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
SOPA and PIPA Are Bad
2012-01-18 22:13:00 There seems to be some confusion on this issue, so let me make it clear. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are bad. They are bad for you, bad for me, bad for anyone with a blog, a Facebook profile, or any other type of website. SOPA and ...
SOPA ? This New Censorship Bill is a Job Killer
2011-11-17 21:49:00 SOPA Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the deceptively named Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) introduced the bill on October 26, 2011 as H.R.3261. SOPA expands the Internet censorship provisions of the Protect IP Act, a bill Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) shepherded into law earlier this year. These ... More About: Censorship , General , Killer
Should I Get A Patent?
2011-11-14 22:24:00 What You Say vs. What Your Patent Lawyer Hears Clients ask me all the time, “Should I get a patent?” While that is certainly the most important question an inventor can ask of a patent lawyer, most patent lawyers answer this question incorrectly. A “Can I” patent question is right in the patent lawyer’s wheelhouse. ...
The Mobile Patent Wars ? Google, Microsoft and Apple
2011-11-07 19:22:00 Google “[O]ne of the most effective ways to respond to a threatened patent assertion is to be able to assert patents of your own,” says Google’s patent lawyer, Tim Porter. Porter made that statement in response to a question about why Google was still buying up patents. Despite Google’s recent patent acquisitions, Porter believes “the ... More About: Google , Mobile , Apple , Microsoft , Wars
What Inventors Need to Know About The New Patent Law
2011-11-01 23:43:00 Touted as a boon for inventors, the “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,” (AIA) the largest patent overhaul in over a century, is looking more and more like a boon for patent lawyers. So what are the key changes, and how do they affect you. First to file The first-to-file provision of AIA moves the United States ... More About: Inventors
The Flyover Effect ? Trademarks, Patents and The Rebel Alliance
2011-09-19 19:19:00 If you have never heard my voice, or if you have and you are dying to hear me wax philosophic on the wonders of intellectual property law, check out the latest episode of The Flyover Effect – Trademarks, Patents and The Rebel Alliance . Tags: best lawyer
Trout Selected by Peers for Inclusion in the 2012 Edition of the Best Lawye
2011-09-08 17:13:00 Brett J. Trout has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice areas of Information Technology Law and Patent Law. The Best Lawyers® publication is the oldest peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession. For the past 25 years, Best Lawyers® continues to be ... More About: Inclusion
Vote If You Love Your Lawyer
2011-08-15 23:49:00 South by Southwest (SXSW) is a series of three conferences, held each Spring in Austin, Texas. Spread over ten days, each conference focuses on a different discipline: Music, Film and Interactive (Internet). Unlike most conferences, you actually have a vote on who speaks at SXSW. This year, I have thrown my hat in the ring ... More About: Love , Lawyer , General , Vote
Divorced Father Challenges Judge?s Order to Shut Down His Blog
2011-08-09 19:38:00 ThePsychoExWife.com 42-year-old father of two, Anthony Morelli, is the author of a blog called The Psycho Ex-Wife. The blog, which receives 200,000 visitors a month, does not mention Morelli’s name, the name of his ex-wife, Allison Morelli, or either of their two children. Morelli’s ex-wife ran across the website while researching child support issues and ... More About: Judge , Blog , Father
Copyright Law ? The Government vs. The People
2011-07-22 23:54:00 The Indictment of Aaron Swartz United States federal prosecutors indicted 24 year-old Harvard Fellow, Aaron Swartz on charges of wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer, recklessly damaging a protected computer and aiding and abetting. Read the full indictment here. What was Mr. Swartz’s alleged crime, for which he faces up ... More About: Government , People , Copyright
Falling in Love with Your Lawyer
2011-07-18 19:59:00 What can you say about a five-year old company that died? That it was honest and worked hard? That it never fell in love with a good lawyer? Finding a lawyer to love may be intimidating, but someday you are going to have to come up with the courage to admit you care. Don’t fall ... More About: Love , Lawyer
The Latest Threat To Cloud Security
2011-06-23 22:45:00 The Latest Threat to Data Security One of the biggest concerns with storing information on the cloud is data security. In the past, companies only had to worry about theft by hackers. Today, savvy businesses are becoming aware of a new threat, to even the most secure cloud storage system. This new threat is the ... More About: Patriot Act , Cloud
Should I Patent My Invention?
2011-06-08 17:26:00 The Number One Question “Should I Patent My Invention ?” is typically the first question I get from new inventors. Unfortunately, even the best patent lawyer in the world cannot answer this question for them. The question is a business question, not a legal question. It is not a question your patent lawyer should be answering. ...
Raid On Seal Team Six Trademarks
2011-05-25 21:09:00 Filing Fury On May 3, 2011, two days after the elite Seal Team Six took down Osama bin Laden, Disney sought to capitalize on the event by filing various federal trademark applications for “SEAL Team 6,” as used in association with clothing, toys, games, entertainment and education services. Ten days later, the Department of the ...
How Failing to Secure Your Wireless Router Can Get You Thrown Facedown On Y
2011-04-25 14:13:00 Getting a Gun Pointed at You For Failing to Secure Your Router As reported in Reason, at 6:20am seven federal agents broke down the door of a Buffalo homeowner, waking him and his wife. Shouting “pedophile!” and “pornographer!” the federal agents trained their assault weapons on the innocent man. According to the man’s lawyer, Barry ... More About: Wireless
Are Your Photos Telling Cyberstalkers Where You Are?
