Call (925) 600-7342

CONTACT INFORMATION

Gerald R. Prettyman, Esq.
P.O. Box 1419
Pleasanton, CA 94566-0419
V-Card
Telephone: (925) 600-7342
Facsimile: (925) 600-7342
Call (925) 600-7342
Gerald R. Prettyman passed the patent bar and has been drafting and prosecuting patents since 2001. He earned a law degree in 2005, passed the California Bar Exam in 2006, earned a post-graduate law degree in intellectual property in 2007, and was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 2008. He has been creating intellectual property value for start-ups and other businesses and preventing and solving legal problems since 2006. Mr. Prettyman's work with start-ups and in product research and development began with his employment as an engineer from 1986 until 1993. He then became a hands-on engineering manager adept at improving throughput and profit and decreasing defect losses in small and large companies. Since becoming an attorney, he has two published law review articles, several published bar association articles, a law blog and makes periodic contributions to other online legal blogs. Mr. Prettyman was formerly a medical technician with the U.S. Navy and in the private sector.
Representative Patents
 
Summary of Legal Registrations
Registered, U.S. Patent Office, 2001 (#48,778)
Licensed Attorney, CA, 2006 (SBN 247778)
Licensed Attorney, MN, 2009 (SBN 389572)
 
Federal Courts Admitted
U.S. District Court, N. District of California
The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
 
Educational Summary
LL.M., Intellectual Property, 2007
J.D., Golden Gate University, 2005
B.S.M.E., U. of California, San Diego, 1989
A.A. with Honors, Chabot College, 1983
 
Summary of Legal Experience
GRPLAW℠

Law Office of Gerald R. Prettyman

Protection for All Your Ideas Under the Sun®


From Idea to Entrepreneur℠

Gerald R. Prettyman, Esq.
Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.), Master of Laws In Intellectual Property (LL.M.)
Licensed Attorney in California and Minnesota.
A Registered Attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Call (925) 600-7342 or Email grplaw (at) gmail.com
My Résumé

Areas of Practice
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
» Inventions – Patents* and Trade Secrets
» Ideas – Business, Trademark(s), Trade Dress
» Designs – Artwork & Industrial Design
» Art & Music – Copyright and File Sharing
» Internet – Domain Names and Web Hosting
» Internet – Electronic Commerce & Shopping
» Internet – Uploading & Downloading
BUSINESS, CONTRACTS & PUBLIC POLICY
» Business – Sole Proprietor, LLC and Corporations
» Business – Finance & Capitalization Consultation
» Contracts – Confidentiality & Non-Disclosure
» Contracts – Contractor & Non-Compete Agreements
» Software – Development & Employment Agreements
» Entertainment – Licensing & Royalties
*Patents applications drafted include electronic devices, software, memory, hardware, machines & appliances, solar and clean technology, and specialty utensils among others.
 
PUBLIC TRUST
» Elder Care & Protection (Title 22)
» Medical Care & Medical Devices
» Animal Care & Personal Property Rights
» Consumer Protection, Contract & Fraud
» Product Engineering & Defects
» Wills and Trusts, Estate Planning
» Property and Nuisance Claims
» Insurance Valuation Disputes, Bad Faith Claims
 
Services of The Law Office of Gerald R. Prettyman
* Protecting clients' intellectual property and other ideas, such as slogans, logos, company names and other creations, patent and trademark searches;
* Preparing, filing and prosecuting patent, trademark and copyright applications;
* Drafting business contracts and partnership and incorporation documents;
* Advising businesses on use of the Internet and social networking for advertising and sales; and
* Helping entrepreneurs prepare their start-up and themselves for funding pitches.
Initial Consultation Topics
* Advice on how utility and design patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and contracts protect your idea, and on patentability of your idea;
* The distinctions of provisional and non-provisional patent applications.
* The appropriate use of a provisional patent application and patent searches.
* How to find and use the WOW of an idea that will sell the product or service.
* How to inexpensively create a functional prototype.
* How to work with consumers to optimize the product for market acceptance and pricing.
* How to inexpensively start a business while protecting your assets.
* Licensing and franchising, if you are interested.
 
Please call (925) 600-7342 or email grplaw (at) gmail dot com to set up a consultation.
Legal services are flat fee or hourly, as negotiated with the client.

Published Articles and Presentations
♦ "The Evolving Written Description Doctrine and the Search for Specificity."
Pepperdine University School of Law, Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law, Fall 2007.
♦ "Discovery of Private Electronic Devices."
FlimFlam. The Newsletter of the Eastern Alameda County Bar Association, February 2010, Volume 11, Issue #2, p. 4.

Online Posts @ http://grpblawg.blogspot.com/
•What Is a Nursing Home? (10/14/11
•Tattoos and Copyright (5/25/11)
•Latest Car Rental Scam (11/29/10)
•Introduction to Copyright (11/23/10)
•On Minnesota White Deer (11/1/10)
•On Heart Attacks, Aspirin and Lying Down (4/22/10)
•Copyright Part I: Out-of-print and out-of-touch (4/5/10)
•Wasted money on a provisional patent application (12/14/09)
•Applying copyright registration to subsequent works by the author (11/14/09)
•To insure, or not to insure: that is the question (9/1/09)
•Should product features of touch, smell or taste be eligible for trademark? (7/13/09)
•LifeLine Screening - Stretching fluff into false advertising? (7/11/09)
•Trademarks as verbs and the significance of meaning (6/15/09).
•Life Line Screening - Turning Facts and Half-truths into a Marketing Marvel. (4/23/09).
•Has 'Spare the Air' Spared the Penalty and Raised a Constitutional Question? (2/11/09).
•The Debate over Bees and Seedless Crops. (1/9/09).
•Detecting Targeted Email Scams - The New Phishing. (1/7/09).
•Cell phones, Radiation and Cancer. (1/3/09).