Carr & Ferrell > Attorneys > 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 Intelletcual 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. Mr. Ferrell has represented companies in a variety of fields, including semiconductors, communications, computers, software, social networking, wireless, bioengineering, and eco-engineering, to name a few.

Distinguished by his demonstrated technical and legal expertise, Mr. Ferrell has been 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 the "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

• Business Week
• InformationWeek
• 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

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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