Blawg ITBlawg ITOngoing discussion of legal aspects of the online world. Blawg IT analyzes the very latest patent, copyright, trademark and licensing issues that affect you and your company. Blogging since 2003, Brett Trout is a registered patent attorney and author 
Articles
Easter Patents
2009-04-09 23:54:00 For some reason, people cannot get enough Easter patents. Last year’s post on Easter Patents brought ten times my normal traffic. For that, I would like to extend my gratitude. Not that I would ever want to meet up with this apparently rather odd and eclectic Easter patent crowd in person, but I do enjoy ...
All Media is Social Media
2009-03-30 19:51:00 Social Media You say you don not need to worry about Social Media because you do not use it? Whether you like it or not, if you are not careful, you just might find yourself an unwilling Social Media chew toy. “Social Media,” a buzz word for several years, has resurged with platforms like Twitter . What ... More About: Social
Is Your Teenager Sexting?
2009-03-15 20:25:00 Sexting Sexting is the latest phenomenon getting teenagers into trouble. It can lead to shame, humiliation, cyberstalking, bullying, felony criminal charges, sex-offender registration and even suicide. Sexting involves sending lewd text or pictures electronically to someone over a mobile phone or computer. Sexting often starts with a teenage girl sending a nude or semi-nude picture of ... More About: Teenager
Top 10 Ways To Get Fired By Your Lawyer
2009-03-04 23:13:00 Fired by your lawyer? Seems like an odd concept. Won’t a lawyer take any client willing to pay? Indeed some will. The best ones will not. Life is simply too short. If you treat your lawyer like a commodity, you run the risk of losing the most important part of the attorney/client relationship. Even if ... More About: Lawyer , Fired
Don?t Treat Your Lawyer Like a Button
2009-02-21 22:36:00 Recently, User Interface Engineering posted an insightful article on how a company generated additional revenue by adding a single button to its website. The company had been requiring customers to provide an email address and create a password before making a purchase. The thinking was that the registration would allow new and returning customers ... More About: Lawyer , Button , Treat
Top 25 Patent Blogs
2009-02-20 16:41:00 Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog has painstakingly combed Technorati for the top ranked patent blogs. He personally reviewed all of the blogs to weed out those which only occasionally discussed patents. Per Gene, all the following patent blogs easily rate in the top 1% of all blogs on the Web indexed by Technorati: Patent ly-O - ... More About: Blogs
Do I Need a Patent?
2009-02-16 16:51:00 Ask a patent attorney whether you need a patent and he or she will likely stare at you like you just asked them if they need a new Jet Ski. Despite possessing a wealth of knowledge about what patents are and what they do, most patent attorneys simply do not have enough information to determine ... More About: Patent
Top 10 African American Inventors
2009-02-12 16:25:00 In honor of Black history month, I have compiled a list of what I think, are the top African -American inventors of all time. I have also included a representative patent along with each inventor. Since Thomas L. Jennings became the first African American to receive a patent in 1821, black inventors have made enormous contributions ... More About: Inventors , African-American
Top 10 African American Inventors
2009-02-12 16:25:00 In honor of Black history month, I have compiled a list of what I think, are the top African -American inventors of all time. I have also included a representative patent along with each inventor. Since Thomas L. Jennings became the first African American to receive a patent in 1821, black inventors have made enormous contributions ... More About: Inventors , Top Ten
Almost nothing has been invented yet ?
2009-02-11 19:20:00 People continue to erroneously attribute the following quote to former Director of U.S. Patent Office, Charles H. Duell: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Far from everything having been invented, we are only scratching the surface. The more we invent, the more others expand upon those ideas. We are continuously standing on the shoulders ...
Almost nothing has been invented yet ?
2009-02-11 19:20:00 People continue to erroneously attribute the following quote to former Director of U.S. Patent Office, Charles H. Duell: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Far from everything having been invented, we are only scratching the surface. The more we invent, the more others expand upon those ideas. We are continuously standing on the shoulders ...
The Best Lawyer in the World
2009-02-10 21:09:00 I have written several posts on how to choose the best lawyer in the world. Since that time, lawyers have been posting information about themselves faster than they ever have before. The quest can at times seem overwhelming. To make the search easier, I recommend dividing it into two parts: 1) obtain recommendations; and 2) ... More About: World , Lawyer , The World
The Best Lawyer in the World
2009-02-10 21:09:00 I have written several posts on how to choose the best lawyer in the world. Since that time, lawyers have been posting information about themselves faster than they ever have before. The quest can at times seem overwhelming. To make the search easier, I recommend dividing it into two parts: 1) obtain recommendations; and 2) ... More About: World , Lawyer , The World
ESPN Threatens to Take Down the Internet
2009-02-06 22:27:00 It may seem like an overstatement of the issue, but it is not. Even if ESPN fails at singlehandedly taking down the internet, the mechanisms it seeks to set in place most certainly will. Most troubling is that people will not even know it is a problem until it is too late to do anything ... More About: Internet , The Internet , Espn
ESPN Threatens to Take Down the Internet
2009-02-06 22:27:00 It may seem like an overstatement of the issue, but it is not. Even if ESPN fails at singlehandedly taking down the internet, the mechanisms it seeks to set in place most certainly will. Most troubling is that people will not even know it is a problem until it is too late to do anything ... More About: Internet , The Internet , Espn
Will the Supreme Court grant Bilski cert.?
