JOHN D. TRAN
Partner
jdt@rhemalaw.com | 949-852-4430
PRACTICE AREAS:
Intellectual Property & Business Litigation, Patent Prosecution, Patent/Trademark Infringement Due Diligence, Trademark Prosecution, Trademark Opposition/Cancellations, Trade Dress, Franchise, Copyright Prosecution, Franchise Law, and IP licensing.
John D. Tran is a Registered Patent/Trademark Attorney and Intellectual Property (“IP”) litigator with over 20 years of experience and manages the firm’s intellectual property practice group. John has counseled some of the top brands in the nation, ranging from Fortune 500 & 1000 companies to emerging start-ups and high-growth ventures. John’s practice has a worldwide scope including representing foreign companies’ U.S. interests from China, Taiwan and Vietnam. John’s specialty focuses on matters dealing with Patent Infringement, Trademark Infringement, Patent Prosecution, Copyright Registration & Infringement, Trademark Registration, Trade Secrets, Franchise law, Business disputes, TTAB Oppositions/Cancellations and IP portfolio management.
Highly regarded by both his peers and clients, John has been recognized as a 2024 Southern California SuperLawyer, an OC Metro Top Attorney, maintains a coveted AVVO/Martindale Superb Rating, and is an exclusive World Trademark Reporter (WTR 1000) selection, given to the top worldwide trademark professionals.
A seasoned litigator, John has litigated and won trials and cases at all levels, including State Courts, Federal Courts, California Court of Appeals, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and proceedings before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB) and Trademark Trials and Appeals Board (TTAB). John also represents numerous Amazon Sellers in enforcing their IP rights on the Amazon platform including winning specialized Amazon Brand Registry IP complaints and utility patent infringement cases through the Amazon Neutral Patent Evaluator Program (fka Amazon APEX).
John has handled cases all across the nation including New York, California, Illinois, Nevada, Florida and Texas. He has served as litigation & IP counsel to top companies such as Best Buy, Greenlight Financial, Gigabyte Computer, House of Lashes, Lee’s Sandwiches International, Asian Hustle Network, Shun Fat/Thuan Phat Supermarkets, Happy Nails, CuraFlo Systems, Unplugged Performance, and Quoc Viet Foods. John also serves as outside IP counsel to a number of businesses & organizations.
Since 2009, John has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer and/or Rising Star, an honor reserved for the top 5% of attorneys in California.
As trusted counsel, John has guided countless companies in the development, protection and enforcement of their IP for over a decade and oversees the IP portfolio of some of the top brands in the country.
As a Registered Patent & Trademark Attorney, John has also procured numerous Patents, Trademarks and Copyright registrations covering a wide range of industries, including software/tech, business methods, medical device, electric vehicle (EV), Drone, fashion/apparel, cosmetics and consumer goods.
Away from work, John is a devoted husband and father of twins, and is an active mentor to at-risk teens in the foster care system.
“Best Firm I’ve Ever Worked With. We have been working with John for over 5 years now and he has protected my small company from big companies taking our ideas or using our trademarks. They truly care for their clients and you feel confident that they will get the job done no matter what it takes. Highly recommend John! Excellent service, trustworthy, attention to detail, knowledgeable, personalized approach. “- Jenn Chiba,CEO- House of Lashes
“John demonstrated his wealth of experience as an IP litigator while exhibiting creativity, responsiveness and diligence. Throughout the course of litigation, John was cognizant of the impact to our business and was integral in getting the settlement completed. “– Andrew Rausch, Associate General Counsel- Best Buy
“For over a decade, we’ve trusted our intellectual property needs to John D. Tran and the lawyers at Rhema Law. We greatly respect their work ethic and genuine concerns for our legal issues. We have worked with many attorneys and have found John to be simply the best. We trust him with our most well-guarded secrets.” – Chieu Le, President- Lee’s Sandwiches International, Inc.
“This case was extremely important to us because all of our soup base products used the word “COT” as part of the brand. We had spent so much money to brand our trademarks so we cannot afford to lose the case. The presentation was very organized, accurate, precise and smooth. All of our expert witnesses, interpreter and confusion witnesses were superb. What really impress me was the way John…cross-examined defendant witnesses. I know that John took our case as [his] own and treat us as a family member. Our organization thanks John and [his] team at Rhema Law for an outstanding performance. “-Tuan Nguyen, President- Quoc Viet Foods, Inc.
