By now, everyone is familiar with the Nigerian scam. You receive an e-mail for an offer you cannot refuse. The sender alleges he or she is trustee of a large sum of unclaimed money. If you will agree to take the money into the United States, you will receive half the money (typically millions) for your trouble. After sending $200 for paperwork, $500 for bribes, $2000 for customs and $10,000 for lawyers you get the impression things are not quite as they seem. With so many pigeons now wise to the “419 grift,” online scammers are constantly devising increasingly clever ways to part money from fools.

Online Dating

One of the hallmarks of a great scam is selecting a highly motivated victim. Online scammers use dating Web sites to target the lovelorn. Posting attractive pictures and telling sad stories of unforeseen financial difficulties, scammers bilk online daters out of money, gifts, credit card numbers and bank information. While from a distance these scams seem easy to spot, once the scammers masterfully weave an emotional connection, logical analysis flies out the window. Anytime you receive an online request for money, gifts or financial information, there is a high likelihood there is a scammer on the other end.

Employment Scam

Praying on the desperately unemployed, scammers post fake job opportunities, sometimes using the names of legitimate companies. The job opportunity is often a payroll clerk. The scam involves sending the victim a large check. The scammer requests the victim cash the check and send out smaller to checks to “employees” of the business. The scammers large check is fake, but the victims little checks are real. By the time the victim discovers the big check is fake, the “employees” have already disappeared with the victim’s money.

Professional Scams

Doctors and lawyers are increasingly the target of scammers. Posing as information technology professionals or potential clients, international criminals extract sensitive personal information, garner financial information and install viruses on the victims’ computers. The scams may be as simple as posing as someone in the victim’s IT department and calling the receptionist to confirm his or her password works with the “new” system, or as complex as creating a fake multinational organization, complete with a pricey Web site and myriad references. Be wary of “spear phishing” scams buried within unsolicited emails. Never open attachments in an email from someone you do not know. Even if you do know the sender, scammers often “spoof” the name of the sender.

Charity Scams

In the wake of any large disaster, scammers lie in wait for compassionate people willing to give. Criminals build elaborate Web sites emulating recognized charities. Through a barrage of spam emails, the scammers direct people to donate to the victims of the latest crisis. Beware of any unsolicited request for a charitable donation. When in doubt, donate to an established charity. You can even check the charity out online to determine what percentage of your donation actually gets to the people in need.

Social Media Scams

People trust social media. Your friends are much less likely to intentionally hurt you than people you do not know. Scammers know this, and have increasingly using social media as a platform for their latest scams. Scammers use social media to launch phishing scams and malware attacks. Social media users who fail to protect their accounts, may find their computer damaged and their personal information stolen.

Government Scams

Impersonating governmental agencies to obtain your financial information is a successful scam simply because it is so brazen. What kind of a criminal would impersonate the IRS, the FBI or Homeland Security? Receiving an e-mail from one of these organizations often leaves the victim more worried about what they might have done, than whether the email contains malicious software. If you suspect the e-mail is not legitimate, do not reply, do not click on any links and do not call any phone numbers in the e-mail or open any attachments. Contact the government agent directly to confirm that the email is legitimate.

Pop-up Advertisements

If you receive a pop-up advertisement for anti-virus software be wary. Such pop-up ads often appear to be scanning your hard drive in an attempt to get you to click on the ad. Clicking on the ad however, can install harmful software, extract sensitive information or send the scammer a log of your keystrokes, which includes all of your usernames and passwords. The FBI has reported over $150 million in losses attributable to this scam alone.

What to Do

If you suspect you have been scammed, or have received a solicitation you believe may be a scam, contact your information technology department immediately, providing all of the details you have. You may also file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Most importantly, be on the lookout for new scams. The most effective scam will always be the one that is new to you.

Brett Trout

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Back in 1821, Thomas L. Jennings became the first African American to receive a patent. Since that time, black inventors have helped our country make great technological strides. Every year it becomes increasingly difficult to select only ten inventors from the thousands of choices. This year I focused on the practical as well as the profound. While some of the inventions may seem pedestrian by today’s standards, it is these great men and women who are responsible for so many of the things we take for granted. It is not until you actually stop to consider the scope of their inventiveness, that you comprehend the impact they have made on all of our lives

