Intellectual Property Law

Firefox extension for cut/paste Westlaw/Lexis citations

Posted on November 20, 2009
I rarely use Westlaw/Lexis, but the CiteGenie FireFox extension could be really useful for those of you whom do. As their website points out: Cutting and pasting when doing legal research using your browser is simple. But having to construct the citation for what you pasted is not so simple...

Google adds free legal case law research

Posted on November 18, 2009
Via this article:  Free Legal Research by Google & What It Means : My Shingle, Google has released the ability to search case law for free, including state case law.  UNREAL. To test it out, use this URL:  http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search?hl=en&as_sdt=2000...

Wikis and Law Firms

Posted on November 16, 2009
Some useful articles/posts on wikis and law firms: Law Practice Today :: Using Wiki Technology to Streamline Information Sharing and Document Management Tasks Slaw: Wikis and KM at Law Firms CNNMoney.com::Boosting teamwork with wikis Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms ? Part One: ThoughtFarmer Example Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms ? Part Two: Sharepoint Example Wikis for the [...

Tech Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar

Posted on November 12, 2009
Here’s a link to my law practice management article in the November/December issue of The Advocate (the official publication of the Idaho State Bar) on “Technology Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar.” Related posts:Idaho, Law Practice Management and Blawgs Posting has been a bit light here for the past...

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My favorite quote from the Bilski v Kappos SCOTUS oral arguments

Posted on November 10, 2009
Most of the other patent blogs have been covering the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Bilski v. Kappos case.  [e.g., Patently-O] My favorite quote from the case comes from Justice Scalia (page 16 of the pdf): You know, you mention that there are all these — these new areas that didn’t exist in the past because [...

USPTO Director Kappos? Blog

Posted on November 10, 2009
David Kappos, Director of the USPTO is now publicly blogging!  See:  http://www.uspto.gov/blog/.  I look forward to reading his posts. The fact that USPTO.gov has RSS feeds (for the blog) now is VERY exciting.  Now, if they’d only provide RSS feeds for the “News and Notices” page contents (e...

Podcast recommendation: Grammar Girl

Posted on November 03, 2009
As science majors, patent attorneys/agents aren’t typically thought of as being masters of the English language, particularly with respect to using correct grammar.  Solution:  start taking short grammar lessons by listening to the Grammar Girl podcast (subtitled “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing”)...

Patenting Schrödinger?s cat

Posted on October 22, 2009
Not quite Schrödinger’s cat, but close.  I won’t spoil it for you…see the 12:01 Tuesday patent blog post Be All You Can’t Be: Army Patent Ambushed by Friendly Fire for the story. Related posts:Patenting Legal Methods Interesting… Attached for your consideration is The Patent Office Meets...

Google Wave Tips and Tricks

Posted on October 22, 2009
A group of my local (Boise) geek friends have been using Google Wave to share Google Wave tips and tricks with one another was we each kick Wave’s tires.  Here are some of the most useful tips/tricks that have come out of that ongoing conversation: 1...

To Staple, or Not to Staple?

Posted on October 21, 2009
My office is slowing going paperless, doing a number of things including scanning all paper files to PDF when we close them. One little insight that those of you whom are not yet paperless should consider:   staples. To scan a file to PDF, all papers in it must first be unstapled...

USPTO considering opening access to public patent/trademark data?

Posted on October 13, 2009
According to the notice: Due to overwhelming interest from the patent and trademark community, the USPTO has scheduled a second public meeting to be held Monday, October 19th from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Pacific time at the San Francisco Public Library located at 100 Larkin Street (at Grove), San Francisco, CA 94102-4733 in the Latino/Hispanic [...

New USPTO.gov out of beta

Posted on October 08, 2009
It looks like the USPTO’s website’s redesign is out of beta:  http://uspto.gov. The News page still doesn’t have an RSS feed or “subscribe by email” function (unlike the Copyright Office’s News Page (RSS)).  Sad…but true...

Patently Silly is patently hilarious

Posted on October 08, 2009
One of the “old school” patent blogs is Daniel Wright’s Patently Silly blog where he covers the lighter side of patents. I’ve known Daniel for quite a few years (through blogging), and have been glad to have someone who would appreciate the weird patents I stumble on from time to time...

Free Patent CLE Seminars on Searching and Illustrations

Posted on October 06, 2009
I stumbled on two free 1.0 hour webinar CLEs being offered by “Legal Advantage” (a legal support services firm (they offer patent searching and other services): Best Practices in Prior Art Search — How can IP professionals target the most appropriate patent references in their searches?  An overview of best practices to follow, and a few [...

Google Wave and the practice of IP law

Posted on October 03, 2009
Perhaps the biggest tech buzz this last week was Google’s release of 100,000 invites to its new project, Google Wave. Google was kind enough to release a very long video (80 minutes) explaining Wave…a video that was “too much information” for most people trying to grasp the basic concept...

ClaimMaster patent drafting plugin for Microsoft Word

Posted on September 21, 2009
stumbled on a new Microsoft Word plugin for patent attorneys last night – ClaimMaster. ClaimMaster has an amazing set of features: Identify Errors in Claims. Find Missing Antecedents. Identify Inconsistent Element  Numbers. Find Claim Terms Missing Support...

USPT-no-gO.gov ? Source of the issues?

Posted on September 18, 2009
It’s been pretty clear that in the last month or so that the services (e.g., PAIR, PatFT/AppFT, TESS, TDR) provided on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s website (uspto.gov) are frequently overloaded/off-line. Talking with a colleague about this same issue this morning, he noted that “uspto...

QuickJump ? software I can?t live without

Posted on September 16, 2009
I previously mentioned QuickJump in an earlier post, back when QuickJump was still in beta.  I had been using it for a few days when I wrote that post, and I’m still using it.  It is a great program that solves a HUGE need. QuickJump scans all of the folders on your computer (and your file [...

Depositing Checks by Email

Posted on September 14, 2009
There has been a lot of chatter online lately about banks starting to accept PDF’s and other scans of checks (personal and business) for deposit (rather than requiring you to go to the bank to deposit a check).  What a great potential time-saver for law firms! The Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanner blog has the scoop, including a [...

Google patents (design) its user interface

Posted on September 02, 2009
Via Gawker, Google has obtained (Sept. 1, 2009) a design patent that covers its user interface.  USPN D599,372. What’s amazing to me is how long it took to obtain the patent, the application was filed on March 7, 2006. The patent is also a good example of a patent containing a copyright or mask notice (see my [...

iPhone App for capturing ideas (invention disclosures) needs beta testers

Posted on August 23, 2009
A good friend of mine, Bill Meade, has a forthcoming iPhone app that he is in need of beta testers for.  I’ll let Bill explain: BasicIP Management, Inc. is developing an iPhone application (iCapture which is short for Invention Capture) for capturing invention ideas...

Ten Things Every Designer Needs to Know about Copyrights and Trademarks

Posted on August 19, 2009
I’m speaking tomorrow for AIGA Idaho on “Ten Things Every Designer Needs to Know about Copyrights and Trademarks.”  Details can be found on the AIGA Idaho website. I’ll be using this post as my “show notes”…a listing of links I think the presentation’s attendees (design professionals, graphic artists) will find useful...

Open Sourcing PACER Documents via a FireFox Extension

Posted on August 14, 2009
If you use PACER often, you might really like the “RECAP” FireFox extension (plug-in).  As you download court documents in PACER, RECAP sends a copy of them to the Internet Archive (making them available for free to the world.  RECAP also alerts you when one of the PACER documents you are about to download is [...

Is it too late to start a law blog?

Posted on August 11, 2009
I was listening to the most recent episode of the Kennedy-Mighell report (legal technology podcast) earlier today and was shocked to hear Tom Mighell report that law blogging (at least “starting a law blog”) seems to have peaked, with fewer and fewer new law blogs starting every year...

My Trike Show interview

Posted on August 10, 2009
I was recently honored by branding/marketing gurus Justin Foster and Johnathan Hardesty of Tricycle Consulting by being asked to be a guest on their podcast (”The Trike Show”). On the podcast we talked about trademarks, branding, blogging and social media (as it applies to “professionals” (such as lawyers)...

Audio from my appearance of This Week in Law ? Patent Edition

Posted on August 10, 2009
You can now listen to the audio (podcast) from my appearance on last week’s “This Week in Law” wherein we discussed Twitter being sued from patent infringement, VoloMedia’s patent that allegedly covers podcasting, getting the USPTO to join “web 2...

