In the News

- Patents Developed by SMRA Form Basis for Damages and Royalties Through 2018 -

Patents prosecuted by Sheldon Mak & Anderson for its client Medtronic served as the foundation for $57 million awarded by a federal jury in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Medtronic against another medical device manufacturer. In addition to the damage award, the judgment also included an 11 percent royalty on U.S. sales of products using Medtronic patents through 2018.

"We're proud of the quality of the patents and claims we prosecuted for Medtronic," said shareholder Jeffrey G. Sheldon, a registered patent attorney who co-founded the firm more than 25 years ago. "The jury's decision underscores the accuracy, skill and expertise incorporated into our patents. To have prosecuted these patents based on technology developed in the 1990's, and to have those patents form the basis for such a large award, as well as compensation through 2018, is indicative of the level of work our firm is best known for."

How to Write a Patent Application, written and updated by Jeffrey G. Sheldon, is now available on Kindle, Amazon's portable e-book reader that wirelessly downloads books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers to a crisp, high resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like paper. Published by the Practising Law Institute (PLI), How to Write a Patent Application is a treatise for inventors, entrepreneurs, managers, law schools and patent lawyers, offering a step-by-step process for handling a wide range of patents. PLI is the first professional legal publisher to make books available on Kindle. The book can be ordered from www.kindle.com.

Kristin Hiibner has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Southern California Super Lawyers-Rising Stars. Published by Law and Politics Media, Inc., Rising Stars is an annual publication compiled through attorney-led research, which selects the top 2.5 percent of lawyers in Southern California who are 40 and under, or who have been practicing for 10 years or less.

The Sheldon Mak & Anderson firm brochure and related marketing pieces received a PRism award from the Public Relations Society of America - Los Angeles chapter (PRSA-LA). In addition to the design element, the materials were acknowledged for communicating the firm's expertise and points of differentiation.

Presented annually, the PRSA-LA PRism Awards recognize outstanding public relations and marketing campaigns, as well as superior marketing materials created by marketing and public relations professionals.

Robert Schroeder, Jeffrey Sheldon and Les Weinstein were selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Super Lawyers - Southern California®. Mr. Schroeder was selected for his work in intellectual property litigation. Mr. Sheldon was acknowledged for his work in intellectual property. Mr. Weinstein received recognition in alternative dispute resolution.

The annual ranking is compiled by Law & Politics media and consists of outstanding lawyers from more than 60 practice areas who have achieved a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected.

Jeffrey Sheldon, Robert Schroeder and Les Weinstein were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009 (Copyright 2008 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.). Mr. Sheldon and Mr. Schroeder were included in the Intellectual Property list, and Mr. Weinstein appeared in the list of ADR attorneys.

Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 25,000 leading attorneys cast almost two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers "the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice."