Ethics

Via Tax Prof Blog, the ABA comments on the effects of the USN&WR rankings (and, as best I can tell, throws up its hands in quiet resignation at the inevitability that those rankings will continue to reign).  The ABA committee is particularly concerned that the rankings drive up the cost of law school, decrease the availability of need-based financial aid, and reduce diversity.

In this article, the authors -- Ralph Clifford, Thomas Field, and Jon Cavicci -- suggest that the PTO excludes too many computer science types whose expertise is sorely needed.  Abstract:

Among the many factors that impact the declining quality of U.S. patents is the increasing disconnect between the technological education patent bar members have and the fields in which patents are being written. Based on an empirical study, the authors show that too few patent attorneys and agents have relevant experience in the most often patented areas today, such as computer science. An examination of the qualification practices of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (?PTO?) suggests that an institutional bias exists within the PTO that prevents software-savvy individuals from registering with the Office. The paper concludes with suggestions of how the identified problems can be corrected.