Mahboubian

FACTS

Our review of the trial court’s order sustaining Beyer’s and Lee’s demurrer without leave to amend accepts as true all factual allegations properly pleaded in the complaint. (Gu v. BMW of North America, LLC (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 195, 200.) The summary of the facts is derived from the material allegations in the plaintiffs’ operative pleading, the second amended complaint. The plaintiffs are Mahboubian and similarly situated class members3 who were employed by defendant BLG, a California limited liability corporation doing business in Cupertino, California. Mahboubian graduated from law school in New York in 1998; he began employment with the law firm of Beyer & Weaver, LLP (Beyer & Weaver) that same year. Mahboubian passed the patent bar in 1999, but has never been licensed as an attorney in any jurisdiction. He worked for Beyer & Weaver as a patent agent, engaging primarily in patent preparation and in the prosecution of patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. His positions at both Beyer & Weaver and BLG “were not a learned profession as defined under California law,” and his work assignments could be done “by individuals who were not…