Intellectual Property Directions

When They Really Meant “Reduction-to-Practice”

Bruce — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:33:31 +0000

An interesting-sounding exhibit at Harvard. I’m not a big fan of the PTO and today’s patent examiners but I have to admit their job has become more difficult over the years since the PTO was established. One thing that has made their job harder is only having a written description of the invention in front of [...]

Copyrighting the Aggressively Vapid

Bruce — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:07:09 +0000

In “Why Can’t the English [teach their children how to speak]?” Henry Higgins observes that the French don’t care what they say “as long as they pronounce it properly”. So too, when it comes to copyrights it seems it doesn’t matter if the content has any value… as long as you use your own words. [...]

RIAA’s sledgehammer OK

Bruce — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:22:15 +0000

Sheri Qualters reports in the National Law Journal on Monday that Judge Nancy Gertner dismissed defendant Joel Tenenbaum’s counterclaim argument that the record industry’s lawsuits to stop parties downloading and distributing copyrighted works is an “abuse of process”. Tenenbaum’s argument, apparently, was that the RIAA campaign is focused at students and other young people who cannot afford attorneys. [...]