This Week in Law Podcast ? patents

Posted on August 05, 2009
I’m going to be a guest on this week’s TWiL (This Week in Law) podcast, discussing patents with host Denise Howell and patent lawyers Adam Bagwell and Matt Buchanan.  Topics on the slate include Volumedia’s “podcasting patent,” patent reform, “Web 2...

Patents per capita and Idaho

Posted on August 04, 2009
One statistic I get tired of hearing is how data shows (showed?) that Idaho is (was) #1 per capita for patents and Boise is (was) #2 per capita for patents. The reality is those numbers are (were) greatly skewed by Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard both having facilities in town...

Seth on Shaving

Posted on August 03, 2009
Seth Godin’s piece today on “Bear Shaving” is, yet again, an excellent illustration of his brilliance. Sadly, every time I hear someone with a new “patent reform” argument/plan/policy…it is almost always yet another way of shaving the bear...

LegalZoom and Unauthorized Practice of Law in North Carolina

Posted on July 24, 2009
Elawyering blog on LegalZoom Challenged by North Carolina Bar.  [hat tip GAL] Reminds me of Gene Quinn’s post on LegalZoom’s actions as they relate to filing trademarks and patents on behalf of clients. Should LegalZoom be allowed to do what patent agents can’t? What do you think… Related posts:TI Group Automotive Systems (North America), Inc...

New patent data/statistics/analytics website

Posted on July 21, 2009
Boliven Patents.  Impressive collection of patent data, searchable file histories, listings of the most prolific inventors, which examiners have examined the most patents…and so on. Related posts:Interesting data about this blog…statistics and other lies I’veUSPTO wants feedback regarding CWUs (chemical structure drawings, mathematical formulae, protein crystal data, and table data) Complex WoNew Website: PatentReference...

Law Student Interviewee

Posted on July 13, 2009
Last Friday I had the opportunity to interview a law student (going to be a 3L in the fall) wanting to become a patent attorney.  We’re not currently hiring, but I was impressed enough with her interview I thought I’d mention her here to my readers in case she’s what one of you are looking [...

American Bar Association?s nothing.but.airball

Posted on July 12, 2009
Buffy: You left me a message? Jeffrey: You weren’t home! Like always. Buffy: You broke up with my machine? –Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Apparently, the ABA recently decided to essentially break up with Erik J. Heel’s machine, axing perhaps the most useful, timely and relevant information in its Law Practice magazine, Erik’s “nothing...

Is copying a legal document (e.g., contract) copyright infringement?

Posted on July 01, 2009
Someone asked me…so I did some Google searching, finding this excellent blog post on the Adams Drafting blog:  The Contract Drafter as Copyright Violator. He mentions searching via the SEC’s EDGAR database, but I have a trick of the trade for doing just that: The SEC has an extensive collection of documents online…but they are horribly indexed [...

King of Pop, and patentee

Posted on June 26, 2009
It is sad hearing that Michael Jackson passed away. Did you know he had a patent? See this 2004 Invent Blog post. Related posts:Google bingo Dennis Ke Related posts:Google bingo Dennis Ke

USPTO to get bailout money?

Posted on June 25, 2009
See: National Journal Online — Tech Daily Dose — Leahy Offers Patent Office Bailout Bill. The $10,000 question is whether the precipitous drope in USPTO revenue was caused by the economy, or by the previous administration’s policies that dropped allowance rates from near 80% to near 40% (which itself results in less issue fee revenue, less [...

Intellectual Property Insurance Basics

Posted on June 19, 2009
Excellent podcast on: …the types of insurance that might cover IP, what to do when you have a possible claim, and strategies for working with insurers.  We also briefly discuss a recent case from the Minnesota Supreme Court (General Casualty Co...

Microsoft Releases Official Outlook Forgotten Attachment Detector

Posted on June 08, 2009
It’s about time!  Microsoft has finally released their own “official” forgotten attachment detector for Outlook. Like other Forgotten Attachment Detectors on the web, when you send an email FAD checks it for keywords that indicate you?ve forgotten to attach an attachment...

Software recommendation: QuickJump

Posted on June 02, 2009
Probably the best piece of Windows software I’ve installed this year…QuickJump. The software sits in your task bar, searches all of your hard drives (or anywhere else you tell it to (e.g., your server)), and then when you push CTR-SHIFT-J it lets you quickly navigate to a folder by file name...

IPWatchdog.com taking votes for the ?Top Patent Blogs?

Posted on June 01, 2009
Gene Quinn at IPWatchdog has started a poll where readers can:  Vote for the Top Patent Blogs…in case you want to vote and/or see who is receiving more votes. Related posts:Top Legal Blogs List Avvo.com has a list of top legal blogs (http://avvoblog...

Free Webinar on Social Media 101

Posted on May 19, 2009
“Don’t Pee in the Pool!” Friday, May 22, 2009 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM MDT “In this free-wheeling, podcast-style webinar, Tricycle co-founders Justin Foster and John Hardesty have an unfiltered discussion on the various ways that the mass adoption of social media is “polluting the community pool”...

Some of the best advice you?ll ever get on the practice of law

Posted on May 11, 2009
Matt Homann, lawyer, blogger, big thinker and dad, recently released a pdf containing 100 tips on “rethinking the practice of law.” If you have clients or customers, it really is a “must read.”  Trust me…download it. Related posts:Business Advice & Personal Branding Good friend Justin Foster (branding guru/social media expert, has a...

On the big picture of writing/blogging?

Posted on May 10, 2009
43f Podcast: John Gruber & Merlin Mann’s Blogging Panel at SxSW (blog post with link to audio). My pal, John Gruber (from daringfireball.net), and I presented a talk at South by Southwest Interactive on Saturday, March 14th. We talked about building a blog you can be proud of, trying to improve the quality of your work, [...

Mining Twitter for IP Information & News

Posted on May 06, 2009
From setting up my list of 150+ IP attorneys, agents and others using Twitter, I’ve come across a number of Twitter users (consider them “micro IP blogs”) that my readers might enjoy.  Note, each of these pages have a separate RSS feed you could subscribe to! http://twitter...

Sullivan?s: IP Law Outline & Analysis

Posted on April 27, 2009
Resource of the day:  Sullivan’s IP Law Outline. The mission of Sullivan’s IP Law Outline & Analysis? is to provide: 1) an additional resource for finding Federal Circuit cases relevant to one’s own case or interest, and 2) a concise Analysis of the issues in the current Federal Circuit cases, as enhanced by and with citation [...

Free Microsoft Outlook Attachment Mover

Posted on April 23, 2009
“Free Outlook add-in for saving and extracting attachments, decreasing the size of your Outlook files.”  Knopf’s Outlook Attachment Remover.  [hat tip Business Hacks Blog] Related posts:Microsoft Outlook Tips LifeHacker on the Top 10 Outlook Boosters - http://lifehacker...

Book Recommendation for Entrepreneurs: ONO | Options Not Obligations by Marc Warnke

Posted on April 22, 2009
Book recommendation:  ONO - Options Not Obligations by Marc Warnke (@marcwarnke on Twitter). I’m about 1/2 way through it, and it is a great one.  I’ve added it to my “must read” book for entrepreneurs. It is similar to Farris’ Four Hour Workweek, but Warnke’s focus is more on building income so you can spend time with [...

Free Webinar on Search Engine Optimization for Lawyers

Posted on April 20, 2009
A free webinar y’all might be interested in: The webinar is an introduction to SEO for the solo and small legal firm delivered in mostly non-technical jargon. The hour long session will: review SEO fundamentals uncover challenges and opportunities unique to small law firms highlight common mistakes reveal unethical practices which may get your site penalized cover free and easy [...

My Thoughts on how Twitter could be Improved

Posted on April 14, 2009
This was originally on my Tumblr blog…but I thought I’d move it here to make it more visible (and commentable). I thought that I?d expand upon my earlier tweet (right) with a related ?what I think Twitter needs?. Twitter is a river with a waterfall...

How to reduce a Trademark Office TDR file?s size

Posted on April 06, 2009
I downloaded an Office Action via TDR earlier today, saved it to my server, and went to email it to a client.  Only then did I realize the Action (60 pages long with 55+ pages of color website printouts) was 22MB in size.  Ouch. In that many email servers bounce any attachments bigger than 5MB, I [...

