Legal Commentary

Xerox Files Patent Suit Against Google and Yahoo for Various Alleged Search Method Infringements while Congress Twiddles and Bilski Festers at SCOTUS

Posted on February 25, 2010
And now comes Xerox, the xeroxing document company,who we all know invented "search".Hah!You have to love the absurdity of the U.S. patent system - CHAOS.Thomas Claburn at InformationWeek, February 23, 2010, reports that Xerox [has filed a] Patent Suit Against Google [and] Yahoo claiming triple damages - of course - and claiming that various elements of Google and Yahoo search violate Xerox patents on methods and apparatus for integrating information and knowledge...

Progress on Patent Reform in the European Union (EU)

Posted on February 25, 2010
James DeGiulio writes at Patent Docs in Europe Takes Step Closer to Single EU Patent and Patent Court that:"On December 4, 2009, the European Competitiveness Council unanimously adopted a legislative package designed to create a single EU patent and EU patent court...

US Patent Reform Agreement Allegedly Finally Achieved in the U.S. Congress

Posted on February 25, 2010
Diane Bartz for Reuters reported from Washington on February 25, 2010 at Tentative US patent reform pact reached [acc. to] Sen. Leahy writing that:"Leading U.S. lawmakers have reached a tentative agreement to reform the nation's patent system, said Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a leader in the effort...

Administration Asks For Public Input On Intellectual Property Enforcement | Techdirt

Posted on February 25, 2010
Administration Asks For Public Input On Intellectual Property Enforcement | Techdirt

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Outsourcing and Data Protection in the European Union: EU Standard Contract Clauses Must Be Changed Regarding Overseas Transfers of Personal Data

Posted on February 24, 2010
Out-law.com alerts us to the fact that a recent formal Decision of the European Commission requires that Model clauses for overseas transfers of personal data be updated, writing"Outsourcing companies outside the EU will now have to get written permission to subcontract the processing of personal data after the European Commission changed arrangements permitting the export of such information...

Racist Content on California Server is within UK Jurisdiction based on the Test of Substantial Measure of Activities in the UK

Posted on February 24, 2010
Out-law.com alerts us to the following UK Court of Appeal decision: Racist content on US server is within UK jurisdiction, says Court of Appeal | Pinsent Masons LLP"The law of England and Wales applies to material published online, even if it is hosted on a server in another country, the Court of Appeal has ruled...

Court in Italy Convicts 3 Google Execs in Absentia for Privacy Violation Due to Delay in Takedown of Previously Flagged Objectionable Online Video

Posted on February 24, 2010
Italian Court Convicts 3 Google Executies in Absentia for Privacy Violation Due to Delay in Takedown of Flagged Online VideoVia Sylvia Poggioli at npr.org, the Associated Press informs us that:"An Italian court convicted three Google executives of privacy violations Wednesday because they did not act quickly enough to remove [an objectionable] online video...

The California Senate Message is : "Oops! This link appears to be broken": California Senate Passes Tax Bill on Online Retailers such as Amazon.com

Posted on February 23, 2010
LawUpdates.com informs us that:California Senate Passes Tax Bill on Online Retailers such as Amazon.comAs LawUpdates.com writes:"The bill now goes to the State Assembly where it is likewise expected to pass....[T]he bill requires out-of-state sellers, such as Amazon...

Intellectual Ventures and Invention Capital : Financing Inventors and Monetizing Creations : Making Big Money out of Patents : The "New" Software ?

Posted on February 23, 2010
Intellectual Ventures has been labelled "Intellectual Vultures" as a consequence of its acquisition of 30,000 patents and collection thus far of more than $1 billion in license fees. That is big business. What goes on?In Investment Firm Hopes to Turn Patents Into Invention Capital Market, Steve Lohr at the New York Times reports on this "nonpracticing entity" - called a patent troll by its detractors - that makes no products of its own but deals in patents only...

Law and Copyright: Oral Arguments at the GBS Fairness Hearing : The Google Books Amended Settlement Agreement : Should it be Approved?