2009-01-30 00:07:00 In my last post on the Bilski case I noted that The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) is pretty much the ?supreme court? of patents. The reason I wrote “pretty much” is that the Supreme Court is still the Supreme Court, and may overrule the CAFC at its discretion. In response to the ... More About: Grant , Cert
Will the Supreme Court grant Bilski cert.?
2009-01-30 00:07:00 In my last post on the Bilski case I noted that The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) is pretty much the ?supreme court? of patents. The reason I wrote “pretty much” is that the Supreme Court is still the Supreme Court, and may overrule the CAFC at its discretion. In response to ... More About: Grant , Cert
Six Things Your Company Needs to Know About Internet Law
2009-01-27 19:04:00 Few companies know as much as they should about Internet law. Every company runs across its share of scammers, disgruntled employees and lawsuits. How often a company sidesteps trouble and how often a company gets left holding the bag, often comes down to which side knows more about the laws affecting the Internet and which ... More About: Company , Things
Six Things Your Company Needs to Know About Internet Law
2009-01-27 19:04:00 Few companies know as much as they should about Internet law. Every company runs across its share of scammers, disgruntled employees and lawsuits. How often a company sidesteps trouble and how often a company gets left holding the bag, often comes down to which side knows more about the laws affecting the Internet and which ... More About: Company , Things
Have Large Law Firms Met Their Waterloo?
2009-01-14 18:48:00 The list of large law firms laying off lawyers and support staff is snowballing. As one commentator put it “when times are so lean that the frivolous money-wasting starts to detract from desired partner distributions, then firms start to cut the crap and make some real business decisions.” At the same time large law firms ... More About: Waterloo , Firms , Large
Have Large Law Firms Met Their Waterloo?
2009-01-14 18:48:00 The list of large law firms laying off lawyers and support staff is snowballing. As one commentator put it “when times are so lean that the frivolous money-wasting starts to detract from desired partner distributions, then firms start to cut the crap and make some real business decisions.” At the same time large law firms ... More About: Waterloo , Firms , Large
Ten Things You Did Not Know About Patents
2009-01-06 22:32:00 There are very few things people have heard more, but know less, about than patents. Nearly every infomercial touts its product as “patented” or “patent pending,” but what does that mean? Are patents easy to get? If you change 25 percent of the invention, can you avoid infringing a patent? When is a patent “pending”? Misinformation ... More About: Things , Patents
Ten Things You Did Not Know About Patents
2009-01-06 22:32:00 There are very few things people have heard more, but know less, about than patents. Nearly every infomercial touts its product as “patented” or “patent pending,” but what does that mean? Are patents easy to get? If you change 25 percent of the invention, can you avoid infringing a patent? When is a patent “pending”? Misinformation ... More About: Things , Patents
Defamation 2.0
2009-01-02 18:40:00 Defamation Defamation is defined by state laws, which vary from state to state. Generally, defamation is defined as a false, published statement, which harms someone’s reputation. It is these three elements: Falsity, Publication and Harm, which qualify a statement as defamatory. Written defamatory statements are referred to as Libel, and spoken defamatory ... More About: Defamation
Defamation 2.0
2009-01-02 18:40:00 Defamation Defamation is defined by state laws, which vary from state to state. Generally, defamation is defined as a false, published statement, which harms someone’s reputation. It is these three elements: Falsity, Publication and Harm, which qualify a statement as defamatory. Written defamatory statements are referred to as Libel, and spoken defamatory ... More About: Defamation
Defamation 2.0
2009-01-02 18:40:00 Defamation Defamation is defined by state laws, which vary from state to state. Generally, defamation is defined as a false, published statement, which harms someone’s reputation. It is these three elements: Falsity, Publication and Harm, which qualify a statement as defamatory. Written defamatory statements are referred to as Libel, and spoken defamatory ... More About: Defamation
Can you resell your MP3s?
2008-12-18 21:14:00 Under the “First Sale” doctrine, you can resell copyrighted material, such as books, CDs and DVDs without violating US copyright law. But what about MP3s? While copyright law appears to give you the right to resell legitimately purchased MP3s, according to a recent post on ARS Technica, it does not seem to allow you to ...
Can you resell your MP3s?
2008-12-18 21:14:00 Under the “First Sale” doctrine, you can resell copyrighted material, such as books, CDs and DVDs without violating US copyright law. But what about MP3s? While copyright law appears to give you the right to resell legitimately purchased MP3s, according to a recent post on ARS Technica , it does not seem to allow ...
Social Media Accountjacking
2008-12-14 01:12:00 Social Networking Social networking refers to a group of individuals who make connections, or "networks" within the group, typically online. Social networks you might be familiar with include: Twitter , Facebook and MySpace . Social networks develop around commonalities, such as a geographic location or a profession. Some individuals and companies may even monetize their ... More About: Social , Media
Social Media Accountjacking
More articles from this author:2008-12-14 01:12:00 Social Networking Social networking refers to a group of individuals who make connections, or “networks” within the group, typically online. Social networks you might be familiar with include: Twitter , Facebook and MySpace . Social networks develop around commonalities, such as a geographic location or a profession. Some individuals and companies may even monetize their ... More About: Social , Media 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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