Robot inventors

Posted on April 04, 2009
FT.com notes “A laboratory robot called Adam has been hailed as the first machine in history to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of its human creators.” Patent bar exam trivia question of the day:  can the robot be listed as an inventor on a U...

Video - Bob Shaver on Bicycle Patents and Technology

Posted on April 03, 2009
Video from Ignite Boise 01 is online now.  One of the videos that my readers may enjoy is my law partner Bob Shaver’s (Patent Pending Blog) FIVE MINUTE presentation on The History of Bicycle Technology (below). By the way, Bob has a new blog:  BicyclePatents...

IP Professionals on Twitter > 100

Posted on April 03, 2009
I’m shocked/amazed/thrilled that my list of  IP attorneys/professionals/leaders using Twitter has over 100 people on it now.  Wow.  See:  IP Professionals on Twitter | The Invent Blog®. Related posts:Eureka! I get it! (Twitter) I’ve been a Twitter hater for a long time now...

Free CLE (webinar) on how the ethical rules apply to life online

Posted on April 03, 2009
Joshua King at Avvo sent me a link to a free CLE he is putting on in June.  Sounds like a good one! This webinar is designed to help lawyers and law firms understand the professional ethics rules and other state bar regulations governing advertising, particularly advertising online...

Overwhelmed at work? Need more time in the day?

Posted on April 01, 2009
If you’re a little overwhelmed at work right now, take a break (10 minutes) and listen to this audio clip (podcast) by Merlin Mann at 43folders.com.  It is probably the best advice I’ve heard lately. Link:  43f Podcast: Gangs, Constraints, and Courageous Blocks | 43 Folders...

Software recommendation: Evernote

Posted on March 31, 2009
I used to keep a handwritten list of passwords, software keys, important information, notes, etc.  Eventually, I started using “Notes” in Microsoft Outlook for that same purpose.   Then web 2.0 rolled around…and having remote/home access to my notes was important...

No patents = more investment in research and development?

Posted on March 30, 2009
Reading:  the Patentability blog on “Energy Secretary: Drop IP Protection To Promote Greentech?“  (by the way…great new blog, worth following). Is there any evidence (perhaps in another country’s IP system) that taking away (or not giving in the first place) patent rights somehow encourages development of technology? Related posts:Advent Product Development sued for fraud, improper and deceptive [...

How to effectively use Twitter to build business relationships (and make friends at the same time)

Posted on March 27, 2009
I’ve been using Twitter for quite some time now (I am @nipper)…and my blogging (volume) here at The Invent Blog has suffered because of it. Sorry. I thought that some of my readers here would find useful an explanation of my system for effective use of Twitter...

Reality TV Show looking for a family of inventors

Posted on March 26, 2009
I heard from a casting director yesterday for a reality TV show that is looking for a family of inventors (two-parent home (ideally both are inventors) with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 17 living at home full time).   If you know of anyone that “fits the bill,” let me know...

Twitter/Facebook Tool Recommendations

Posted on March 25, 2009
If any of you are using Twitter or Facebook, a couple tools I recommend: OutTwit - Microsoft Outlook plugin that lets you post to Twitter from Outlook. Also lets you pull in some/all/none of the tweets of the people you follow into an Outlook folder (I use it to pull in tweets from few close [...

Summer Camp for Inventive Kids

Posted on March 24, 2009
If you have kids (or grandkids) going into 1st grade to 6th grade, you really should consider sending them to Camp Invention.  The program is excellent and is done in partnership with the USPTO. My daughter is a previous attendee, and my two boys will be attending this year...

CLE/webinar on The Plant Variety Protection Act

Posted on March 20, 2009
There is an upcoming CLE (webinar) put on by the Idaho State Bar’s Intellectual Property Law Section you might be interested in:  “The Plant Variety Protection Act” by Attorney Jacque Palmer, of Syngenta Seeds, Inc.  Ms. Palmer will discuss how to obtain a PVP certificate and the protection it affords to plant varieties...

Everything you ever wanted to know about Adobe Acrobat digital signatures

Posted on March 18, 2009
PDF for Lawyers blog on Digital Signatures - Advanced Class Related posts:How to set up Adobe Acrobat to make EFS and the USPTO happy Excellent information from the Acrobat for Legal Professionals blog (”PDF...Patent Lawyers, Engineers, CAD Files and Adobe Acrobat???? I previously called Adobe Acrobat 8â?¦A Must Have Tool for...

Top Trademark Firms Survey - Due April 9, 2009

Posted on March 12, 2009
If you want your Firm to be included in IP Today’s list of the “Top Trademark Firms,” you need to turn in your survey by April 9, 2009.   IPToday.com - Intellectual Property Today - Top Trademark Firms Survey Form. Related posts:IP Today survey of Top Patent Firms Every year IP Today magazine (a great resource) surveys [...

EFS-Web & Acrobat 9/Acrobat Reader Security Vulnerability

Posted on March 11, 2009
Advisory 20FEB2009: Adobe has announced a critical security vulnerability with Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 and earlier versions. This security flaw is unrelated to USPTO eCommerce systems. The vulnerability may cause the Adobe application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system...

IgniteBoise|01 Speakers/Topics Announced

Posted on March 09, 2009
I’m jazzed by the great speakers/presentations we have on tap for IgniteBoise|01.  See the IgniteBoise blog post”:  Without further ado? « Ignite Boise | Boise?s best ideas in 5 minutes, 2 0 slides. Included in the speaker list is my law partner Bob Shaver (aka the bicyclepatents...

CAFC Opinions and Amazon Kindle

Posted on March 09, 2009
Matt Buchanan over at the Promote the Progress blog has a neat new feature…the ability to read CAFC opinions on your Amazon Kindle:  New Promote the Progress feature - Read patent law opinions on your Amazon Kindle. Related posts:Searching Federal Circuit Opinions on the Fly… Matt over at FedCirc...

TinEye Reverse Image Search

Posted on March 09, 2009
TinEye Reverse Image Search Interesting tool.  Lets you upload an image (such as a client’s logo or copyrighted work) and the tool searches the Internet for similar photos/images.  [Examples] Related posts:Google Image Labeler … Community Intellectual Property Cops? Google has a new “product” in beta...

Recommendation ? The LexThink: Innovate (un)Conference

Posted on March 04, 2009

Worries about our patent system

Posted on March 04, 2009

Patent Changes Coming?

Posted on March 03, 2009

Top Legal Blogs List

Posted on March 02, 2009

Printing only the first page of an email - Outlook 2007

Posted on February 26, 2009
Sounds like the “February 2009 Cumulative Update” for Outlook 2007 fixes one of the biggest issues I’ve had with Outlook, namely the inability to ONLY print the first page of an email. SWEET! Plus performance tweaks! If you are an Outlook power user…you’re in for a treat when the Office 2007 SP2 update comes [...

The Credit Crisis

Posted on February 22, 2009
This is the best explanation of what caused the credit crisis (without pointing the finger at any political party) that I’ve seen thusfar: The Crisis of Credit Visualized. Related posts:Need MCLE credit? Use your .mp3 player. For those of you whom need MCLE credit before February,...

The Fine Print of the Web

Posted on February 21, 2009
Excellent 5 minute video presentation at Ignite Portland 5 by Aaron Hockley entitled Reading the Fine Print: You Gave Yourself Away reminding us all to pay attention to the fine print in the terms of use we all to often click through without reading (e...

In Boise? Going to Ignite Boise 1?

Posted on February 20, 2009
I’m helping set up an event in March that I think you’ll be interested in (those of you whom live here in Boise, Idaho): the “Ignite Boise” conference. What is “Ignite Boise“? It is a conference where an inspiring and unexpected blend of thinkers from business, art, technology, government and academia will be putting [...

Spyware, malware and Trojans

Posted on February 18, 2009
A colleague asked for my help dealing with a Trojan horse infection on his home PC. I though I’d share with you the links I gave him (bookmark these two step-by-step guides for future reference): MajorGeeks.com’s READ & RUN ME FIRST Malware Removal Guide BleepingComputer...

Recent blog posts/web pages I found interesting

Posted on February 15, 2009
Using Screencasts to Share Knowledge Inside a Company from The Evolving Worker Law Firm Productivity with Remember the Milk from Legal Andrew A productivity tip to avoid forgetting to answer or read an email (gmail and iphone) from The Evolving Worker PDF redaction gone awry from PDF for Lawyers Creating a central binder for your home from Unclutterer Finally: Google Sync Comes to iPhone and [...

Microsoft Outlook Tips

Posted on February 14, 2009
LifeHacker on the Top 10 Outlook Boosters - http://lifehacker.com/5151771/top-10-outlook-boosters Other articles on Outlook I’ve bookmarked in the last few years (ala http://delicious.com/jurisnipper/outlook): Quick Tip: Easily See How Much Space Your Outlook Mail is Using :: Mysticgeek?s Realm MessageSave for Outlook — Easily save email messages outside of Outlook for archiving, backup, document management, sharing, legal compliance, and much more...

RCE Fees to get ?Jacked??

Posted on February 13, 2009
Rumor has it that the PTO is planning on jacking up Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filing fees in the coming months (one rumor I heard had it around FOUR times the current amount ($810)).  F-O-U-R.  Rumors don’t always turn out to be true, but it is something to keep in the back of your [...

LegalZoom sues itself?

Posted on February 11, 2009
LEGALZOOM.COM, INC., a Delaware corporation v. LEGALZOOM.COM, INC., a Delaware corporation http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nvdce/case_no-2:2009cv00273/case_id-64319/ Related posts:Invention Promotion Scams and other articles Interesting article up at LegalZoom:  Invention Submission Companies: Scams or...

Dual Monitors Are a Bad Idea

Posted on February 06, 2009
I’ve seen mention of a couple studies that show that dual monitors increase productivity [20-30% increase; 44% increase].  Note:  how much would your productivity need to increase to go justify going “dual”? As the title implies, I’m currently of the school that believes that dual monitors are a bad idea, even though I use them (I [...

Web Tip ? Customize Gmail?s ?Web Clips?

Posted on February 06, 2009
If you use Gmail…did you know that you can customize the “web clips” of information at the top of the screen? What is a web clip?  It is the little snippet of information at the top of the page: Such customization could include, for instance, deleting things you are not interested in or adding RSS feeds you [...

Wow! Blog crash! Sorry.

Posted on February 02, 2009
I may owe an apology to any of you that received a rash of posts from this blog to their RSS reader this weekend.  I am so sorry. On Friday I was performing routine maintenance and adding a plugin…and the blog crashed (being sent into an non-ending loop)...

Web Tip of the Day ? Google Alerts

Posted on January 20, 2009
Did you know that you can use Google Alerts to monitor key words on the Internet (e.g., blogs, news, new websites)? Do your clients know that? What could Google Alerts be used for? Vanity searches (who is talking about you or your business) Trademark monitoring (looking for misuse of your trademark) Damage control (to quickly react to bad news or [...

Mechanically separated chicken?again

Posted on January 16, 2009
A few years ago I had a post discussing the “mechanically separated chicken” ingredient found on a package of hot dogs.   Thanks to Wikipedia, now we have a picture:

Patent Reexamination Numbers and PatFT, part II

Posted on January 14, 2009
In a previous post, I asked: The USPTO PatFT page for Patent Number Search lists three examples for reexamination patent numbering: Re-examination ? RX29,194 RE29183 RE00125 However, if you type in those three ?example? numbers into the search box, you get a ?PN/RX29,194: 0 patents? error and two reissue patents...

Web Site Tip of the Day ? Renew Your Domain Names for Longer

Posted on January 12, 2009
Did you know that one of the factors Google uses in determining the importance of your website is how long until its registration lapses (how long until you need to renew)? Think of it…if you were running hundreds of junk websites filled with nothing but advertising, you’d likely only register each domain for a year at [...

Ignite Boise ? Put it on your calendar NOW

Posted on January 09, 2009
Ignite Boise is coming on March 19th, 2009.  For my local readers (Boise/Idaho), this is going to be something you will want to go to.  Trust me. For more details, see the Ignite Boise website:  IgniteBoise.com. For an explanation of what an “Ignite” event is, see this Wikipedia entry.

Happy Fifth Birthday!

Posted on January 08, 2009
It is hard to believe that this blog has been around for five years now… [Thomas Alva Edison, 1847-1931, punching time clock on his 74th birthday anniversary, February 11, 1921, standing, rear view, source]

Web Site Tip of the Day ? Purchase Your Kids? Domain Names

Posted on January 07, 2009
If you have young kids, you really should consider purchasing their personal domain names for them NOW.  Why? 1.  In case their preferred domain name isn’t available 10 years from now. 2.  To give them a canvas that you can supervise…helping you hammer into their heads that Google never forgets (they need to ALWAYS be concerned about what [...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Theme Linkbacks

Posted on January 06, 2009
There are thousands of “themes” that web site owners (particularly bloggers) can use to easily make their website look more professional. The individuals that create these “free” themes typically do so with the caveat that if you use their theme you should maintain the embedded link back to their website...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Reserve Your Name (and Encourage Your Clients to do the Same)

Posted on January 06, 2009
Like with domain names, once a desired username is gone…it is gone*. Thus, you should seriously consider registering your personal (or preferred) name on the most popular social media sites (just in case you decide in a few months/years to start using the site)...

PatentMarvel.com - PDF Patent Copies

Posted on January 06, 2009
New PDF Patent Downloader — PatentMarvel.com. Added it to my Guide to Downloading Patent Copies (PDF).

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Does your design suck?

Posted on January 02, 2009
Check out ”Web Pages That Suck,” a website that provides a blunt (but spot-on) analysis of how NOT to design websites.  Incredibly funny, too. The site also has a checklist called “Does My Site Suck?” that helps you self assess your own website’s design...

Web Site Tip of the Day ? Get Listed on Google Local

Posted on January 01, 2009
Can your potential customers find you on Google Maps?  If you haven’t created a listing for your office in Google’s Local Business Center…they may not be able to.   The solution is to    Use the Local Business Center to create your free listing...

New blog I stumbled upon ? IP?s What?s Up

Posted on December 31, 2008
Ip’s What’s Up –  ”intellectual property news and commentary.  a place to engage in conversation and reflect on happenings in the world of IP. (updated wednesdays and sundays).”

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Don?t Share Your ?Google Juice?

Posted on December 31, 2008
This tip is mainly for those of you whom use Twitter and other social networking websites. I won’t bore you with a detailed explanation, but one of the ways that Google (et al.) ranks pages is based upon what websites link to it.  Inbound links are good...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? What is Your Website?s Search Engine Optimization Grade?

Posted on December 30, 2008
In today’s tip, plug your website?s URL into http://website.grader.com and have it determine your score.  They will also give you a report that spells out any obvious issues with your website that makes it score lowly. The score for this blog:  97/100...

Patents on Electronic Games

Posted on December 30, 2008
Very cool article on patents on electronic games (e.g., Simon, Atari 2600).  See: Patentmania: The Golden Age of Electronic Games | Technologizer. [Via Gizmodo]

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Upgrade Your 404 Page

Posted on December 29, 2008
A “404″ page is the page a visitor to your website/blog sees if they try to visit a page that does not exist.  For instance:  http://inventblog.com/1234234213. Most websites have a boring 404 page that merely says “page not found, sorry...

How to Cite a Patent

Posted on December 28, 2008
The Patent Librarian by Michael White on “FreePatentsOnline Launches CitePatents.” — CitePatents‘ purpose it so help journalists and others understand how to best link to and cite patents.  A very noble goal. Sadly, they link to copies from FreePatentsOnline...

Should you fire your patent attorney for being creative?

Posted on December 22, 2008
LinkedIn: Answers: What#8217;s the most creative thing you#8217;ve seen a patent attorney do?.  In one of the answers, the answerer states that it is not a patent attorney#8217;s role to be creative and if he/she is creative#8230;he/she should be FIRED...

Always a bridesmaid?Dennis Kennedy?s 2008 Blawgies

Posted on December 22, 2008
Dennis Kennedy has announced this year#8217;s Blawgies (awards he gives out every year for what he considers exceptional blogs).  Amazingly, The Invent Blog was listed as one of the runners up for the #8220;Practice Specific#8221; blog (Internet Cases (a blog I read daily) won)...

Business Advice & Personal Branding

Posted on December 21, 2008
Good friend Justin Foster (branding guru/social media expert, has a great post on his blog talking about the business lessons he learned in the first five years of running his own business.  What is amazing is how many of those lessons translate directly to lawyers...

