Kerr & Wagstaffe Firm Flourishes as Intellectual Property Takes Center Stage

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology is ever-changing, and so, too, is the set of industry standards and legal regulations that govern technology companies. This fact is underscored by a new report from BusinessWeek, illuminating ongoing intellectual property concerns among major companies such as AOL and Google. The article highlights the fact that intellectual property is a tricky thing to pin down, from a legal standpoint—which means that, as more and more technology companies seek to protect their own intellectual property, law firms like Kerr & Wagstaffe, which specializes in intellectual property cases, are thriving.

Actually, the BusinessWeek report notes that intellectual property is such a complex field, sometimes a company does not wish to protect its assets at all—but, rather, it wishes to sell them. Such is the case with AOL, which is selling many of its patents to rival company Microsoft, as a way of dealing with mounting pressures from shareholders.

The article notes that the arrangement between AOL and Microsoft comes just as other companies, such as Google and AOL, are "building patent war chests in efforts to fend off litigation and defend sales of top products."

With all of these shake-ups in the intellectual property world, it should come as no surprise that the law firms that deal in patents and technology are seeing an influx of new clients and cases. This is particularly true for a firm like Kerr & Wagstaffe, which not only specializes in intellectual property law, but also has the benefit of being established in San Francisco, not far from the hub of the technology industry itself.

"San Francisco and the Bay Area make up the epicenter for these titanic intellectual property litigation matches," says Ivo Labar, a partner with the Kerr & Wagstaffe firm. "We are representing more and more companies in these disputes, which involve some of the most cutting edge technologies, such as Wi-Fi and visual recognition software."

The legal firm is not the only entity to benefit from the flurry of intellectual property activity in the technology industry, of course. BusinessWeek reports that AOL's decision will likely prove massively helpful in generating the kinds of profits company shareholders are hoping to see. Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL, is quoted as saying that he expects the patent licensing agreement with Microsoft will generate $100 million over the life of the patents.

ABOUT:

Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP is a law firm based in the San Francisco area. The firm is best known for representing clients in cutting-edge and wide-ranging litigation. Previous cases include enforcing patents underlying Wi-Fi technology; developing legal processes for domain name registration; and representing businesses and individuals in trade secrets and employee mobility actions. The firm has many prominent practice areas, including First Amendment issues, employment law, intellectual property rights, and class action litigation. Kerr & Wagstaffe believes that a law firm is defined by its attorneys, and as such it employs lawyers with diverse trial and appellate experience as well as high ethical standards.

SOURCE Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP