Patent Law

For Everything Else There's AMEXMasterCard Card

Posted on December 17, 2008
pimg width="107" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="70" border="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.ipadrblog.com/uploads/image/MC_logo.jpg" /From a href="http://www.likelihoodofconfusion.com/?p=1742"Likelihood of Confusion/a -- a emmust read /emabout the foolish-ness-esses of applying too much knee-jerk law to the business of business...

For Everything Else There's AMEXMasterCard Card

Posted on December 17, 2008
From Likelihood of Confusion -- a must read about the foolish-ness-esses of applying too much knee-jerk law to the business of business. A reader writes to New York Times Q&A guy Stuart Elliot with a question that’s on a lot minds:  What’s with this “Mastercard card” stuff you hear on the commercials?  There are, evidently, two answers, the second of which was LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®’s guess and the first of which is… well, here, read it for yourself: “Essentially, many times it’s because we’re driving consumers to use their physical payment card,” says Jon Schwartz, a spokesman for MasterCard Worldwide in Purchase, N...

Scrabulous by Any Other Name is Baaaaccccckkkkkkkkk

Posted on December 15, 2008
Thanks to @dhowell (she of Bag and Baggage) for alerting us to BetaNews' breaking news that Hasbro has settled with the Scrabulous brothers.  Here's the news release: "Pursuant to the settlement, RJ Softwares has agreed not to use the term Scrabulous and has made changes to the Lexulous and Wordscraper games (in the US and Canada) to distinguish them from the Scrabble crossword game...

Blawg Review #190 Celebrates Bill of Rights Day as the RIAA Seeks to Designate Litigant "Vexatious" for Seeking a Jury Trial

Posted on December 15, 2008
Run right over to the Legal Satyricon for as much Bill of Rights savagery as you might have been waiting eight years for as Blawg Review #190 Celebrates Bill of Rights Day. Our favorite here at the IP ADR Blog is the Seventh Amendment. SEVENTH AMENDMENT In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law...

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IP ADR Blogger Jay McCauley Joins Kichaven, Rothman in High-End ADR Boutique

Posted on December 13, 2008
By Greg Katz Daily Journal Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - The crowded Los Angeles mediation market is about to get a new competitor. Professional Mediation will open its doors in January. It is the brainchild of Cary Sarnoff, president of Sarnoff Information Technologies, whose main enterprise is Sarnoff Court Reporters...

IP ADR Blogger John Leo Wagner Makes DJ's Top 40 Neutrals List

Posted on December 13, 2008
We're proud to announce that our friend and colleague, Judicate West hearing officer (mediator and arbitrator) John Leo Wagner, Federal Magistrate (ret.) has been named one of 40 Top California Neutrals by the Los Angeles Daily Journal   Daily Journal Bio from the Top 40 List Below Affiliation: Judicate West Rate: $6,600 a day Location: Los Angeles Specialty: Mediation and arbitration...

Business Solutions to Commercial IP Problems or Legal Solutions to Business Problems? Why Not Both?

Posted on December 10, 2008
I recently advised a client that his IP dispute with a virtual world was just the type of cutting edge, paradigm busting, sophisticated legal problem that people go to law school to resolve. Good for litigators.  Bad for client. I'll return with business advice for resolving legal problems with business savvy but pause here to share with you Drinker Biddle's recent parade of horribles on IP challenges facing virtual worlds and their entrepreneurs...

Blawg Review #189 at Infamy or Praise Delivers the Goods

Posted on December 08, 2008
Remember those days - largely before you went to law school - when you believed all lawyers with whom you were going to practice would evidence the benefits of a classical education?    I believed.  As did two ex-husbands until they first attended law firm holiday parties...

Settle Your Next IP Case with a Mind Map

Posted on December 06, 2008
Check out the ever-exhaustive Settlement Perspectives blog this week for a walk down the organized aisle of mind-mapping for your mediator.  As in-house counsel John DeGroote explains:   A sample Mediation Mind Map, available in .pdf format here...

Estimating the Settlement Value of Your IP Case

Posted on December 05, 2008
Thanks to Robert Holland at Sidley Austin Los Angeles for giving us a few more issues to consider when estimating the settlement value of any case. THE PRACTICAL IMPACT OF CALIFORNIA’S EQUITY-FIRST RULE ON SETTLEMENT VALUE AND CHOICE OF LITIGATION FORUM by Robert Holland Sidley Austin, LLP with thanks to JD Supra here and in my twitter network @Legal_Alerts The California Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Hoopes v...

Fast Track Arbitration for Small IP Disputes through the AAA

Posted on November 25, 2008
      Beginning today, I'll be available to handle Expedited Commercial Cases for the American Arbitration Association.   As the AAA explains: AAA offers fast, convenient online claim filing through our AAA WebFile service. In addition to filing claims, clients can make payments, perform online case management, access rules and procedures, electronically transfer documents, select Neutrals, use a case-customized message board and check the status of their case...

Thanksgiving Week Gratitude Opportunities

Posted on November 24, 2008
From the Smart Woman Guide Blog, one of the best ways to feel grateful this holiday season and to express our recognition of our many blessings.   (pictured, Sheila Ansah Adjei looking for a Kiva micro-loan) Together We Are Stronger: The Value of Cooperation in Business Cooperation is a SmartWoman Principle...

Creating Healthy IP Culture Best Dispute Prevention Strategy

Posted on November 20, 2008
An ounce of prevention . . . . with thanks to Patent Baristas for the following: Book Review Monday: Intellectual Property Culture cul·ture (n.) the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Online)...

And if You're Not YET Sure the RIAA Has It's Head Up its . . .

Posted on November 19, 2008
Jaw dropping from Techdirt: RIAA Agrees To Settlement, Then Asks For Twice As Much from the anything-they-can-get-away-with dept Ray Beckermann is, once again, highlighting some highly questionable activities by the RIAA, noting that after getting defendants to agree to a settlement amount, the RIAA sometimes immediately asks for double the agreed upon amount, and submits that proposal to the court...

Yes, Virginia, Santa Claus is Solo Practice University?

Posted on November 13, 2008
It's official!  I've joined the faculty of Solo Practice University™ Huh? I don't see that University in any tier of the U.S. News and World Report's Law School Rankings!  And if it's not ranked for goodness sakes, does it even exist? Yes, Virginia, a school for legal practitioners does exist "as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy...

IP Settlement Strategy and Tactics Presentation

Posted on November 11, 2008
Over at BrightTalk.com here!  A 45-minute narrated power point presentation about using the litigation as an opportunity to make a business deal.

Head's Up RIAA: Engage These Kids Passions: Don't Sue Your Market for Heaven's Sake

Posted on November 11, 2008
Since you've clearly already taken your brains out of your heads, make a strategic marketing decision that doesn't put them up your #$@%. Engage young people's loyalty; their capacity for innovation; their motivation to do the right thing if paired up with the right innovative partner...

Heddy Lamar and Inventor's Day at IP Think Tank Blawg Review No. 185

Posted on November 10, 2008
Heddy Lamar invented wireless tech?  Well . . . . it's not quite what happened, but not too far from the truth according to Duncan Bucknell's IP Think Tank Blawg Review #185.  If that doesn't send my Hollywood lawyer friends over to Duncan's pad for a read I don't know what would...

Join BrightTALK for the IP Summit Web Cast on November 11, 2008

Posted on November 09, 2008
TIMES ARE ALL PACIFIC STANDARD TIME:  WEB CASTS ARE ALL FREE Join BrightTALK for the Intellectual Property Summit here! IP litigation in China   1:00 am   Presenting Moderator: Peter Ollier, Asia editor, Managing IP Are Google Adwords Trademarks?    7:00 am    Presenting Jason M...

Ba-Da-Bing! Virtual Strip Club Protected by First Amendment

Posted on November 06, 2008
From our own Hon. Margaret Morrow (head of the U.S. District Court's Settlement Officer Panel here) a reasoned and lively opinion on the intersection between life and video games here - E.S.S. ENTERTAINMENT 2000, INC. v.   ROCK STAR VIDEOS, INC...

"Return Phone Calls Within 24 Hours, Use Spell Check, Don't Ever Hit 'Reply All'" Not Patentable

Posted on October 30, 2008
I'm not certain whether all of my IP ADR colleagues think business method patents are . . . well . . . ridiculous like I do, not to mention yet another way to stifle innovation,  ingenuity and the collaborative commercial spirit that made our economy great, but they'll have to weigh in now if they don't agree that this is very good news American business  ...

Justice Thrives in a Healthy Democracy: California Voting Information Here

Posted on October 29, 2008
Over at the Settle It Now Negotiation Blog, I've asked legal bloggers in every State to post a page devoted to helping voters exercise their right to participate in re-creating the government by consent that a democracy guarantees us. Because I'm in Nevada, I posted Nevada voting information on the negotiation blog...

Collaborative Law and Intellectual Property Cases

Posted on October 28, 2008
Guest Blog Post by Tamera H. Bennett Thank you to Victoria Pynchon for allowing me to be a guest blogger. In preparing to write the post I had several topics going through my mind, but I thought it would be interesting to pitch this topic out to the fantastic readers of this blog for some feedback...

Collaboration Agreements for Creatives

Posted on October 27, 2008
Turns out the term "Hollywood Contract" is not an oxymoron after all.  Not if you follow the three-part series Why Every Writing Team Should Have a Written Collaboration Agreement over at Theater and Entertainment Law.  And don't think you don't need one of these if you are part of a young writing team just starting in business with a friend...

Survive in Tough Times? Don't Plate that Patent in Gold

Posted on October 17, 2008
A truly excellent post over at IP Asset Maximizer Blog on reducing legal expenses while still protecting your inventions.  To give you a taste before you speed on over there, blogger and self-described "Intellectual Property and Patent Business Strategist and 'Recovering Patent Lawyer'" Jackie Hutter suggests that the "disciplined" entrepreneur will obtain[] patent rights that are adequate, but are not so broad as to fully protect the upside opportunity associated with the innovation...

Reward or Punish? Nice IP Litigators Finish First

Posted on October 17, 2008
Apparently I was in a coma in March of this year when "the press went crazy for Martin A. Nowak’s study on the value of punishment."  As Scientific American recently reminded us A Harvard University mathematician and biologist, Nowak had signed up some 100 students to play a computer game in which they used dimes to punish and reward one another...

Testing Twitter Feed

Posted on October 14, 2008

Copyright Czar Lawrence Lessig?

Posted on October 14, 2008
Which Presidential administration do you think might be smart enough to do that? Go to Wired to Vote:  Who Should Be the First U.S. Copyright Czar, then vote for the team with sufficient wisdom to appoint the right person.  Excerpt from Wired post below; full post at link above: On Monday, Bush signed the "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act" creating the new position — an official on equal footing with the U...

Changing Copyright Law for the Better with Larry Lessig

Posted on October 13, 2008
Can a law professor be a lawyer's hero?  I have just two words for you: Larry Lessig. See Peter Black's Freedom to Differ post today on Lessig's WSJ editorial on changing copyright law for the better and for the good. Just one of several suggestions below...

Musicians Outside the (i)Pod from IP KAT

Posted on October 12, 2008
See what IPKAT's talking about when it notes its fascination with the music industry's efforts to "develop new business models" in its post  on the formation of the Featured Artists Coalition. IPKAT comment below.  What excites the KAT at the link above...

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