Economic worries

Posted on December 19, 2008
Are you worried about the impact of the economic downturn on  your practice?  I found some advice for you: This economic downturn provides a tremendous opportunity for lawyers to look at their practices in a new (and different) way.  Here are ten #8220;rules#8221; for lawyers facing an uncertain economic future...

Webinar Slides

Posted on December 17, 2008
The slides from yesterday#8217;s webinar on #8220;Online Tools#8221; by Justin Foster (http://thetricycle.com) can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/brandmilitia/relevance-20-presentation/. Thanks to all who attended. He told me that the webinar is also available as an internal workshop (3 hours) that goes into greater detail and teaches some of the specific tools...

Trademark Resources

Posted on December 17, 2008
Some trademark sites I bookmarked via Delicious.com that my readers may find of note: INTA TTAB Basics E-Course #8220;Trademark tips for your web app#8221; article I wrote for Think Vitamin Domain Name Portal - Main#8211;Gowlings web page devoted to domain name and trademark tools...

Need MCLE credit? Use your .mp3 player.

Posted on December 14, 2008
For those of you whom need MCLE credit before February, one option is downloading .mp3’s from the Practicing Law Institute. A link to filtered results of just the Intellectual Property seminars is here: http://www.pli.edu/product/mp3s.asp.  [Which you can sort to filter the intellectual property ones to the top] You’d have to ask your tax guru, but [...

Einstein and Patent Examiners

Posted on December 11, 2008
Reading: What Genius Will Teach Patent Examiners? : Securing Innovation.

Promote the Progress Blog adds two new patent caselaw RSS feeds

Posted on December 10, 2008
Matt Buchanan over at the Promote the Progress Blog has added two new patent caselaw RSS feeds that include overview information for the latest patent opinions alongside a series of links that provide one click access to the opinion-related tools on his website, making it easy to explore the reviews you determine warrant more attention...

Searching by reexamination number

Posted on December 10, 2008
The USPTO PatFT page for Patent Number Search lists three examples for reexamination patent numbering: Re-examination — RX29,194 RE29183 RE00125 However, if you type in those three “example” numbers into the search box, you get a “PN/RX29,194: 0 patents” error and two reissue patents...

IP Attorneys on Twitter

Posted on December 09, 2008
I created a new page to host a list of IP Attorneys using Twitter:  http://inventblog.com/ip-attorneys-on-twitter.  Leave a comment on that page if any need to be added.

Free Windows Program for Inserting Boilerplate

Posted on December 04, 2008
PhraseExpress — “Tired of typing the same words, signatures, phrases, and even paragraphs over and over? What you need is a program that automatically inserts text when you type an abbreviation or hit a hotkey.”  Freeware. [hat tip Jim Calloway]

Free Webinar: Online tools & trends you need to be aware of

Posted on December 02, 2008
As 2008 draws to an end, I wanted to do something special for my clients, colleagues, blog readers and friends as a way of saying “thanks!”  To wit, I have arranged with Justin Foster, brand development specialist and social media expert with Tricycle, Inc...

New patent tool: PatentSurf

Posted on November 26, 2008
New patent tool to check out…PatentSurf. You type in a patent number(s) in the search box and the site creates a surfable display of related patents.  Interesting… SImple, yet nicely done.  Definitely worth checking out.

Practitioner Maintenance Fees?

Posted on November 17, 2008
Reading: Patent Office to assess practitioner maintenance fees.

Does the USPTO have a looming cash crunch?

Posted on November 13, 2008
We all know that allowance rates are down, way down. Matt Buchanan, after analyzing weekly USPTO utility patent grants, states that decreasing allowance rates: …will have both an immediate and a delayed impact on Office income - Twenty thousand fewer issues fees have been paid so far this year as compared to 2006...

Blog Recommendation: Mysticgeek?s Realm

Posted on October 27, 2008
A new (to me) blog I’ve been reading lately is HowToGeek.com’s “Mysticgeek’s Realm” blog. Excellent posts with step by step instructions and screen shots, covering everything from Microsoft Office tips to computer security...

I just want someone to buy my idea from me?

Posted on October 24, 2008
I just read Marc Warnke on Entrepreneurism is not a Lottery Ticket. He nailed it right on the head. It is not a lottery ticket. The analogy I use in explaining it to clients is that an idea is like a recipe for barbecue sauce. KC Masterpiece has no interest in your recipe…they [...

Vanity or Self Defense: Monitoring What People Say About You Online

Posted on October 22, 2008
Do you track what other people say about you online? Your Firm? Your websites? You really should…to correct inaccuracies, to thank supporters, to control your personal (or Firm) brand. The “Dumb Little Man” blog has an excellent post up today on “6 Tools To Monitor Your Online Reputation (HR Not Included)...

USPTO Flowcharts on 35 U.S.C. §102(e) dates

Posted on October 21, 2008
Did you know that the USPTO has a nice pair of flowcharts for 35 U.S.C. §102(e) dates? Chart I: For U.S. patent or U.S. patent application publication under 35 U.S.C. §122(b) (includes publications of §371 applications) Chart II: For WIPO publication of International Applications (IAs)...

Bye Bye Yahoo Domains

Posted on October 20, 2008
A couple of years ago I registered a number of domain names through Yahoo. A month ago I received an email from them explaining that: Important note: Beginning on July 1, 2008, Yahoo!’s annual domain renewal price increases to $34.95 per year. Ouch...

Aspator (patent downloading tool) Updated

Posted on October 20, 2008
Kenneth Yip from Aspator (Firefox plugin) sent me an email recently letting me know that an update (v.1.004) to his free patent tool, Aspator has been released. He pointed out that: The major features of Aspator are: 1. Read searched patent abstracts, claims, drawings and bibliographies from USPTO and esp@cenet on one single page...

Dow Down? Entrepreneur Up!

Posted on October 17, 2008
Paul Graham: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy.

New Patent Blog ? PatentFools.com

Posted on October 16, 2008
Gene Quinn and John White have a new patent blog worth following:  “PatentFools.com — Opinionated & Uniquely Informed ~ Patent Attorneys Extraordinaire.” They answer the “Why PatentFools” question with: The point of PatentFools is to try and identify wrongs, articulate positions, influence decision-makers and have some fun saving the world for generations to come...

Idaho Startup Capital Options

Posted on October 16, 2008
TechBoise Blog with an excellent post detailing Idaho venture capital firms/options: For the love of (seed) money

N.Y. Times on Idaho Startups

Posted on October 15, 2008
Article: Entrepreneurial Edge - Start-Ups Give Idaho an Identity Beyond Potatoes - NYTimes.com. Mentions: MobileDataforce Sky Detective Balihoo Highway 12 Ventures Episciences Inc. Sandhill Industries

Counseling Victims of Invention Promotion Companies

Posted on October 14, 2008
Running this blog I receive a handful of emails a day from inventors who had hired an invention promotion company and now regret it. Usually these emails include a plea for information regarding how they can get their $5,000/$7,000/$______ back. I typically limit my advice to a simple response like: You might ask your fellow inventors [...

Kid Entrepreneurs

Posted on October 11, 2008
I’ve been thinking a lot about being a dad, particularly about what things I need to be teaching them.  On my “Dad To Do List” is “teach them to be entrepreneurs.”  Sure they may go on to work in a profession, be an arist, etc...

Are Patent Drawings Public Domain?

Posted on September 30, 2008
“Patents are published as part of the terms of granting the patent to the inventor. Subject to limited exceptions reflected in 37 CFR 1.71(d) & (e) and 1.84(s), the text and drawings of a patent are typically not subject to copyright restrictions...

Referral request ? Book Opinion

Posted on September 30, 2008
A reader (who is writing a book on patents (historical/humor)) has asked me to post this: I am looking into purchasing liability insurance and one of the things I need to submit with my application is a written opinion of an attorney regarding the book’s content and legal exposure...

Examiners blocking unavoidable/unintentional revivals

Posted on September 23, 2008
I just got off phone with an Examiner who had called to ask if I was filing a Response (due soon with a three month extension). I answered the question, and told the Examiner that I really appreciated it when Examiners do that. The Examiner’s response shocked me…basically admitting that he/she does that [...

