David J. Simonelli

A few years ago, we were trying to trademark our company name and a lot of attorneys were saying that it wasn't possible because it was too common. These were by no means "cheap" attorneys, they were located in places including Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Orange County, but every one of them said... they couldn't trademark us because they felt the name would be too common. So we're sitting at home one night and a commercial comes on for My Pillow, and it had the Registered ® symbol next to it, and we thought, how can you trademark My Pillow, and not our name? So we did a trademark search for My Pillow and David's name came up as the Attorney of Record. Next morning we gave him a call and he checked it out over the phone and thought we had a good chance at obtaining the trademark as long as we followed the strategy he proposed. After about 9 months, the trademark office responded, yes the trademark office is kind of slow, and they found a name that could be confusingly similar to ours which was about a year out from expiring. David advised us that the best plan of action was to timeout the trademark, which included waiting a year for expiration, and then another 6 months for the allowed time to pass. 2 years and a couple rebuttals later, we were officially a Trademarked name, couldn't have been possible without David.

David has worked with us for 6 years, steering us through the patent, trademark and new business land mines with success. His domestic and international expertise has been important as it regards our international expansion. We have had a great number of patent and trademark issues, all of which ha...ve been handled quickly, efficiently and well. I'm glad we can rely on him.

David has been an excellent support to me and my organizations. I've had opportunity to utilize his services for everything from defense litigation to copyright and trademark applications. He handles matters thoroughly and explains the process, alternatives and recommendations in a way that non-IP ...clients can understand. He's also been a great resource for issue spotting potential IP ramifications.

I have been working in my free time on a start up business project that involves a new consumer product I had created. I needed a patent attorney who was willing to provide keen IP advice and prepare the patent filings under a strict budget. I was referred to David Simonelli by my patent Illustration... company. I had previously started work with another patent attorney but was dissatisfied with the outcome, especially in the area of prompt and clear communication. With David, I was able to discuss and explain my product concepts and receive rapid feedback on the legal issues, challenges and intricacies of the IP law that we could face. He provided timely road maps for all next steps, crafted the drafts for my review and worked patiently with me on the revisions. I really appreciated his clear communication and his ability to work to an initial budget; both very important factors for a self-funded start up. The end result was the initial PPA followed by the patent filing were submitted on time and on budget. I am very pleased with the outcome of David's work.