2011-01-19 19:35:00 Modern smart phones are all equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) function. Many cameras and smartphones use this GPS function to encode your photos with what are called geotags. Geotags are little bits of data attached to the photograph, that reveal the latitude and longitude of where the photo was taken. While this information ... More About: Photos
Central Iowa Bloggers Meeting Downtown Des Moines This Friday
2011-01-06 17:56:00 Come join the newest Central Iowa Bloggers (#CIB) meeting Friday morning at Panera in Downtown Des Moines (215 10th Street, First Floor of the Davis Brown Tower). The event runs from 7-9am, but you can expect the biggest crowd around 8am. If you are a Central Iowa Blogger, Des Moines Tweeter, Facebook aficionado ...
Amazon Patents Method for Converting Bad Gifts to Good Gifts
2010-12-27 18:50:00 In a move that must have Emily Post spinning in her grave, Amazon has patented a “System and Method For Converting Gifts .” The System allows you to convert that piano scarf Aunt Mildred bought you into a Blu-ray box set of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, before you even see the scarf. The patent also ... More About: Good , Patents
Warner Brothers Admits Yogi Bear Video Likely a Protected Work of Parody
2010-12-14 16:36:00 What at first glance might look like a viral marketing campaign for the new Yogi Bear movie, soon reveals itself as a dark parody by 25 year-old animator Edmund Earle. The video recreates the climax of the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with Yogi as Jesse James and Boo ... More About: Video , Parody , Brothers , Work , Warner
Congress Back To Censoring Internet
2010-11-17 19:20:00 Congress Back to Business as Usual Now that the elections are over, Congress can get back to the job of censoring the internet. The kerfuffle over the TSA taking naked pictures of you and/or giving you a groin pat-down has to come as a welcome voter distraction for those lawmakers bent on ramming S. 3804: ... More About: Congress , Internet
The Perfect Holiday Gift
2010-11-09 20:38:00 Have you been looking high and low for that perfect gift for that internet/tech/business person on your list? If so, then look no further. Cyberlaw: A Legal Arsenal for Online Business is a critically acclaimed bestseller, covering everything from domain names to digital signatures. While not legal advice, Cyberlaw guides you through the maze of ... More About: Holiday , Gift , Perfect
U.S. DOJ Reverses Policy ? Now Argues Genes Should Not be Eligible for Pate
2010-10-30 21:02:00 About Face As reported in the New York Times, while the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is maintaining its position that modified genes should be patentable, it pulled a 180 Friday regarding naturally occurring, unmodified genes. In an amicus curiae brief the DOJ stated “Genomic DNA itself, however, is a product of nature that is ... More About: Policy
Leonard Boswell Backs Internet Companies Over the People of Iowa
2010-10-25 18:43:00 I recently wrote that Senator Charles Grassley is no friend to the Internet , choosing instead to run “roughshod over freedom of speech on the internet.? To be fair, Republicans hold no monopoly on using elected position to abuse the Internet. Leonard Boswell is just as bad, if not worse, than Charles Grassley when ... More About: Companies , People , Iowa
School District Agrees to Pay $600K For Using School Laptops to Spy on Stud
2010-10-12 17:05:00 Lower Merion School District Assistant Principal Lindy Matsko used remotely activated school issued webcams to spy on students. When she noticed 15 year-old student Blake Robbins in his home with something in his hands, Ms. Matsko used photographs taken using the webcam to accuse Mr. Robbins of selling drugs. Robbin’s stated the “drugs” were actually ... More About: Laptops
Apple Found Liable For Patent Infringement to The Tune of $625 million
2010-10-05 15:59:00 Last Friday, a Tyler Texas jury found Apple liable for infringing three patents, awarding the patent owner, Mirror World, $208.5 million for each violation. Mirror World’s patents cover document streaming technology for organizing and displaying information and two document stream operating systems. Mirror World had alleged infringement of its patents by three of Apple’s technologies. ... More About: Infringement
Senator Charles Grassley Is No Friend To The Internet
2010-10-01 18:53:00 From Bad to Worse Senator Charles Grassley has repeatedly failed to sponsor Net Neutrality legislation that would guarantee you, not your internet service provider, decide which websites you can visit. His latest stunning move however, makes you long for the days when he simply turned his back on defending your internet rights. Senator Grassley ... More About: Internet , Friend , The Internet
Are Your Facebook Postings Private? It Depends Upon Where You Live.
2010-09-29 22:05:00 Forbes blogger Kashmir Hill has noted some discrepancies in just how judges around the country treat the information you post on Facebook and other social media platforms for purposes of discovery at trial. In California, your Facebook private postings are private, in New York, they are not. Interpreting the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 ... More About: Live , Private
Newly Patented Escalator Not Limited By Straight Lines
2010-09-28 19:28:00 Named for its inventor Jack Levy, the Levytator escalator reduces redundancy, by carrying people up and down on a single track. Patented in the United States, Europe and China, the Levytator is also capable of bending around curves, opening up the possibility of moving sidewalks capable of turning corners and accommodating changes in elevation. ...
Apple Patent Application Hints at Phone Calls With Your iPod?
2010-09-22 18:10:00 According to Patently Apple , Apple’s newly published patent application reveals an “Accessory Transceiver,” which allows an iPod to make phone calls. The iPod connects to the Accessory Transceiver either wirelessly or via a hardwired connection and allows the iPod to connect to multiple mobile phone networks. The Accessory Transceiver may also be used with Androids, ... More About: Phone , Ipod , Calls , Hints
Perpetual Motion Machines
More articles from this author:2010-09-21 20:01:00 As a patent attorney, I have always wanted a perpetual motion machine. Oh, I realize they do not exist, but the failed attempts are rife with both intricacy and artistry. Given my line of work, I see perpetual machines as art, rather than inventions. An inventor in Southwest England claims to have invented ... More About: Machines , Motion 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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