10. Lonnie G. Johnson – Super Soaker squirt gun
President of Johnson Research Development Co. and formerly with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Lonnie Johnson is a nuclear engineer with over 100 patents to his name. This Tuskegee alumnus has generated over one hundred million dollars in sales with his world-renown invention, the SuperSoaker squirt gun. He is currently working on a solar energy cell which promises to cut solar energy costs in half.
Representative Patent: Pinch trigger pump water gun United States Letters Patent Number 5,074,437

9. Michael Jackson – Gravity defying shoes In 1993, singer and entertainer Michael Jackson received a patent on a novel shoe, The shoe includes a cut-out in the heel, which an entertainer slides on and off a nail head in the stage. The nail head grabs the heel and allows the entertainer to perform apparently gravity defying leans.
Representative Patent: Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion United States Letters Patent Number 5,255,452

8. Thomas Mensah – Patriot missile guidance system Born in Ghana, Dr. Mensah is the Chairman of Supercond Technology Inc. of Norcross, Georgia. Holder of over a dozen United States and International patents, Dr. Mensah’s inventions span the fields of fiber optics to guided vehicle systems. His work with SMART weapons, like the Patriot missile, were critical to the success in the Gulf War.
Representative Patent: Guided Vehicle System United States Letters Patent Number 5,035,169

7. Lewis Latimer – Electric light filament Everyone knows Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but few know that it took African American inventor Lewis Latimer to come up with the carbon filament that made it practical. Edison’s original draftsman, Latimer drafted the plans for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Working many late nights with Bell, Latimer worked tirelessly to file a patent on Bell’s telephone mere hours before the filing of a similar patent by a rival inventor.
Representative Patent: Electric Lamp United States Letters Patent Number 247,097

6. Elijah McCoy – Automatic railcar lubrication Elijah McCoy patented dozens of ways to lubricate machinery. One advantage McCoy’s devices had over the competition, was that his inventions made it possible to lubricate machinery while it was running. This eliminated downtime maintenance and increased factory profits. One of his most famous inventions was an oil dripping cup. The oil dripping cup was so wildly successful that competitors worked diligently to copy it. Nothing however, worked as well as the original. That is why, even today, we ask for “The real McCoy.”
Representative Patent: Lubricator United States Letters Patent Number 472,066

5. Dr. Patricia Bath – Surgical cataract laser Born in Harlem, Dr. Bath has become an internationally acclaimed ophthalmologist and surgeon. Not content to rest on her laurels, Dr. Bath has dedicated her life to the treatment and prevention of blindness in African-Americans. A pioneer in laser cataract surgery, her laser-powered Laserphaco Probe allows physicians to vaporize sight stealing cataracts in minutes.
Representative Patent: Method of removing cataracts United States Letters Patent Number 6,083,192

4. James Edward Maceo West – Electret microphone While working at Bell Laboratories in 1964, James Edward West patented the electret microphone. His research led to the development of the foil-electret transducers used in 90% of today’s microphones. Today, Dr. West holds over 40 United States, and over 200 International, patents on microphones and microphone components. He is also a 1999 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame,
Representative Patent: Electroacoustic transducer United States Letters Patent Number 3,118,022

3. Percy Julian – Cortisone synthesis Granted over 100 patents Percy Julian is best known for his innovative synthesis of cortisone from soy beans. His inventions significantly reduced the cost of manufacturing cortisone used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and inflammation. Julian is a 1990 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Representative Patent: Preparation of cortisone United States Letters Patent Number 2,752,339

2. George Crum – Potato chips Part Native American and part African American, George Crum never received a patent. He is credited however, with inventing one of this country’s most ubiquitous snack foods, the potato chip. Known for his irascible nature, George Crum earned his living as a cook. One day, the story goes, a businessman entered Moon Lake Lodge, in Saratoga Springs, New York. Not happy with the thickness of the potato slices Crum was serving on that particular day, the businessman sent them back. While customers at the Moon Lake Lodge sometimes sent food back once, they rarely sent them back twice, especially if George Crum was working. Crum took it upon himself to make the meal so unpalatable, patrons would dare not try their luck a second time. In this particular case, Crum sliced the potatoes as thin as possible, fried them in oil until they were hard. Crum then doused the potatoes in enough salt to make them what he believed would be inedible. To his chagrin, the customer loved the new “potato crunches.” Crum began serving the snack at his own restaurant. Since Crum had no patent, Crum did not share in the profits from what others have turned into a multi-billion dollar industry.