Posted on February 22, 2010
The Laboratorium has a summary of the oral arguments at the GBS Fairness Hearing.Prior to that, Ivy Anderson, Director of Collections at the California Digital Library wrote:"Late last week, Google and the plaintiffs filed their final briefs in defense of the Google Books Amended Settlement Agreement (ASA) that is before the New York Southern Federal District Court...

Tutankhamun and "Where the Great Akhenaten Lies" : Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)

Posted on February 21, 2010
Tutankhamun and "Where the Great Akhenaten Lies" : Asharq Alawsat Newspaper (English)Zahi Hawass reports on the great discovery made regarding the identification of Akhenaten among the mummies of Egypt, inter alia writing:"At a press conference for international media figures held by the Supreme Council of Antiquities last Wednesday at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, I announced that important [archeological] discoveries had been made that shed more light on the dynasty of the golden pharaoh Tutankhamen...

EU Commission and EU Competition Law vs. Microsoft : The "Browser Ballot" and Windows 7 : EU and Microsoft Near Agreement on User Choice of Browsers

Posted on February 19, 2010
See Stan Schroeder at Mashable inEU and Microsoft Near Browser Agreement

EVIDENCE? The DNA Evidence is Clear: Tutankhamun was the Son of Akhenaten (Echnaton) : The Cause of Tut's Death Is Speculative as a Matter of Science

Posted on February 17, 2010
The manner in which the medical community and archaeologists handle evidence is hair-raising and can be exemplified again with current events in the case of the DNA and CT study of Tutankhamun.Who was Tutankhamun and was he murdered by the Philistines?Nearly five years ago I made a posting to the LexiLine group on the History of Civilization at 33 LexiLine Newsletter 2005 Who was Tutankhamun - Jonathon Aton - The Me'il in which I identified the young "co-regent" Tutankhamun as the son of Akhenaten (Echnaton)...

EVIDENCE? Tut Revisited: But is the Evidence so Clear that KV55 is Akhenaten and not Tut's brother Smenkhkare

Posted on February 17, 2010
Mark Rose at Archaeology Magazine in Tut: Disease and DNA News, February 16, 2010, asks however, based on an age estmitaion of KV55 at death as being a younger man, perhaps in his 20's, whether the evidence is so clear that KV55 is Akhkenaten according to the DNA rather than Tut's brother Smenkhkare (Smenchkare)...

NEW PHOTOGRAPH at LAWPUNDIT: Today's Header Photo of Traben-Trarbach

Posted on February 16, 2010
There was nice sun today in town for the first time in weeks so I took the opportunity to create a new header photo of Traben-Trarbach for LawPundit.

The NEW SOCIALISM : Bailing out the Rich and "Acquiring" Foreign Countries via Credit Squeezes : The Risks and Costs are "Socialized" to the Taxpayers

Posted on February 15, 2010
If you oppose socialism, you are in for a real surprise, because you may - unknowingly - be among the biggest socialists of all - something that we have labeled the "NEW SOCIALISM".We trace our initial political and economic understanding of this new socialism directly to a key insight of John Lanchester, who we refer to in a previous LawPundit posting at Laughing All the Way to the Bank - Dwight Garner reviews I...

Computer-implemented Claims Continue to be Rejected by USPTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Posted on February 15, 2010
Computer-implemented Claims Continue to be Rejected by USPTO Board of Patent Appeals and InterferencesAs written by Eric M Shelton of McDermott Will & Emery:"In a decision applying the Bilski ?machine-or-transformation test? (see IP Update, Vol...

Copyright Infringing Plagiarism or Literary Remix? AXOLOTL Roadkill a Literary Sensation in Berlin : Originality vs. Authenticity as a Legal Defense?

Posted on February 13, 2010
Copyright infringing plagiarism or literary remix? Will the real author please stand up.In Author, 17, Says It?s ?Mixing,? Not Plagiarism, Nicholas Kulish at the NYTimes.com informs us that Helene Hegemann, a mere 17 years old - but daughter of Carl Hegemann, one of the most prominent and innovative dramaturgs in Europe, now a Professor at the Department of Dramaturgy in Leipzig - seems to be following in her father's footsteps and has landed a beststeller in Germany with her first book, Axolotl Roadkill, a novel just announced as a finalist for the $20,000 fiction prize of the Leipzig Book Fair - a nice gesture to one of their own?It was Carl Hegemann:"[W]ho developed the theoretical superstructure for this hybrid artistry: "A reality is no longer encountered, but brought forth by the ?members? of a culture...

