John J. Connors is a patent attorney with over 35 years of experience, including a brief term as a Los Angeles assistant district attorney pro tempore. He has been employed as in-house patent counsel to the Standard Oil Company, the Brunswick Corporation and TRW, where he managed the patent and licensing department, and served on the Advanced Electronics Panel chaired by Simon Ramo and the Patent Committee for the Aerospace Industry Association.  In 1983, Mr. Connors founded Connors & Associates, a law firm dedicated to creating valuable property and contractual rights in the ideas of its clients in the most cost-effective way.

He is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and has testified as an expert witness on licensing inventions in Jacobson v. Kawasaki, involving the Jet Ski®. He is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, the Orange County Patent Law Association, the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel.  He is licensed to practice law in the States of California and Illinois, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

He is the author of The Inventor's Bible for Protecting Your Million-Dollar Idea. Click here for information about the book.

He has also published a number of articles on patent and trademark law, and he has lectured on intellectual property law and entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University, Saddleback College, UCLA, Chapman University, and the University of La Verne College of Law. Mr. Connors holds a Juris Doctor degree from John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from St. Thomas College, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Connors & Associates is a professional law corporation serving its clients through an international legal network of attorneys specializing in intellectual property law. Its offices are located in Newport Beach, California. (Get driving directions.)

In 1983, John J. Connors, a patent attorney, began building the legal network to utilize the expertise of independent intellectual property attorneys and law firms in the United States and abroad. This network of attorneys has the experience and specialized knowledge needed to create valuable intellectual property and contractual rights in a cost-effective way in the ideas of its clients. 

Connors & Associates' legal specializations are (1) the acquisition of patents, trademarks, and copyrights, (2) patent infringement and validity opinions, and (3) negotiating the sale and licensing of intellectual property. Superior communication with its clients and attorney work-product meeting the highest standards of professional excellence are the pillars upon which rest the attorney-client relationship.

In the United States, representation of clients is limited to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Connors & Associates also counsels clients on legal and business strategies and negotiates and drafts agreements for commercially developing intellectual property through licensing or sale. When international patents and trademarks are sought, Connors & Associates retains attorneys in each individual country where clients desire legal protection. These attorneys, as instructed by Connors & Associates, represent clients before the appropriate government agency in the selected country outside the United States. Independent, specialized firms conduct searches for novelty of inventions and trademarks.

The preparation of the patent application, primarily its claims, is the most critical element in successfully enforcing a patent. Each invention is unique, so technical specialists may sometimes be required, and are employed by Connors & Associates on a case-by-case basis as needed.  The network's technical expertise includes, but is not limited to, medical devices and instruments, mechanical devices, chemical compositions and processes, plastic molding and molding tools, sporting and exercise equipment, aerospace technology, computers, software, electronics, solar heating equipment, automotive devices, electrical welding, petroleum refining and production equipment, circuit board testing apparatus, water purification, hand tools, and business method inventions.

The acquisition of intellectual property, particularly patents, is accompanied by a carefully planned enforcement strategy.  Each patent application is prepared with the expectation that the patent will go to jury trial with the inventor being a star witness.  This approach avoids litigation in many cases, and if a trial is necessary, increases the likelihood of winning. Litigation, however, is often avoided through negotiation. Because court proceedings require different skills than needed in obtaining intellectual property and negotiating agreements, lawsuits are referred to litigation counsel specializing in intellectual property litigation.