1. George Washington Carver – New uses for peanuts
Best known as the inventor who could do anything with a peanut, George Washington Carver patented only a small handful of his hundreds of his novel products and methods for improving agriculture. Born a slave, Carver consistently shunned fortune. Interested only in the betterment of mankind, he took no money at all for the majority of his inventions. Granted a scholarship in Kansas, the college refused Carver withdrew his admission after discovering Carver was African American. Carver enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, before eventually landing at what is now Iowa State University the following year. Carver is a 1988 inductee into the Iowa Inventor’s Hall of Fame and a 1997 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Representative Patent: Process for Producing Paints and Stains United States Letters Patent Number 1,632,365

The foregoing are but a tiny sampling of the great inventions African Americans have given our country. It does not take a patent lawyer to appreciate the incredible gifts these extraordinary inventors have bestowed upon us. If you know of any other great African American inventors, or you are one yourself, be sure to leave me a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Brett Trout

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Smack Talk
According to The AMLaw Litigation Daily, over the past year the dispute grew nasty, with both sides taking the case to the press. Mosanto accused DuPont of unlawfully taking Monsanto’s technology and DuPont accused Monsanto of monopolizing the market and attempting to intimidate customers.

The Ruling
On January 15, 2010, St Louis Judge E. Richard Webber granted Monsanto partial summary judgment, ruling the licenses to Pioneer did not allow Pioneer to “stack” Optimum GAT on Monsanto’s Roundup Ready product. Not deterred, DuPont has vowed to vigorously pursue its antitrust, license and patent fraud claims still pending in the case.

Going Forward
As noted in the Des Moines Register, at least one analyst has argued the lawsuit heightened the perception that Pioneer has fallen behind Monsanto in the development of biotech traits for seeds. Notwithstanding, DuPont just entered into a deal with BASF to settle their lawsuits with one another and cross-license various patents covering herbicide-tolerant technology. On the Monsanto side, The Justice Department has formally requested information from Monsanto regarding anticompetitive practices in the herbicide-tolerant soybean seed market. The main patent covering the Roundup Ready technology is set to expire 2014. Monsanto has stated publicly it will not block competitors from bringing Roundup Ready generic equivalents to the market.

Brett Trout
HT ChrisBLaw

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Patents are documents that protect inventions. Good patents describe the invention in broad terms, making it more difficult to design around the patent or challenge a claim of infringement. Good patents are hard to draft. If they are drafted too broadly, broadly enough to cover something that has already been invented, the patent is invalid.

As you might imagine, patents are quite complex.

Patents are so complicated and technical that ordinary attorneys are not even allowed to draft them. Patents are drafted by patent attorneys, who receive special training, have undergraduate studies in a science and pass a special Bar exam to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Do I Need a Patent?

Well drafted patents grant you a broad monopoly in the marketplace. The downside is they can be expensive, averaging about $9,000 to $10,000 for a simple mechanical device and take a long time, three years or more, to obtain. The question as to whether you should pursue a patent is a business decision. From the patent attorney’s perspective, it is always a good idea to pursue a patent. From your perspective, you have you ask yourself some important questions: What kind of annualized profit can I expect with a patent? How many years, if ever, before the patent pays for itself? Are there non-infringing alternatives competing, or likely to compete, in the market-space? Will my product be obsolete before the patent issues? Will less expensive “trade secret” protection suffice?

The Patent Process.

The patent process involves meeting with a patent attorney to discuss costs and timelines. If you decide a patent is something you want to pursue, you may decide to do a patent search. You can conduct a cursory search at Google Patents. Your patent attorney is also available to perform a more comprehensive search. The next step is to draft the patent application. This is the most important part of the process. Here is where you determine the breadth of protection over your invention. It is at this point where a good patent attorney can make or break your patent. Once the application is drafted, your patent attorney files the application with the USPTO. After two years or so, the USPTO “examines” the application, comparing it against patents already in existence. Your patent attorney fights back and forth with the USPTO over the breadth of protection your application is allowed. If your patent attorney is persuasive enough, and your invention novel enough, the USPTO issues your application as a patent.

Finding the Right Patent Attorney.

You do not need the best attorney in the world. You need the best attorney for you. Finding the best attorney for you means looking at factors like cost, skill, experience and communication. As you might imagine, all patents are not created equally. Skilled patent attorneys with a lot of patents under their belts typically obtain better patents than more inexperienced patent attorneys. They also charge more. The best attorney for you however, is not necessarily the most expensive. Ask around. Search the internet for patent attorneys in your area. Go to the USPTO.gov Web site and see how many patents they have drafted. Go visit with the patent attorney. If you like the attorney, confirm that he or she will actually be the one drafting your patent and not passing it off to an inexperienced underling. Ask if the patent attorney has had experience defending patents in court. Success defending patents in court, often translates into drafting better patents. The most important thing is to feel comfortable working with your patent attorney. There are a lot of patent attorneys out there. Keep looking. Pick the one who tells you what you need to know, rather than what you want to hear. You will know it when you hear it.