?New? Test Design Patent Infringement ? Egyptian Goddess

Posted on September 22, 2008
Before today, to find infringement of a design patent, two tests need to be satisfied: 1) the ?point-of-novelty? test and 2) the ?substantial identity? test. Sun Hill Indus. v. Easter Unlimited, Inc., 48 F.3d 1193, 1197, 33 U.S.P.Q.2d 1925, 1928 (C.A...

Chinese Domain Name Scams

Posted on September 19, 2008
I’ve seen a recent rash in clients reporting receipt of an email that look like this: Dear CEO, We are the domain name registration organization in Asia, which mainly deal with international company’s in Asia. We have something important need to confirm with your company...

Hacking an original Speck ToughSkin iPhone case to work with a 3G

Posted on September 16, 2008
I recently ditched my old Treo phone for a 3G iPhone. When I bought it, I asked a number of people for recommendations for a case. Matt Buchanan was quick to recommend the Speck ToughSkin. I ordered one. It is a great case. Highly recommended. BUT…I was constantly battling [...

Boise Idea Market

Posted on September 15, 2008
I’m thrilled that Matt Homann is coming back to town (to speak at the Idaho State Bar’s Annual Meeting in Sun Valley with me). While he’s here, we’re going to put together an Idea Market! George Seybold, SEO Guru is helping me get it together...

Time Slips 2008 ? automatically logging you out

Posted on September 09, 2008
Timeslips 2008 has a very annoying “feature”…it automatically logs you out of the database after a certain period of inactivity (60 minutes?). I anyone knows how to kill that feature, please let me know. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog...

Should You Add Dirty Words to Your MS Word Dictionary?

Posted on September 03, 2008
Larry Kasoff thinks so. See: Exclude Dictionary Part 1: Using An Exclude Dictionary to Prevent Patent Profanity [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Creating Flow Charts Using Word 2007

Posted on September 01, 2008
See:  The How To Geek on Create A Flow Chart In Word 2007. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Can a non-patent attorney/agent write a patent application for another person?

Posted on August 22, 2008
Interesting quote in the comments (Comment 9) to the NEW rule set I mentioned previously on “Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Final Rule (14Aug2008)” (emphasis added): Non-practitioners are not entitled to provide legal advice or otherwise practice law...

Case law should be free ? let?s free SCOTUS patent cases

Posted on August 21, 2008
I am a big fan of public.resource.org’s quest of making government data more accessible. One of their projects is freeing caselaw…providing “open” copies of caselaw decisions. They have already compiled US, F1, F2 and F3 decisions into free copies...

Do Not Disturb ? for email?

Posted on August 20, 2008
If you have Outlook 2007 running on an Exchange Server, you might be interested in one of Microsoft’s new prototype plugins. Called “Email Prioritizer” that “provides a ‘do not disturb’ button that temporarily pauses new email arrival, and prioritizes email with a 0-3 star rating system...

Patent Agents Can?t Do X

Posted on August 14, 2008
We recently had a patent engineer in our office who was studying for the patent bar exam (and eventual “patent agent” status). To wit, I spent some time recently trying to really understand what a patent agent can/can’t do (beyond standard prosecution)...

PTO Ethical Rules

Posted on August 14, 2008
Why in the world is it so difficult to find the USPTO Code of Professional Responsibility online? Why isn’t it clearly linked to on the OED’s website? Seriously! While those rules are hammered into every attorney’s head (they are generally duplicative of our state bar ethics rules), non-attorney practitioners (in my experience) don’t always [...

Recent Trademark Office News & Notices

Posted on August 13, 2008
- Expanded PDF size–”On or about August 29, 2008, the USPTO plans to enhance TEAS to (1) increase the size limitation of PDF attachments from 3 to 5 megabytes; and (2) accept other “non-Adobe flavors” of PDFs. Please note, however, that the number of pages within any PDF file may not exceed 100 pages, separate [...

TEAS now requiring attorneys to list state bar?

Posted on August 13, 2008
I just noticed something I hadn’t seen before…the TEAS form signature block now directs attorneys to provide which state bar they are a member of: If an attorney, enter “Attorney of record, [specify at least one state] bar member.” Update, I also notice that you must select a box that says: I hereby confirm that this response [...

One solution to the exploding cost of health insurance?

Posted on August 11, 2008
Someone asked me about health insurance options for small businesses earlier. I pointed them to a three year old post I wrote on “Health Savings Accounts for Lawyers and Business Owners.” I’m still using mine and am VERY glad I set it up...

Excellent Summary regarding ?EAR Export Licenses?

Posted on August 11, 2008
Excellent summary by Gene Quinn of PLI Patent Blog regarding “EAR Export Licenses” as they relate to outsourcing patent application drafting. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved...

Eureka! I get it! (Twitter)

Posted on August 08, 2008
I’ve been a Twitter hater for a long time now.  Twitter, bleh!  I was a skeptic, thinking “why in the world would people care what I had for dinner?”  My epiphany came after an excellent seminar on personal branding put on by the guys at Tricycle...

First Post Medimmune DJ Dismissal

Posted on August 08, 2008
PHOSITA blog with a copy of the order in what appears to be the First Post Medimmune DJ Dismissal. See also: Patent Baristas - Supreme Court High-Fives MedImmune, Wikipedia - MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog...

Google Patents?now with watermarks

Posted on August 04, 2008
Scratch Google from the premier place for downloading pdf copies of patents. I downloaded a patent copy from them earlier that included this nice watermark/stamp: Bummer. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007...

Delicious Copyright URLs

Posted on July 30, 2008
I’m a HUGE fan of del.icio.us. I tag stuff every day (or so it seems). I dawned on me earlier that my old del.icio.us tags are a gold mine of great links for my readers. So…let’s start with some delicious copyright URLs: Internet Cases » A guide to registering the copyright in your [...

New plug-ins

Posted on July 30, 2008
I’ve added a couple new plug-ins in the last couple weeks: 1. A plug-in for my foreign readers. If you load the website (www.inventblog.com) you will see (in the right hand sidebar) links to common language translations of this site. [Global Translator] 2...

Are attorneys (on average) lacking in basic technical skills?

Posted on July 26, 2008
It is surprising to most people, but attorneys tend to be late adopters of technology. I think it is a result of having a “I don’t have time to learn something new, must keep working” mentality. Proof: check out branding guru Justin Foster’s recent post on “5 technical skills a modern professional should [...

USPTO Notice Regarding the Scope of Foreign Filing Licenses

Posted on July 24, 2008
Applicants and registered patent practitioners are reminded that the export of subject matter abroad pursuant to a license from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), such as a foreign filing license, is limited to purposes related to the filing of foreign patent applications...

USPTO Survey on Patent eCommerce Customer Satisfaction

Posted on July 22, 2008
Via an email most of you probably received from the Patent Office too: As a valued United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) customer, your opinions are important and enable the USPTO to learn what is working well and where there is room for improvement...

How could USPTO.gov be improved?

Posted on July 20, 2008
Great list of changes the USPTO should make regarding web page organization and access to patent data The Patent Librarian: Transparency in the US Patent System. For other things that could be changed…see ReThink(IP) on “Things we hate about the USPTO...

Slick sliding animation for helping you determine if a copyrighted work is in the public domain

Posted on July 16, 2008
Via the American Library Association’s Copyright Advisory Network Digital Copyright Slider. See also their Fair Use Checklist (pdf). [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Best new gadget?.Netflix Player by Roku

Posted on July 15, 2008
Netflix (last year?) added a service called “Watch Instantly” where they allowed subscribers to watch streamed selections on their computers for free (as part of their subscription). The titles in the “Watch Instantly” library (10,000+ of them) aren’t “New Releases,” but older movies and TV episodes...

Invention Promotion Company settles with FTC for $10.7 million

Posted on July 14, 2008
Apparently, the FTC has settled its case with Davison & Associates for $10.7 million in cash, real estate and investment assets, less than half of the $26 million dollar judgment awarded in 2006. See: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - “O’Hara invention promoter, FTC settle case for $10...

Online Time Clock for Law Firm Employees

Posted on July 13, 2008
With mentions in TechCrunch, Technorati, Inc.com, and an iPhone App…..one local Idaho software company (TSheets) is making big waves! See also this Idaho Business Review post. As a user of their product (my office uses their software for our employees), I completely understand why...

Quicktime, TIF and USPTO Images

Posted on July 02, 2008
Quick update to an earlier “tech tip”* post of mine (”Tech Tip: Die QuickTime, Die“) regarding how QuickTime blocks the use of AlternaTiff (my preferred Tiff viewer for USPTO patent images). Earlier today, I decided to smack QuickTime around again (my problem was back, even though (1) I reinstalled AlternaTiff AND (2) AlternaTiff showed up as [...