Law and Ancient Texts? The Last UK University Palaeographer? King's College London to Shut Down UK's Only Palaeography Chair

Posted on February 13, 2010
Not much money in studying ancient texts.Just ask the author of the posting you are now reading.Hence, we are not surprised to read at The Guardian in Writing off the UK's last palaeographer that:"The decision by a London university to axe the UK's only chair in palaeography has been met by outrage from the world's most eminent classicists...

Google's Blogger - Blogger.com - Will Not Support FTP Publishing After March 26, 2010

Posted on February 11, 2010
Blogger recently sent us the following notice, which will require us to shift our 1&1-hosted LawPundit domain to a Google "custom domain" some time this month. This shift should go unnoticed by our readers, unless there are transfer problems - we hope none - and refer to our mirror site at LawPundit II just in case...

e-LegalTechnology.org : A Specialist Directory & Resource Tool for Law Professionals

Posted on February 11, 2010
Legal Technology Companies, Law Firm Applications, Events, Conferences, Training, Jobs, White Papers, News"e-LegalTechnology.org is a specialist directory and resource tool for lawyers, legal professionals and legal technology specialists. Our site offers detailed descriptions of hundreds of service providers, legal applications, events, seminars, webinars, white papers, articles, jobs and press releases all specific to the legal technology sector...

Awesome, the News that Readers Share Online - NYTimes.com

Posted on February 10, 2010
Awesome, the News that Readers Share Online - NYTimes.com

Snow? Global Warming? Natural Laws & Climate Change: Sun Enters New Solar Cycle: Sunspot Activity Forecasts : NCAR, NASA, Tidal Planets, Solar Dynamo

Posted on February 07, 2010
Global warming or snow? Whatever you may think of the climate now - it may change. What is current evidence for forecasting solar activity and climate in the next decade?There are laws and then again there are LAWS - natural laws. Let us look at those natural laws...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Criticizes California Prisons and Attacks U.S. Criminal Sentencing (8 Times Longer than Europe)

Posted on February 07, 2010
The Los Angeles Times in a report by Carol J. Williams headlines that U.S. Justice [Anthony M.] Kennedy laments the state of prisons in California, writing:"U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy criticized California sentencing policies and crowded prisons Wednesday night, calling the influence that unionized prison guards had in passing the three-strikes law "sick...

The Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League : Playing Like the 10th Justice

Posted on February 07, 2010
Unfortunately, we missed the start of "The Premier Supreme Court Fantasy League" this Supreme Court term, and it looks like great fun and a learning experience to boot, but our question is - who has sufficient time for this sort of thing? We are going to try it now, even though a bit late - if only as an additional instrument to hone our knowledge of Constitutional Law:FantasySCOTUS...

Maryland Highway Chief: Watch the Super Bowl - Stay Out of Your Cars

Posted on February 07, 2010
Getting There: Drivers getting back to normal -- too fast (updated) - From roads to rails to runways, Michael Dresser tracks transportation - baltimoresun.com"In a noon briefing, Gov. Martin O'Malley warned that road conditions remain dangerous despite progress in clearing the snow...

Digging Out of the Blizzard: Trendsmap.com Shows the Twitter Real-Time Word of the Day in Snow-Affected Areas of the Eastern USA is SHOVEL

Posted on February 07, 2010
Trendsmap - which shows local real-time trends on a map of the world (the larger the word the more important) - currently shows that the real-time Twitter "Word of the Day" in snow areas of the Eastern USA is SHOVEL.Take a look.When push comes to shove, the practical things in life are the most important...