Brett Trout

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Timothy Johnson, author of GUST: The “Tale” Wind of Office Politics and Race Through the Forest, has just written a new book, SWAT – Seize the Accomplishment. SWAT uses a story/parable format to explain “systems” and how to leverage them in nearly any business. Systems include any discrete process, such as a meeting, which has inputs, transformations and outputs.

SWAT explains how to identify and foster constructive behaviors in these systems and eliminate destructive ones. As Johnson notes, “systems thinking can be applied in any profession and any setting.” Lawyers who take the time to examine and refine the systems in their law practice will reap the dividends for years to come.

Brett Trout

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Of Video Games and Virtual Worlds
Most parents are at least familiar with the concept of video games. Children play them against the computer, or against someone else in the room. Some video games allow children to play against people across the street or across the globe. The largest of these games create massive online environments for players to explore. These “virtual worlds” generate billions in revenue, some even allowing millions of people to play simultaneously. Each virtual world has its own set of rules and etiquette. Anonymous players create characters for themselves, and interact online with another anonymous characters. Communities gravitate around common interests, such as role-playing, first person shooters, real-time strategy, sports, social interaction, as well as many others. Two of the most popular virtual worlds are Second Life and World of Warcraft.

What Are The Dangers?
Video games come with handy parental ratings to indicate how much blood, drugs and sex the child will encounter in the game. But what about virtual worlds? Players have sued, propositioned and even killed other players in real life as a result of events which took place in virtual worlds. What the media fails to report however, is that these incidents are incredibly rare. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just released a report entitled Virtual Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risks. Surprisingly, the report found very little sex or violence in virtual worlds accessed by minors.

Why Are Virtual Worlds So Safe?
Most parents have little exposure to virtual worlds and legislators are often even more clueless. So why then are virtual worlds so safe? One reason kids are exposed to far less sex and violence in virtual worlds as compared to the rest of the internet is greed. Virtual worlds are for profit ventures. Main stream media constantly lurks for that one incident it can use to leverage every parent’s fear of the unknown. As detailed in the FTC report however, virtual worlds invoke terms of service, age-screening, age segregation and community policing to prevent the exploitation of children. While it is not impossible for children to circumvent these security measures, there are far easier ways for children to access inappropriate content online, than through a virtual world.

In Loco Parentis
So if virtual worlds have their own screening system in place everything is good right? Wrong. Even though your child may not be exposed to sex, drugs and violence in a virtual world, they will be exposed to adults behaving like adults. The complex character interactions in virtual worlds are no substitute for parental instruction. Just like with a fork, it is your duty as a parent to investigate the games and environments your child frequents online to ensure that your child demonstrates the requisite proficiency and responsibility to avoid trouble. Better yet, why not actually take a couple hours out of your week and join your child online. At worst, simply listening intently to your child describe to you an activity he or she loves will bring you closer together. At best, you may create some indelible memories.

Brett Trout

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The Guidelines
The FTC does not have the power to make laws. What it does have is the power to enforce the very broad Section 5 of the FTC Act. In short, Section 5 of the FTC Act makes it illegal to involve oneself in any unfair or deceptive trade practices. The new guidelines state that the FTC will now begin pursuing certain endorsements and testimonials. On the testimonial side, “results not typical” will no longer be enough. You will have to state what the typical results actually are. Of greater concern to bloggers is the endorsement side of the new guidelines. The FTC will now be taking a much closer look at any social media advertising message which consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser, even if the views expressed by that party are identical to those of the sponsoring advertiser.

Endorser/Seller Connections
The portion of the new guidelines that has bloggers up in arms is 16 CFR Section 255.5. If there is a connection between and endorser of a product and a seller of that product, and the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience, the connection must be fully disclosed. But what constitutes “connection,” “reasonable expectation” and “full disclosure”?

