Archive for May, 2005
Announcement: USPTO seminar in Detroit area on IP in China
On June 14 and 15, the USPTO will conduct a seminar in the Detroit area on intellectual property issues relating to China.
The program includes an overview of Chinese intellectual property laws, including trademark, patent, copyright, trade secret, and unfair competition laws, and an overview of the appropriate government agencies.
Sessions on counterfeiting and infringement are also planned. Breakout [...]
IP Theft: A cloak and dagger tale from Brazil
Ever wonder why Brazil is considered part of the IP axis of Evil? Read this article from the Dallas Morning News (quick and free registration required) and you’ll wonder no more.
A Congressional investigation into the counterfeit problem was conducted last year, which led to raids and a very interesting cloak and dagger tale of politics, bribes and [...]
Line drawing in the patent reform debate — my take on the small entity/status quo discussion
There is a great “discussion” on the patent blogs about line-drawing on the reform issue. Dennis Crouch sees three “major coalitions” forming (basically, Big Tech, Big Pharma, and small entities) and states that the last group has the goal of keeping the status quo. Steve Nipper sharply disagrees with Crouch’s status quo assessment of the small entity [...]
Details of the New Democrat letter of support for patent reform: Focus is on litigation reforms, including changing the injunctive relief calculus
Last week, the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) issued a letter to Representatives Lamar Smith and Howard Berman expressing support for their patent reform efforts. I referenced an article discussing the letter yesterday. I have obtained a .pdf copy of the letter and made it available for viewing and/or downloading here.
In the letter, which is signed [...]
Political support for patent reform builds…centrist House Democrats lend support to the movement
Let the politicking begin.
The New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist Democrats in the House, has indicated that it supports the patent reform effort. According to this article, the offering of support may ease tensions between the “new Democrats” and the high tech sector. Tension between the politicians and the sector are running high, apparently because the politicians recently said [...]
Tablet PC Update: I’m loving it, but here’s an extra $300 I wish I had spent when I bought the thing
Drawing on inspiration from the most anticipated and celebrated launching of a new Tablet PC in history, I thought I’d share a recent improvement I made to my Tablet PC setup.
I’ve been using the Toshiba M205 Tablet PC for about a year. Needless to say, I love the tablet platform and the Toshiba itself. Am I YABHTU (yet another blissfully [...]
Cnet on patent reform
Today, Cnet published an article by Dave Mock on patent reform. Mock begins with a focus on the patent troll issue and ends with the opinion that patent quality patent office funding are the most pressing issues for Congress to address.
A quick read, and worth it.
Lawyers Weekly USA on patent reform
Lawyers Weekly USA is featuring an article on patent reform as its Article of the Week. The full story is available for free on LWU’s subscription-based web site.
Both Crouch and I were interviewed for the article.
I wonder what his registration number is?
At 104, C. Yardley Chittick is apparently the nation’s oldest patent attorney.
I relayed this story to our senior partner, Don Fraser, who, like his father before him, has practiced patent law for roughly 50 years. He sees 104 as a reasonable retirement age.
Patent reform in the UK
The US is not the only country in the midst of a major reform movement. India, of course, is undergoing radical change with the recent amendments to bring its patent laws into full TRIPs compliance.
Patent reform is also underway in the UK. One very interesting change is a new procedure that allows the Patent Office to [...]