Index to the book, Stars, Stones and Scholars: The Decipherment of the Megaliths as an Ancient Survey of the Earth by Astronomy | by Andis Kaulins

Posted on February 06, 2010
INDEX to the book,Stars, Stones and Scholars: The Decipherment of the Megaliths as an Ancient Survey of the Earth by Astronomyby Andis Kaulins, 422 pp., 6x9, ISBN: 9781412013444. The book has a 20-page two-column keyword index which we reproduce unformatted below for search purposes for those who might be interested in the immense scope of the subject matter covered by this book:380 ? The Keyword Index to Stars Stones and Scholars- the numbers refer to the page numbers in the book where the keyword appearsAAaran ? 52 Aberdeen - 42, 43, 63Aborigines ? 10 Aboyne - 44Abruzzo ? 275 Abydos - 34, 115, 308Achernar - 160, 299 Aegean Sea - 22Aeniad ? 30 Aesculapius - 5, 97, 102, 168, 169, 280Africa - 1, 3, 10, 11, 27, 30, 97, 99, 100-102, 167, 169, 226-228, 283, 300, 301, 309African bracelet ? 169 Aghade - 173, 175, 225agriculture - 13, 22, 207 Ahrensburgian Culture - 17Aill Na Mireann - 219, 220, 221 Ain - 12, 17, 19, 23, 345Ain Ghazal - 12, 19, 23 Akita - 356, 358Akkad ? 27 Akkadian - 15Aksum - 226, 228, 300, 301 Albania - 11Albarosa ? 280 Albersdorf - 244Albion ? 31 Aldebaran - 261, 324, 335, 361, 366Aleutian Islands ? 164 Alfriston - 145Algonkians ? 377 Allen, Richard Hinckley ("RHA") - see RHAAllerton ? 155 Alphard - 94, 122, 237, 366Alphonsine Tables ? 203 Alsace - 324, 338, 339Altair - 48, 150, 151, 177 Altamira - 9Altar Rock ? 333 Altitona - 338, 339Amazon ? 164 amber - 20America - 1, 3, 13, 164, 270, 278, 373, 377 Amman - 12, 19, 23Ammerman, Albert ? 13 Amon - 330Amos ? 8 Anatolia - 12, 18, 19, 22Ancient Britain - 1, 2, 6, 27, 30, 41, 42, 44, 97, 103, 106, 113, 133, 170, 364Ancient Ireland - 2, 187, 219 Ancient Near East - 9, 19Andernach - 17, 273 Andisleben - 260Andromeda - 15, 49, 65, 69, 105, 117, 127, 146, 147, 191-193, 225, 235, 258, 260, 275, 278, 305, 313, 323, 324, 333, 360, 363, 366Anglesey - 165, 167 Anglo-Saxon - 88, 130, 139, 216Animal, animals - 20, 68, 194, 224, 265, 284, 291, 305, 323, 339, 340, 376Ankaa - 49, 50, 366, 368 Annaghmare - 177, 225ant - 292, 293 Antarctica - 163, 164, 167Antares ? 52-58, 161, 170, 244, 325, 365 Antlia - 77, 91, 93Antrim - 175, 176, 225 Apennines - 275Apulia ? 275 Apus - 82, 161Aquarius - 15, 17, 66, 141-145, 189, 190, 258, 275, 321, 324, 338, 339, 366Aquila - 31, 38, 45, 48, 79, 85, 95, 107, 108, 150-155, 175, 176, 177, 178, 222, 225, 234, 241, 242, 253, 258, 275, 279, 323, 324, 327, 342, 344, 346, 358, 363, 365, 366Aquitaine ? 324 Ara - 145, 161, 184, 188, 217Arabia, Arabic, Arabs - 1, 10, 11, 39, 44, 45, 47, 57, 71, 100, 167, 173, 174, 203, 255, 260, 261, 271, 291, 299, 327, 339, 344, 354Arbor Low - 5, 150, 151 Archaeogenetic ? 10, 27archaeologists, archaeology ? 10, 13, 18, 21-23, 37, 54, 62, 64, 76, 84, 110, 133, 140, 161, 170, 171, 197, 207, 236, 266, 305, 309, 331, 359archer ? 331 Arcturus - 47, 62, 232, 365Ardeche - 321, 322, 323, 324 Ardenne - 324, 343, 344The Keyword Index to Stars Stones and Scholars - 381Ardmore ? 