Connections/Expectations/Disclosure
What long-time bloggers think are reasonable expectations, what their readers think are reasonable expectations and what the FTC thinks those readers think are reasonable expectations may very well be three different things. Bloggers take for granted that everyone knows the book they reviewed was a free copy. They assume everyone understands that when readers click on the picture of the book and get sent to Amazon to buy it, that the blogger receives a small percentage of that sale. It might surprise you, but most people don’t know that. What matters is your audience. If you write a blog about marketing for marketers, there is a good chance your readers understand these dynamics. If you write a blog about what happened on The View yesterday, your readers might not be aware of the compensation you receive in the form of freebies and affiliate links.

Fears Overblown
The FTC has come out and stated that fears over the new guidelines are overblown. The FTC states publicly that advertisers and bloggers are in no immediate danger of being sued or fined over the new guidelines. The FTC will focus on the most egregious violators first. Before suing anyone, the FTC will send a cease and desist letter. Violators who ignore that cease and desist letter however, might be well-advised to compile a large sum of expendable cash and engage a good lawyer with lots of federal courtroom experience.

So Am I Good Until I Get the Cease and Desist Letter?
While the FTC states it has not present plans to bring federal lawsuits over inadvertent violations of the new guidelines, you do not want to be the focus of an FTC investigation. Once you come up on the FTC’s radar, you might be on it for quite some time. A more immediate concern might be state Attorneys General enforcing soon to be state adopted versions of the new guidelines, often called “tiny FTCs.” These tiny FTCs mirror the federal guidelines, but often allow for state Attorney General or even private enforcement. Being on the business end of a tiny FTC lawsuit will likely cost your company far more than a federal FTC fine.

What to Do
Read the new guidelines, read the examples provided therein and do not try pushing the envelope, at least until the scope of enforcement becomes clearer. Did you get a free copy of the book you are reviewing? Disclose it. Did you get a free MP3 player that you reviewed and honestly liked? Send the free one back to the sponsor and go out and buy one. Do you get paid through affiliate links? Disclose it on every page, in clear language that does not require scrolling or clicking to read.

Follow and Adapt
Over the next year, a clearer picture will develop as to how the FTC and courts interpret the new guidelines and how Section 5 of the FTC Act applies to bloggers. Until that time, bloggers are strongly cautioned not to make themselves a test case. While the rest of us bloggers will certainly appreciate the clarity your sacrifice will bring to interpreting the new guidelines, we are all going to miss you.

Brett Trout

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Taking Candy From a Baby
Charged with protecting your most sensitive documents, law firms often lag far behind other industries when it comes to identifying holes in their online security. Even if some lawyers realize their lack of technological savvy makes them a hacker’s dream, most erroneously believe their internal information technology department will save them from themselves. Unfortunately, a security system has not yet been developed to withstand the unstoppable force that is a lawyer’s unmitigated hubris. A spear phishing email directed to a clueless attorney can circumvent even a law firm’s most stalwart defenses.

The Scam
According to the Associated Press (AP), the FBI has just issued an advisory warning of “noticeable increases” in law firm cyber attacks. Hackers are growing increasingly aware that lawyers are soft targets. The value of lawyers’ stored digital wealth often greatly outweighs the security measures in place to protect it. Most worrisome, the AP article notes hackers target patent attorneys in particular to gain access to their huge storehouse of sensitive documents. Hackers know that conscripting a lawyer as an unwitting “inside man” is a fast track toward defeating even the most advanced online security system.

What Can You Do?
Your company’s sensitive legal documents are only as safe as the weakest link at your law firm. Ask your attorney if you can access the internet from their office. Does he or she allow you access through their network, or through a separate system not connected to their internal network? Ask your attorney about the law firm’s internal security procedures to protect your digital information. What kind of ongoing training do they receive to keep apprised of the latest cyber attacks? The answers to these questions will let you know how soundly you should be sleeping at night.

Brett Trout

(HT Tom Flynn)

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State Street
Back in 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in State Street that a computer programmed with novel software is patentable even if the output is merely numbers. The State Street ruling led to a deluge of business method patent applications. Not having any previous business method patents against which to vet the new applications, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted business method applications which covered many things already in the prior art. The USPTO then retracted, delaying the processing of business method patents for years before eventually rejecting them. Bilski’s was one of the patents rejected. He appealed the USPTO’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).

Machine or Transformation Test
The Federal Circuit affirmed the USPTO’s decision, creating the “machine or transformation” (MoT) test. In a nutshell, the MoT test states that to be eligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101, a “process” must be tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or transform a particular article into a different state or thing. Bilski appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in what may be a watershed moment in patent law.

