John joined Brooks Kushman in 1999. His focus is patent litigation and appeals in the software, electrical and mechanical arts. He holds an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering, and he is admitted to practice before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Courts in California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts and Michigan. John is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent Office.

John has first, and second chair trial experience, and has argued before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

John’s representative litigation experience includes:

z4 v. Microsoft Corporation and Autodesk, Inc.
Patent infringement case involving two patents relating to technology for reducing software piracy. Infringing products included Microsoft’s Windows and Office software, and Autodesk’s AutoCAD software. Brooks Kushman secured a $133 million jury verdict, and a $25 million enhanced damages award for z4. (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,785,825 and 6,044,471) On November 16, 2007, the case was affirmed by the Federal Circuit. (Click here to view the decision)

MAZ Technologies, Inc. v. Microsoft
Represented MAZ in a patent infringement lawsuit concerning encrypting file systems. (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,185,681 C1 and 7,096,358) Negotiated a settlement and license agreement between MAZ and Microsoft.

z4 v. Adobe, Symantec, Nuance Communications, Quark, Abbyy Software & Mathsoft
Represented z4 in patent infringement case relating to anti-piracy software. Negotiated patent licenses and settlements with all defendants. (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,785,825 and 6,044,471)

AgentWare, Inc. v. Ford Motor Company
Represented Ford in trade secrets case relating to computer software for assembly line visualization. AgentWare sought over $400 million from Ford. The court and the jury found for Ford, rejecting AgentWare’s claims.

GreenLeaf LLC v. Technology Solutions Company
The lawsuit resulted from a failed development of a custom computer system for GreenLeaf capable of tracking its national inventory and processing sales transactions. GreenLeaf, represented by Brooks Kushman, demanded a refund of the fees it paid TSC over the course of the unsuccessful development project. After a week-long trial, the jury awarded GreenLeaf $2.3 million.

Quantum Corp. v. Storage Technology Corp.
Defended StorageTek (now Sun Microsystems) in a N.D. California patent infringement suit involving two patents relating to magnetic data recording technology. The case settled shortly after the filing of StorageTek’s summary judgment motions for non-infringement and invalidity. (U.S. Patent Nos. 5,474,253 and 4,809,110)

Omega Patents LLC v. Lear Corporation
Defending Lear in patent infringement action relating to vehicle data bus technology for remote start and 2-way RKE. This case is ongoing.

Lear Corporation v. Bertrand Faure, Inc.
Represented Lear in a patent infringement suit involving self-aligning vehicle headrest for reducing whiplash. The case settled before trial. (U.S. Patent No. 5,795,019)

Bravo Sports, Inc. and Variflex Inc. v. North Pole LLC
Defended North Pole in a patent infringement case in C.D. California involving collapsible canopy structures. (U.S. Patent No. 4,779,635) The court granted summary judgement of non-infringement. (click here to view the order.)

Krippelz v. Ford Motor Company
Representing Ford in a patent infringement case in the N.D. Illinois involving vehicle lighting technology. This case is ongoing. (U.S. Patent No. 5,017,903)

Hochstein et al. v. Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft Corporation
Representing Hochstein in a patent infringement case involving voice over data technology for online gaming. This case is ongoing. (U.S. Patent No. 5,292,125)

John also manages and actively participates in Brooks Kushman’s pro-bono program.