fit for me.

I just finished my BS in Biology at Stanford and don't know what I'm going to do next. I might start the MS program soon if I can figure out how to make the finances work.

Whether I start the MS or not, I'd like to work as a paralegal for a while to figure out if I want the law to be my career. So I'm thinking of possibly seeking work in a firm, or a company's legal department, before I decide whether I want to invest the time and money into going to law school.

So there's a lot of uncertainty for me at the moment, and I'm exploring my options.

www.zulpc.com
I moonlight by providing gothic legal advice.
I'm working on a Cal. Supreme Court case -- Frye v. Tenderloin Housing Clinic. Cheers