The Invent Blog®

Firefox extension for cut/paste Westlaw/Lexis citations

nipper — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:42:16 +0000

I rarely use Westlaw/Lexis, but the CiteGenie FireFox extension could be really useful for those of you whom do.

As their website points out:

Cutting and pasting when doing legal research using your browser is simple. But having to construct the citation for what you pasted is not so simple. This is especially true with legal citations from sources like Westlaw. You have to stop and copy the case name separately, determine the pinpoint page numbers, and adjust the date and court name format.

So I decided to write a browser plugin that would automatically add a pinpoint citation to the text I copy and paste.

Tech Tip of the Day — Archive.org and FireFox Extension Many of us use www.archive.org’s “Internet Archive Wayback Machine” for...
Open Sourcing PACER Documents via a FireFox Extension If you use PACER often, you might really like the...
FireFox I really dig the Internet browser called FireFox. It blocks...

Google adds free legal case law research

nipper — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:16:53 +0000

Via this article: Free Legal Research by Google & What It Means : My Shingle, Google has released the ability to search case law for free, including state case law. UNREAL.

To test it out, use this URL: http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search?hl=en&as_sdt=2000. Scroll towards the bottom to select “Legal opinions and journals.”

This day was probably something the “other” case law providers have dreaded for a while (ergo why they have spent so many resources diversifying their offerings beyond just case law…).

UPDATE. See also:

Rick Klau at Google on: US Caselaw in Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Texas blog on Google Wades into Free Legal Research

Patent Case Law Portal Adds Amazing Search Functions You’ve GOT to like what Matt Buchanan is doing over...
Case law should be free — let’s free SCOTUS patent cases I am a big fan of public.resource.org’s quest of making...
IP caselaw research… If you are a junkie for breaking IP caselaw and...

Wikis and Law Firms

nipper — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:49:21 +0000

Some useful articles/posts on wikis and law firms:

Book recommendation: Kennedy/Mighell’s The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together

IP Today survey of Top Patent Firms Every year IP Today magazine (a great resource) surveys IP...
Top Trademark Firms Survey – Due April 9, 2009 If you want your Firm to be included in IP...
Wikipedia on Invention Promotion Firms There’s a Wikipedia entry for everything…including invention promotion firms. ...

Tech Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar

nipper — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:51:28 +0000

Here’s a link to my law practice management article in the November/December issue of The Advocate (the official publication of the Idaho State Bar) on “Technology Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar.”

Idaho, Law Practice Management and Blawgs Posting has been a bit light here for the past...
Free Law Practice Management Tips The ABA’s Law Practice Management Section has a monthly online...
Idaho Universities and Patents Earlier today the USPTO released its list of top...

My favorite quote from the Bilski v Kappos SCOTUS oral arguments

nipper — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:08:47 +0000

Most of the other patent blogs have been covering the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Bilski v. Kappos case. [e.g., Patently-O]

My favorite quote from the case comes from Justice Scalia (page 16 of the pdf):

You know, you mention that there are all these — these new areas that didn’t exist in the past because of modern business and what-not, but there are also areas that existed in the past that don’t exist today. Let’s take training horses. Don’t you think that — that some people, horse whisperers or others, had some, you know, some insights into the best way to train horses? And that should have been patentable on your theory.

It’s a great comment/question (…that “business methods” aren’t necessarily a “new” phenomenon).

See also this post on the IPBiz blog and my comment there.

See also this post on the Oxford University Press blog by Charles R. Macedo on Yes Justice Scalia, There Were Patents Relating To Training Horses in the 1890s; But More Importantly, We Need Them Today.

Oral Arguments Scheduled in USPTO Fee Diversion Case Heath W. Hoglund (patent attorney) sent me the following via...
New favorite blog I’ve got a new favorite blog (which I need to...
IP Paralegal / Legal Assistant Training? Question to my readers: Are there any IP Paralegal/Legal Assistant...

USPTO Director Kappos’ Blog

nipper — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:23:03 +0000

David Kappos, Director of the USPTO is now publicly blogging! See: http://www.uspto.gov/blog/. I look forward to reading his posts.

The fact that USPTO.gov has RSS feeds (for the blog) now is VERY exciting. Now, if they’d only provide RSS feeds for the “News and Notices” page contents (e.g., press releases, OG notices, Federal Register notices). Hint hint hint.

I wonder if they’ll take the @USPTO Twitter account off Buchanan’s hands. Honestly, if he’d/they’d use it, I’d rename my blog’s Twitter account, freeing up the @patent Twitter account for him (and/or the Office).