Thomas Edison used ?click wrap??

Posted on June 27, 2008
Matt Buchanan’s new blog on “Friday fun - Edison’s mark” (referring to terms and conditions Edison used on a marking plate for his Amberola Phonograph). [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007...

Did you know that most books published between 1923 and 1963 are in the public domain?

Posted on June 25, 2008
At least that is what Google, in reviewing Copyright renewals is finding. See Google Book Search Blog on US copyright renewal records available for download. Google’s latest announcement (the topic of that post) was scraping together a 56MB XML file (zipped) containing a list of the books that were not renewed...

Where lawyers don?t eat

Posted on June 23, 2008
Above the Law has a post up on “Where the Lawyers Eat Out” which contains a list of “recommendations for restaurants in various Biglaw cities.” Something tells me that ‘if’ Boise was a “Biglaw city” that this local restaurant would probably not make the list: The Crescent “NO LAWYERS” Bar & Grill...

?Doah? of the week

Posted on June 19, 2008
Techdirt: Expensive Patent Attorneys Know How To Cut & Paste, But Not Search & Replace [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Remember when the practice of patent law was ?fun??

Posted on June 12, 2008
It isn’t anymore…hasn’t been for a few years. My fellow practitioners know exactly what I mean. Then, I read this: …The SPE indicated that it was the policy in his Art Group not to issue any patents any more. In fact, some examiners in this unidentified Art Group have not issued a single patent in over 2 [...

Why a Patent Firm Should Consider Outsourcing?Speed

Posted on June 12, 2008
Three years ago I wrote a post on the ReThink(IP) blog on ?Insourcing Patent Work? where I talked about ?insourcing,? namely rather than sending patent work overseas, instead sending it inland (US) to smaller metropolitan areas where hourly rates and costs in general are less...

Foreign clients ? Billing and Collecting

Posted on June 10, 2008
Excellent article for practitioners (and their bookkeepers) doing work for foreign clients — ABA Law Practice Magazine on Dollars to Dinars: Billing and Collecting in a Global Market The world is flat. Thomas Friedman made the case for it in his best-seller of that title, and every day the news brings more evidence that the global [...

For Doug?

Posted on June 03, 2008
I’ve really enjoyed my friendship with fellow patent attorney Doug Sorocco (PHOSITA blog) over the past few years…particularly how we rib one another about where we live (me - Idaho, him - Oklahoma). In that he is on vacation while the rest of us are at work…...

New PDF Patent downloaders

Posted on June 02, 2008
Rolf Claessen’s new patent pdf download tool. http://www.ipnewsflash.com/get_pdf.php PatentRetriever. http://www.patentretriever.com/ [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

New UPSTO Notices

Posted on June 02, 2008
Notice of Town Hall Meeting on the Protection of Industrial Designs [signed 28 May 2008] [PDF] (29May2008) USPTO Welcomes New Member to Management Team (28May2008) [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved...

Mediawiki as a Patent Law Firm?s Knowledge Management System

Posted on May 29, 2008
The Law has a number of maxims. For instance, “in court, never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.” One of my favorites is “never do work someone else has already done for you.” I’ve followed that (later) one to the letter…compiling hundreds of “nutshells,” “summaries,” and “cheat-sheets” stored [...

QuickLinks for 27 May 2008

Posted on May 27, 2008
Thumbs up for having time to blog again… ALPS on Ethics and Flash Drives Good reminder from a legal insurance provider of the exposer a lost flash drive (thumb drive) could cost you (an attorney).  Do you encrypt your thumb drive? Windows Vista ReadyBoost - Using a thumb drive [...

Reason number one to build a law school in Boise?

Posted on May 16, 2008
The rush is on to build a law school in Boise, with the University of Idaho and Concordia University (Portland) clamoring to be first. Sounding like it came straight from a Letterman Top Ten list, Concordia apparently has one very interesting rationale for choosing Boise… Concordia University has a history with Idaho, from enrolling its [...

Practice Tip: Read PLI Lawyer?s Toolbox

Posted on April 29, 2008
I’m starting work outlining a future CLE/Article on “Online Resources and Tools That Will Make You a More Competent and Skilled Patent Practitioner.” Here’s one resource I highly recommend: PLI Lawyer’s Toolbox provides indispensable weekly practice tools to help you seal the deal for your clients...

TGIF: Cat O?Nine Tails

Posted on April 18, 2008
Which is creepier?  The fact that “cat o’nine tails” is an actual identification listed in the “Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods & Services” OR the fact that 38 trademarks included it in their listing of goods/services? One of those trademarks is a pending design for “AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES” (Ser...

Zimmerman?s Research Guide ? Patents

Posted on April 15, 2008
Nice summary! This entry is divided into three sections - (1) Getting U.S. Patent Materials; [...]

New blog??SOLO Independent IP Practitioners?

Posted on April 09, 2008
SOLO Independent IP Practitioners — “A community discussion group for sole IP practitioners, wherever they are in the world - whether in their own businesses or working for others - as well as new small firms on a growth curve.” [via Inter-Alia] [Originally posted on The Invent [...

Free, worldwide patent search site ? NEW

Posted on April 03, 2008
PriorSmart.com [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

USPTO Loses Continuation Rules Lawsuit

Posted on April 02, 2008
see more icanhascheezburger.com Details: Patent Prospector - Twarted Patently-O - Tafas v. Dudas: PTO’s Proposed Limitations on Continuations and Claims are Invalid 271 Patent Blog - *** USPTO Continuation Ruled Dead (For Now) *** [Originally posted on The Invent Blog...

Some software I recommend?

Posted on April 01, 2008
7-Zip [http://7zip.com/] — Free, open source program for opening zip, rar, 7z, gzip, etc files. Alternatiff - The plug in for Internet Explorer/Firefox which allows you to view patent images from the Patent Office’s website [http://www.alternatiff...

QuickLinks for 31-Mar-2008

Posted on March 31, 2008
A couple great resources on the use of /S/ Signatures: USPTO PDF Explaining Good, Bad and Ugly /S/ Signature Examples Patent Attorney Joy L. Bryant on "The S-Signature" TSheets.com Online Timesheet Software — A Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application that turns any computer or mobile device in to a timeclock...

QuickLinks for 27-Mar-2008

Posted on March 27, 2008
A Whole Lotta Nothing ? ReCAPTCHA?s quality is going down? Matt Haughey (MetaFilter, PVRBlog) questioning MetaFilter’s use of reCAPTCHA due to impossible to read challenge words. See also:  InventBlog - Public Pair/reCaptcha’s unintended consequences...

Google Image Labeler ? Community Intellectual Property Cops?

Posted on March 26, 2008
Google has a new “product” in beta. Called the “Google Image Labeler,” it is “a feature of Google Search that allows you to label images and help improve the quality of Google’s image search results.” You are partnered with another person and are shown a series of images over a two-minute period...

Calculating When A Patent Expires?

Posted on March 26, 2008
Hat tip Doug, Michael Neustel has a new site…PatentCalculator.com that allows you to input a patent’s filing date/issue date and determine the expiration date and maintenance fee dates. See also “How to determine when a patent expires...

QuickLinks ? Rethinking the Practice of Law

Posted on March 20, 2008
The Monster Blog: Workdays Should Be Based on Results — Not Input Makes me think…is "Results-Only Work Environment" something a law firm could use? To me, ROWE would be telling an associate, I don’t care what hours you are in the office, how many days a week, whether you work from home, etc…as long as [...

Upcoming CLE: Las Vegas!

Posted on March 10, 2008
I’ll be speaking in Las Vegas next month (April 11th) for Dunes, speaking at their Patent Drafting & Prosecution CLE on “Tips and Tricks for Expediting Examination of Your Clients’ Cases.” Summary of my presentation: Let?s face it, clients can be driven crazy by how long it takes these days to get a patent...

What is up with all of these ?QuickLink? posts?

Posted on March 06, 2008
Some of you have probably been wondering about the “QuickLink” posts I’ve made recently… This blog has really been a way for me to share with my readers (peers) links to stories and information I found interesting and useful in my practice/life...