Bilski’s Argument
Bilski argues that the CAFC’s MoT test violates the congressional intent embodied in the broad language of 35 U.S.C. §101 and unduly restricts protection of emerging technologies in the information age. Additionally, in response to State Street, Congress enacted 35 U.S.C. §273. §273 insulates entities from patent infringement liability if they were practicing a third party’s patented business method at least one year before the effective filing date of the patent. Bilski argues that since Congress specifically recognized business method patent protection in 35 U.S.C. §273, Congress must have intended 35 U.S.C. §101 to include business methods as patentable subject matter. Finally, Bilski argues that the MoT test would disrupt public policy and settled expectations. Trillions of dollars of property expectations hinge on the ruling.

Bilski’s Oral Argument
J. Michael Jakes represented Bilski and Malcolm L. Stewart represented David Kappos, Director of the USPTO. Minutes into Mr. Jake’s argument, Justice Scalia questioned Mr. Jakes why invention cannot be defined to be machines and inventions. Justice Scalia used the creations of Lorenzo Jones and Dale Carnegie as examples of what the USPTO defines as patentable and non-patentable subject matter. Apparently, Lorenzo Jones was a character in a radio show which aired 1937-1955. Jones, an auto mechanic, was constantly inventing wild mechanical devices. Later in the argument, Mr. Jakes noted “But today the raw materials are just as likely to be information or electronic signals, and to simply root us in the industrial era because that’s what we knew I think would be wrong and contrary to the forward-looking aspect of patent law.”

The Justices presented Mr. Jakes with many hypotheticals. From Justice Ginsberg’s method of picking a jury to Justice Sotomayor’s speed dating to Justice Breyer’s “fabulous” method of teaching antitrust law, Mr. Jakes responded that while many of the hypotheticals met the test of patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101, they would likely be invalid as obvious under 35 U.S.C. §101. The vetting of those inventions argued Mr. Jakes, should take place at the the threshold of obviousness, not patentability. While Justice Sotomayor definitely stated no ruling in Bilski would change the State Street case, many of the Justices felt uneasy with the concept of converting a method from patent intelligible to patent eligible simply by throwing it on a computer.

Government’s Oral Argument
Chief Justice Roberts questioned Mr. Stewart on the written brief. The Chief Justice asked why a single footnote in government’s brief did not undermine the previous 53 pages of argument. The footnote stated that while the Bilski process was unpatentable, it may be patentable if executed on a computer. The Chief Justice analogized this to a process being unpatenable until you typed it out on a typewriter. One particularly troubling statement came from Chief Justice Roberts in which he said “if you punched in in [sic] your search station, you know, give me all the bakers in Washington, that would make it patentable?” I assume the Chief Justice was referring to a search “engine.” While my own limitations make me the last pundit on verbal missteps, I do not think I would ever make this particular mistake. If the Chief Justice was indeed referring to a search engine, the use of “station” instead would seem to indicate an unfamiliarity with current technology. Admittedly, I am a geek, but I suspect neither my mother, nor my daughter would make this mistake either.

Analysis
While it is good to know Bilski will not be overruling State Street, some of the other comments made by the Justices during oral argument are a little concerning. The fate of future technology development rests in the hands of decision makers whose frame of reference is radio characters from the 50’s, typewriters and search “stations.” I realize the Supreme Court Justices are some of the keenest minds on the planet. I just hope that they are keen enough to elicit input from advisers not only knowledgeable about Xbox, Google, eBay and the iPhone, but how these technologies and technologies like them will, or will not, shape our future, depending upon the ultimate decision in Bilski.

A ruling is not expected until 2010.

Brett Trout

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Now I realize the foregoing description already has you on the phone to the Des Moines Playhouse ordering tickets, but there is more. Aaron Sorkin, the playwright who penned A Few Good Men, The West Wing and Sports Night also wrote The Farnsworth Invention. The depth and complexity of the subject matter obviously makes the play a little more inaccessible than most, but Sorkin throws in just enough humor and adult language to keep the non-geeks in the audience interested in the story. While some of the cast at the dress rehearsal seemed to be still sorting out their roles, Michael Davenport did a flawless job as David Sarnoff, narrating the action from Farnsworth’s childhood, up until his eventual death.

While the play is not entirely historically accurate, Sorkin manipulates only those facts necessary to add gravitas and more firmly place the audience in Farnsworth’s shoes. This play examines the invention and patent battles of the most influential device of modern times. It is a must see for geeks, nerds, scientists, inventors, patent lawyers and anyone with a curiosity about how one of the world’s most influential inventions almost never came to be.

Brett Trout

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