Patents convey to their owners the right to exclude others from practicing the inventions embodied in the patent claims. This powerful exclusionary right encourages innovation by enabling innovators to reap rewards from their investment in research and development. It also encourages competitors to develop new technologies to design around issued patents.

While patents have traditionally been powerful tools and valuable assets, recent developments in the law have made it more difficult to obtain patent claims that can survive a validity challenge in litigation, particularly with respect to the patent-eligibility of software and other computer-implemented inventions.

Candescent Law Group has a deep familiarity with the rapidly evolving state of patent law. We represent clients in matters involving all aspects of patent practice, including litigation before federal district courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), and the Supreme Court, post-grant proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Section 337 Investigations before the International Trade Commission (ITC), and domestic and international patent prosecution.

Trade secrets are an increasingly important form of intellectual property, especially as allegations of technology theft between competing companies and nations are on the rise. Unlike patents that require full disclosure of an invention, trade secrets provide protection for proprietary information while preserving its secrecy. Moreover, that protection may continue for an indefinite period of time as long as secrecy is maintained.

Candescent Law Group is experienced with high-stakes trade secret litigation under a variety of statutes, including the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA), the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), and the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA). Additionally, we are experienced with litigation under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which was amended in 2016 to include trade secret theft as a predicate act. We also counsel clients on how to maintain trade secret protection for their proprietary technology.

Antitrust law seeks to promote competition in the marketplace by prohibiting the creation, maintenance, and exploitation of monopolies by anticompetitive means, and by prohibiting certain types of anti-competitive conduct and agreements by a party having monopoly power in a particular market. Antitrust and patent law are related, since patents confer to their owners a limited monopoly in the patented inventions. Consequently, certain types of improper conduct with respect to patents can sometimes give rise to a violation of antitrust laws.

Candescent Law Group is experienced with litigating matters under federal antitrust statutes such as the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, as well as under state antitrust statutes such as California's Cartwright Act. We are also experienced with the related affirmative defense of patent misuse, which generally proscribes attempts to improperly expand the scope of an issued patent, and can render a patent unenforceable until the proscribed conduct is ceased.

Candescent Law Group handles matters involving various types of complex commercial law under both federal and state statutes, including false advertising, unfair competition, sham litigation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, economic interference, and fraud. We are experienced with litigating these issues in a variety of business sectors, including the retail and consumer goods, food and beverage, and commercial real estate sectors.