QuickLinks for 6-Mar-2008

Posted on March 06, 2008
LifeHacker: Create Your Own Cross-Platform Backup Server Walks you through how to take an old computer you don’t need and using open source software create a “box” that automatically backs up computers on your network for you. Steve’s Tech Guide — The Ultimate Windows XP Optimization Tweak Guide Twenty different tweaks and optimizations to make your XP [...

QuickLinks for 29-Feb-2008

Posted on February 29, 2008
MAKE: Blog: Public domain donor Funny concept…intellectual property meets organ donor cards. Adventures in $40 eyeglasses | 43 Folders While patent outsourcing is a joke (IMO), outsourcing things like having eye glasses made is a hot topic on the Internet right now...

How much does a patent cost?

Posted on February 29, 2008
According to Alan Kasper, the First Vice President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), more than I expected. In recent testimony before Congress, Mr. Kasper noted that: …the preparation and filing of an original application of minimal complexity (10 page specification, 10 claims) on average by a firm having my firm?s size is [...

QuickLinks 26-Feb-2008

Posted on February 26, 2008
Intellectual Property Today: 5 Reasons You Should No Longer Bother Getting U.S. Patents Ending the Paper Chase | ABA Journal - Law News Now — article on law firms having smaller eco-footprints ABA: Going Green at Work by Kibert–baby steps lawyers can take to be a greener law firm [...

Blawgr is back. Think Blawg meet Digg.

Posted on February 23, 2008
Tech Law Advisor noting that Blawgr is back. This time reskinned as “the online community of legal bloggers (powered by Pligg).” Unless I’m mistaken, Pligg is an open source knock-off of Digg (http://digg.com/), making Blawgr essentially Digg for Lawyers...

QuickLinks for 23-Feb-2008

Posted on February 23, 2008
IP Newsflash Relaunch Rolf Claessen has relaunched IP Newsflash with a brand new design and new features, including a free class monitor for EP publications. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved...

QuickLinks

Posted on February 21, 2008
Boosting teamwork with wikis It’s not just for online encyclopedias: smart business owners (including law firms) use the new wiki software to encourage collaboration and save money.  Adam Wright. - How Outlook keeps me organized How to use Outlook filters and flags to automate your inbox...

Flowcharts on IP for Clients?

Posted on February 18, 2008
Add this to my to do list! Law Department Management blog on “Uses of flow charts and short summaries, including to explain choices to clients.” Reminds me of: Erik J. Heels’ “Drawing that Explains Copyright Law,” or Bromberg-Sunstein’s “Flowchart for determining when U...

Google Patents Now with Published Applications, and Green Tea Extract

Posted on February 14, 2008
According to the Patent Librarian’s Notebook, Google Patents now includes published applications. A quick search confirms! [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Case Law Copies (Free), Responding to Improper Final Office Actions, Compacting Outlook Data Files

Posted on February 13, 2008
Free the cases! http://bulk.rsource.org is a project where they are creating a free database of federal case law decisions. Bob Ambrogi notes it already has 1,800,000 pages of case law.  Cases you can download for free: F2d (The Federal Reporter, 2nd Edition) F3d (The Federal Reporter, 3rd Edition) US (US Reports) Patentably Defined Blog on “Improper Final [...

CLE Webcast on Patent Licensing

Posted on February 11, 2008
The Idaho State Bar has recently started webcasting many of their CLEs.  So far, it seems that many lawyers are opting to watch the presentation from their desk, rather than attend in person.    Of note to my readers might be this upcoming CLE:  Ten Things Every Lawyer Should Know About Patent Licensing by Steven Johnson from [...

Blawg Review #146

Posted on February 10, 2008
Welcome to Blawg Review #146. This is actually my second time hosting Blawg Review…I was party to the infamous Blawg Review #48 (hosted by the group blawg RethinkIP (with Matt and Doug ). Note to self, not everyone appreciates it when you try to “Rethink” Blawg Review...

Patent Pal Patent Searching Toolbar

Posted on February 09, 2008
PatentHawk points us to Patent Pal, a web browser toolbar for patent searching.  [hat tip Bill] The Patent Pal is a free resource for the patent community. It contains over 20 unique patent related searches. These searches include Google Patents, FreePatentsOnline, Esp@cenet, WIPO, Pat2Pdf, the MPEP, and many more...

Public PAIR/Recaptcha?s unintended consequences?

Posted on February 07, 2008
I frequently have problems getting the USPTO’s new password verification system to work.  In my experience, it is usually a FireFox issue….if I reboot FireFox, the system will accept my entries again.  I thought the problem was “just me...

What is the Current USPTO Allowance Rate?

Posted on February 05, 2008
According to this post, it is around 44%.  Ouch. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

Best Email Tip I Learned Last Year ? @ Waiting

Posted on February 05, 2008
Sorry my posting has been so light lately. Buried at work and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time coaching a local high school Mock Trial team (who qualified for state on Saturday!!!). If you’re looking for a great way to give back (pro bono) to the community (and be forced to [...

One bad apple?all practitioners suffer (The USPTO and Easy Access to Public Data)

Posted on January 31, 2008
One of my favorite quotes is: The … right to criticize either by temperate reasoning, or by immodest and indecent invective, … is the ultimate source of (citizens’) authority. –Judge Learned Hand That being said, I was thrilled to see Matt Buchanan’s new “opinions” page on his blog where he speaks his peace...

Four Years!

Posted on January 04, 2008
Crikey, I’ve been updating this blog for four years now? [First Post] Oh, how the patent blogging landscape has changed since then. When I started the blog, I would post on any and everything patent related that I could find…lawsuits, new Federal Circuit cases, funny “TGIF” posts…whatever caught my eye that day...

Cross-Hatching in Patent Drawings

Posted on January 03, 2008
One of the best parts of blogging is having your own personal “knowledge management” system…so you can more easily find frequently used links, documents, etc.  That being said… The USPTO Guide for the Preparation of Patent Drawings (Microsoft Word document, ~140 pages long, ~6MB in size) has a few pages showing preferred cross-hatching...

PatentFizz now does Published Applications!

Posted on January 03, 2008
Matt over at PatentFizz has announced that PatentFizz is now starting to cover published patent applications. Very cool!

PAIR, now with an additional step

Posted on January 02, 2008
Today, I noticed this gem when I went to access Public PAIR: If it means that PAIR and TDR are less likely to be offline (which I’ve seen a number of times in the past month)…GREAT. If it means that practitioners will have yet another impediment to easy access to government data…NOT GOOD...

Cool Patent Searching Tool: PatentScrounger.com

Posted on January 02, 2008
Neat way of patent searching…visually, by viewing the first pages of your search results: www.patentscrounger.com [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

A question for my readers: filling out 1449 (IDS) forms

Posted on December 26, 2007
One of my secretary’s biggest headaches is taking a pile of patents and from them generating an IDS (PTO-1449). While we use an IP forms program, it isn’t much more “automated” than a fillable PDF form. The questions is…is there a better way of doing this? Are there other software options, preferably ones [...

Updated links to USPTO & FTC publications on invention promotion companies

Posted on December 26, 2007
Contact the USPTO Before You Get Burned (PDF) [Original] [Local copy] FTC Consumer Alert: Spotting Sweet-Sounding Promises of Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms (PDF) [Original] [Local Copy] FTC Facts for Consumers: Invention Promotion Firms (PDF) [Original] [Local Copy] [Originally posted on The Invent Blog...

Entrepreneur Quotes

Posted on December 17, 2007
An excellent list of quotes from entrepreneurs and/or on entrepreneurship: Top 20 Entrepreneurship Quotes. [Originally posted on The Invent Blog. Copyright © Nipper, LLC 2004-2007. All Rights Reserved.]

New IP Blog of Note - Securing Innovation

Posted on December 17, 2007
The folks at ip.com have ventured into the blogging world, starting the “Securing Innovation” blog. The blog touts itself as covering “managing intellectual property, patents, trademarks and trade secrets.” A few recent posts of note: A short guide to defensive publication Writing technical disclosures Getting started with technical disclosures Solving business problems and managing risk with technical dislcosures Impressive! [...

Free CLE, ethics, electronic discovery

Posted on December 03, 2007
“Through December 12, 2007, PLI is giving away a free ethics course online that will count for CLE credit. The course is Ethics and Electronic Discovery 2007, which was recorded in August 2007.”  See:  PLI - Patent Blog–Ethics and Electronic Discovery 2007...