186 Ardristan - 71, 173, 174, 225Argo - 5, 53, 77, 97, 168, 182, 198, 225, 275, 290, 291, 299, 369Argonauts - 5, 77, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 164, 165, 169, 280Argyll - 53, 77, 78, 79 Ariadne - 66, 104, 105Aries - 15, 17, 48, 64, 68, 127, 141, 142, 223, 225, 235, 258, 278, 323, 324, 333, 366arm - 139, 203, 291, 361 Armagh - 177, 225arms - 15, 35 Arran - 51, 52, 73Arras - 324, 342, 344 arrow - 17, 109, 158, 331, 364Artapanus ? 8 Arthur - 19, 97, 98, 105, 171, 194, 325Arthur?s Stone Dorstone ? 105 Arthur?s Stone Maen Ceti - 97, 171, 194Asakusa ? 358 Asia Minor - 30Asian - 11, 366 Askwith Moor - 156astronomers, astronomical, astronomy ? 1-6, 8, 12, 15-18, 24, 28, 30-33, 37, 40, 44, 57, 62, 68, 73, 77, 80-85, 91-94, 97-103, 105-108, 112, 114, 116, 120, 125- 128, 133-137, , 140, 148-153, 163, 164, 170, 172, 176, 186-189, 193-195, 199, 205-208, 222, 224, 242, 250, 259, 260-264, 268, 269, 275, 278, 282, 289, 307-310, 313, 317, 318-324, 328, 330, 332, 336, 340, 341, 355, 360, 361, 362, 363, 369, 372, 374, 377Astronomical Measure - 328, 369, 372Asuka - 354, 355, 356, 357 Atlantic Ocean ? 9Atlas Mountains - 11, 30 Aubrey holes ? 128Aude ? 335 Aughnacliffe - 204, 225Auriga - 15, 18, 48, 69, 70, 201, 202, 225, 252, 257, 275, 278, 303, 323, 324, 333, 358, 363, 364, 366, 377Australia ? 10, 11, 163, 164, 283 Austria - 11Autumn Equinox - 15, 39, 54, 168, 169, 170, 186, 245, 246, 317, 325, 328, 349, 364Auvergne ? 324 Avebury - 119, 139Avieloch ? 46 Aviemore - 46, 60, 62Avize - 343, 344 Awanodake - 356axe - 63, 154, 204, 263, 264, 346 axes - 9, 264, 303Ayr ? 51 Azerbaijan - 11Azimuths ? 40 Aztec - 164BBabylonian - 8, 39, 44 Badnabay - 47Baildon Moor ? 156 Balfarg - 48Ballina ? 207 Ballowall - 82Ballybane - 183, 225 Ballyboher - 224, 225Ballyedmonduff - 191, 192, 193, 194, 225 Ballykeel - 177, 225Ballylowra - 200, 225 Ballymeanoch - 78Ballynacloghy - 197, 225, 247 Ballyvatheen - 201, 225Balnaguie ? 47 Balnuaran - 1, 25, 28-32, 38, 45, 57, 162Baltic - 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20, 21, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 39, 317, 318Baltic Countries, History of ? 17 Baltic Sea - 31, 34Baltynanima - 223, 225 Banning, E...

The Tech View at the Economist about Patent Nonsense is that the Era of Frivolous Patents May Soon End

Posted on February 06, 2010
Tech.view: Patent nonsense | The Economist 5 February 2010"An end to frivolous patents may finally be in sight....America?s Supreme Court is about to issue a ruling which, by all accounts, will make it difficult, if not impossible, to get a patent for a business process...

Genetic Privacy : Genetic Testing in New York : Newborn DNA Samples in Texas : German Genetic Diagnosis Act Went Into Effect on February 1, 2010

Posted on February 05, 2010
As reported in numerous German-language sources, the German Genetic Diagnosis Act (Gendiagnostikgesetz, GenDG) - English translation at eurogentest.org - took force on February 1, 2010. This law is of interest for many disciplines, especially in view of the recent "genetic privacy" decision in Texas and the pending passage of Katie's Law in New York...

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