USPTO “Second” Notice – Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Register notice: Changes to Representation of Others Before the...
Federal Register notice re: USPTO ethics Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent...
USPTO News — automatically sent to you Over at rethink(ip) we had a recent post on RSS...

Podcast recommendation: Grammar Girl

nipper — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:09:17 +0000

As science majors, patent attorneys/agents aren’t typically thought of as being masters of the English language, particularly with respect to using correct grammar. Solution: start taking short grammar lessons by listening to the Grammar Girl podcast (subtitled “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing”). Plus, it is highly entertaining.

A couple of episodes my readers would find interesting:

Comprise vs. Compose. An excellent explanation of the term “comprise” and its “proper” meaning according to the grammar police, and how the phrase “is comprised of” is actually horrible grammar (use “comprises” instead). Disclaimer: for the record, while Grammar Girl discusses the “proper” use of “comprise,” when I use it in drafting claims I use “comprise” in an open ended manner as is customary in patent claim drafting.
How to Write a Complaint Letter. Excellent tips for complaint letters that directly translates to cease and desist letters (where the intent is to settle the dispute).

A list of episodes can be found here.

Blog Recommendation: Mysticgeek’s Realm A new (to me) blog I’ve been reading lately is...
Better rename the rethink(ip) “podcast” Marty Schwimmer points out that someone has filed a trademark...
Disclaimer What is a lawyer’s webpage or weblog without a disclaimer?...

Google Wave Tips and Tricks

nipper — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:15:23 +0000

A group of my local (Boise) geek friends have been using Google Wave to share Google Wave tips and tricks with one another was we each kick Wave’s tires. Here are some of the most useful tips/tricks that have come out of that ongoing conversation:

1. The “Files” button in the lower right doesn’t work unless someone has already uploaded a file. The “Files” button is not used to upload files (yes, very illogical). To upload a file, you need to click on the paperclip icon. Note: you can’t see the paperclip icon until after you start a new reply or are otherwise in “edit mode.”

2. If you add an image (Tip 1 above), a separate button for Images shows up next to the Files button. Perhaps the Files button shouldn’t be visible until after there is at least one file…

3. The first line of the first message (aka “blip”) you type in a wave…becomes the title of the wave. Having a nonsensical wave title is frustrating when you are looking for a wave amongst a list of waves. Yes, you can go back and edit the first blip to make a better title.

4. In a “wave” you’ll have a number of threaded conversations. Each conversation is a “wavelet.” Each message in a wavelet is a “blip.” See this Mashable post for a more thorough explanation.

5. If you push the “Reply” button in the upper toolbar, you start a new wavelet. .

6. If you mouse over the bottom of a wavelet window that no one else has responded to, you receive the option of “Continue this thread.”

7. If you mouse over the junction between the two blips in the wavelet, you receive the option of “insert reply here.”

8. If you double click in the middle of a blip you can insert an inline reply.

I’m sure those tips are just the tip of the iceberg…

Update: A video worth watching:

Google Wave and the practice of IP law Perhaps the biggest tech buzz this last week was Google’s...
Dual Monitors, tips and tricks Excellent post on LifeHacker.com regarding how to “Make the Most...
Homann via NFTLU on “Five Indispensable Tips for Law Students and New Lawyers” Matt Homann, subing for Evan Schaeffer on his “Notes from...

Patenting Schrödinger’s cat

nipper — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:02:44 +0000

Not quite Schrödinger’s cat, but close. I won’t spoil it for you…see the 12:01 Tuesday patent blog post Be All You Can’t Be: Army Patent Ambushed by Friendly Fire for the story.

Patenting Legal Methods Interesting… Attached for your consideration is The Patent Office Meets...

To Staple, or Not to Staple?

nipper — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:53:34 +0000

Nom nom nom nom

My office is slowing going paperless, doing a number of things including scanning all paper files to PDF when we close them.

One little insight that those of you whom are not yet paperless should consider: staples.

To scan a file to PDF, all papers in it must first be unstapled. The kicker is that the task of unstapling the file takes almost as much labor as scanning the file. Believe it, or not.

Thus, even if you know you are years (or decades) from going paperless, it makes sense to institute an “Everyone Should Use Less Staples” policy. Before you staple something together that is going to be tacked down in the file, ask “do I really need to staple it?” If no…don’t. For things that must be stapled together…staple away!

Staples is looking for office product inventions Have a client with an invention related to office products? ...