Carr & Ferrell > Attorneys > Intellectual Property > John S. Ferrell

John S. Ferrell
Co-Founder, Carr & Ferrell LLP
Chair, Intellectual Property Practice Group
650-812-3408 •

John Ferrell is a founding partner of Carr & Ferrell LLP, one of Silicon Valley's foremost technology law firms, and specializes in patent and intellectual property law matters. He is the Chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group.

Mr. Ferrell's practice focuses on helping emerging and mid-sized companies create market monopolies by organizing and leveraging intellectual property assets. In addition, Mr. Ferrell's practice includes patent opinion and litigation analysis, as well as trademark, copyright and trade secret matters. As a leading Palo Alto patent attorney, Mr. Ferrell has represented companies in a variety of fields, including semiconductors, communications, computers, software, social networking, wireless, bioengineering, and eco-engineering.

Distinguished by his demonstrated technical and legal expertise, Mr. Ferrell has been noted in the Silicon Valley Business Journal list of Who's Who in Silicon Valley and Northern California's Super Lawyers. He was also listed by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of California's top Rainmakers, by San Jose Magazine as one of Silicon Valley's top Legal Eagles, and by San Francisco Magazine as one of Northern California's top lawyers. Additionally, under his leadership, the firm was recently recognized by Corporate Counsel Magazine as a "Go to Law Firm for Intellectual Property". Mr. Ferrell has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell® (a representation of the highest level of professional excellence). Over the past decade, Mr. Ferrell has presented and spoken about patent and intellectual property issues at both legal and technology business forums around the globe.

Media Appearances

• BusinessWeek
• Information Week
• InfoWorld
• San Jose Mercury News
• San Francisco Chronicle
• California Law Business
• The Recorder
• The Register
• CNN Radio
• CNET News
• Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
• San Jose Magazine
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• SD Times
• eWeek
• Daily Herald
• Reuters
• NewsForge
• EE Times
• Linux Today

Media Mentions

• November 3, 2008 - TheStreet.com - “Samsung Could Cut IP Ties With SanDisk”
• February 23, 2008 - Information Week - "Federal Court to Reconsider Software Patent Issue"
• April 12, 2006 - linuxpipeline.com - "SCO Raises New Funding -- And Experts Raise Questions"
• April 10, 2006 - eWeek - "If Legal Questions Killed an Oracle-JBoss Deal, Why Not Red Hat-JBoss?"
• August 16, 2005 - SFGate.com - "Apple, Microsoft Duel Over iPod Patent"
• May 18, 2005 - SFGate.com - "MIND YOUR BUSINESS Dream of opening cafe or wine bar could turn into nightmare"
• April 1, 2005 - adtmag.com - "When Corporate Lawyers Attack"
• March 15, 2005 - itcinstitute.com - "Intellectual Property: Risk or Red Herring?"
• March 10, 2005 - microsoft-watch.com - "Microsoft Advocates for Patent Reform"
• March 1, 2005 - Enterprise Strategies newsletters - "Careers: How "Inevitable Misappropriation" May Limit Job Mobility"
• February 9, 2005 - CNET News.com - "Judge slams SCO's lack of evidence against IBM"

Media Mentions Archive

2004
December 23, 2004 – CNET News.com – Sprucing up open source's GPL foundation
November 18, 2004 – CNET News.com – Sun plans patent protection for open-source Solaris
August 15, 2004 – SD Times – Judge Puts Brakes on SCO v. DaimlerChrysler
July 21, 2004 – CNET News.com – SCO flops in DaimlerChrysler Unix lawsuit
June 4, 2004 – Mercury News – Patent Dispute Focuses On Auction of Ad Keywords
March 3, 2004 – eWeek – SCO Sues AutoZone Over Linux Use
February 1, 2004 – SD Times – Linux Vendors Move to Protect Customers
January 26, 2004 – San Jose Mercury News – Scanning Tech Patent Case Eyed
January 15, 2004 – Daily Herald – SCO offers licenses to smaller businesses
January 14, 2004 – infoworld.com – SCO to take Linux licensing to SMB, international users
2003
December 23, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO opens new front in Linux war
December 8, 2003 – CNET News.com – Judge orders SCO to show Linux infringement
October 13, 2003 – CNET News.com – Linux companies settle copyright suit
October 10, 2003 – Reuters – Macrovision, InterTrust in patent dispute hearing
September 8, 2003 – EE Times – Post position can clinch a patent race
August 28, 2003 – newsforge.com – SCO: Inside the hurricane
August 22, 2003 – linuxtoday.com – Legal Analysts Examine SCO Claims Against GPL
August 15, 2003 – SD Times – SCO Wants Linux Users to Pay
August 15, 2003 – linuxtoday.com – SCO vs. GPL: Luminaries Decry Legal Maneuver as "Posturing"
August 15, 2003 – InformationWeek – Protect Your Business Software From IP Claims
August 11, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO Group wins Linux licensee
July 21, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO takes aim at Linux users
July 8, 2003 – theregister.co.uk – Dell reaches $50 million settlement with Tulip
June 24, 2003 – CNET News.com – Dell sued by Tulip over motherboard
June 16, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO claims IBM Unix contract void
June 11, 2003 – CNET News.com – Did SCO open Unix source code?
June 09, 2003 – San Francisco Chronicle – Inventors patent ideas to pre-empt their rivals – Companies then must buy rights to the devices
June 06, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO says clause bolsters Linux claim
June 04, 2003 – CNET News.com – Contract illuminates Novell-SCO spat
June 02, 2003 – InformationWeek – eBay Ordered To Ante Up In Patent-violation Suit
May 29, 2003 – siliconvalley.internet.com – Novell Challenges SCO Over Unix, Linux
May 19, 2003 – CNET News.com – SCO Group's Case against Linux
May 16, 2003 – siliconvalley.internet.com – SCO Faces Hurdles in Linux Claims
May 16, 2003 – eSchool News – SCO throws a legal scare at Linux users
May 01, 2003 – CNET News.com – IBM denies charges of Unix theft
March 31, 2003 – mozillaquest.com - SCO-Caldera v IBM: IBM Moves Lawsuit from State to Federal Court
March 27, 2003 – CNET News.com – IBM hires Boies' ex-firm in SCO lawsuit
January 10, 2003 – Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal – Target: patent infringement
2002
November 04, 2002 – InformationWeek – Protect And Serve
October 01, 2002 – San Francisco Chronicle – HP, EMC File Dueling Lawsuits Tech Firms Accuse Each Other of Violating Data Storage Patents
September 27, 2002 – The Recorder – Carr’s Ride: As marquee firms face layoffs and sliding profits, Silicon Valley boutique Carr & Ferrell may be hitting its stride

Speaking Engagements

• September 25, 2008 - Harris & Harris Group CEO Day, Palo Alto, CA
• September 4, 2008 - Woodside Fund Clean Energy Technology Roundtable, Palo Alto, CA
• June 11, 2008 - PLI's Advanced Patent Licensing Seminar, San Francisco, CA
• March 18, 2008 - "Entrepreneurs in Biotechnology" at UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• January 24, 2008 - IP Due Diligence for Semiconductor Venture Investments, Palo Alto, CA
• March 22, 2006 - National Manufacturing Week, Chicago, IL
• April 14, 2005 - Stanford Guest Lecture, Palo Alto, CA
• April 26, 2005 - IEEE Presentation, Santa Clara, CA
• May 5, 2005 – Success By Design Conference Presentation, Providence, RI
• July 12-14, 2005 – SemiCon West Trade Show, San Francisco, CA