“John is an excellent attorney with a great reputation in the legal community. He is personable and very easy to work with. John is very knowledgeable in the area of IP Law.” – OCAABA (Orange County Asian American Bar Association)
EDUCATION
B.S. in Nuclear Medicine Science with Minor in Biology, (Cum Laude), University of the Incarnate Word, 1996; University of Texas at Austin 1992-1994; J.D. Whittier College of Law with Certification in Intellectual Property, 2002
ADMISSIONS
Supreme Court of California, Central District of California; Northern District of Illinois, United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO); United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
MEMBERSHIPS
Orange County Asian American Bar Association (OCAABA)
Orange County Intellectual Property Law Association (OCIPLA)
Vietnamese American Bar Association (VABA)
State Bar of California- Intellectual Property Section
International Trademark Association (INTA); National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys (NCVAA)
REPRESENTATIVE LITIGATION CASES
Twist It Up, Inc. vs. Annie International, Inc. (Central District of California)
John is the lead trial counsel representing the Plaintiff in a patent, trademark, and trade dress infringement case against an alleged infringer involving a popular consumer product that was featured on Shark Tank.
Lion Credit Card, Inc. vs. Upgraving, LLC et. al. (Central District of California)
Lead trial counsel representing the Plaintiff in a patent infringement case regarding a complex patented technology involving metal credit cards against several accused infringers located in Florida.
MaxxGroup, LLC vs. Uriah Products, Inc. et. al. (Central District of California)
In a case where an Amazon seller’s product was taken down by a patent owner’s Amazon infringement complaint, John was retained by the Amazon seller to file a declaratory relief action against the patent owner for non-infringement and intentional interference with economic relations, which resulted in the patent owner ultimately withdrawing its Amazon complaint against the impacted ASIN#.
Riot Games, Inc. vs Suga PTD Ltd., et. al. (Central District of California)
John was the lead defense trial counsel and successfully represented several foreign Asian game developers in a copyright infringement case against Riot Games involving the League of Legends game, which resulted in a favorable settlement.
Quoc Viet Foods, Inc. vs. VV FOODS, LLC et. al.; (Case No. 8:12-cv-02165-CJC (DFMx) (Central District of California)
John served as co-lead trial counsel in the famous Quoc Viet Foods, Inc. vs. VV Foods, LLC case, which is one of the, if not the, highest level of cases litigated regarding trademarks involving Vietnamese words, which ultimately reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In doing so, John spearheaded a complete victory in this highly publicized “bet your company” trademark infringement case spanning seven (7) years which resulted in his client, Quoc Viet Foods, protecting its trademarks against the Defendant VV Foods. Among other things, Defendant VV Foods was found to have infringed Quoc Viet Foods’ “COT” trademarks and agreed to pay high six-figure in damages, and to a stipulated permanent injunction. See Press Release.
Paris Banh Mi, LLC vs. Paris Banh Mi & Tea Cafe, LLC, Bruce Tran et. al.; (Case No. 6:20-cv-1613-Orl-41EJK) (Federal District- Florida)
On behalf of the Plaintiff Paris Banh Mi, LLC, obtained a preliminary injunction against Defendants involving a hotly contested dispute over the trademark “Paris Banh Mi” between competiting cafe/restaurants. See Press Release
House of Lashes vs. KISS Nail Products, Inc. et. al., (Central District of California)
Served as lead plaintiff trial counsel in a federal trademark infringement suit against a large New York based cosmetic accessory company involving artificial eyelashes. Defendants agreed to stop all use of the infringing mark resulting in a complete victory for the firm’s client, House of Lashes.
Greenlight Financial, Inc. vs. Internet Brands; (Superior Court of California)
In a several week jury trial against Internet Brands, a large online media/tech company, John served as co-lead trial counsel in obtaining a jury verdict victory of nearly $1million dollars, which was later upheld on appeal, for claims of breach of contract. See Press Release
Hole In 1 Drinks, Inc. vs. Michael Lajtay (Trademark Trials and Appeals Board/TTAB) Cancellation Case No. 92065860)
Won a trademark cancellation proceeding trial resulting in the cancellation of a trademark registration between two ex-business partners.
Pipeline Restoration Technologies, LLC; Ace Duraflo Systems, LLC et. al. vs. Coast Building & Plumbing, Inc. et al. (Case No. 8:13-cv-00499-JDE, Central District of California)
In a complex patent infringement, false advertisement, and unfair competition case involving epoxy pipeline repair, John represented the Defendants and spearheaded a patent reexamination of Plaintiff’s asserted patent, which successfully narrowed the scope of the patent claims so drastically that Plaintiffs dropped its main patent infringement case against Defendants before Trial.