Hello Everyone, here is a link to the article which I will be talking about throughout. Groups pushing for patent reform have started to show how these patent trolls have begun targeting non-tech business as well. Some key groups have come out against the TROL act because they think that it falls short of what they want to accomplish in retribution against these patent trolls. Many are saying that this TROL act would be too ambiguous to be enforced and that it would only hurt the repeated offenders who send out these phishing letters trying to get money. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is one such group that is pushing against the trolls by collecting these demand letters on a website called Trolling Effects. An example of these trolls now branching out and targeting other fields is a company Innovatio IP which became notorious for sending out letters to chain motels and coffee shops for using WiFi which they have some sort of patent for. Overall, it is good to know that the lawmakers know that there are issues and trying to change something though it is hard to tell how far they should go and what the correct plan of action will be.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Patent Trolls Revisited
Hello Everyone, here is a link to the article which I will be talking about throughout. Groups pushing for patent reform have started to show how these patent trolls have begun targeting non-tech business as well. Some key groups have come out against the TROL act because they think that it falls short of what they want to accomplish in retribution against these patent trolls. Many are saying that this TROL act would be too ambiguous to be enforced and that it would only hurt the repeated offenders who send out these phishing letters trying to get money. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is one such group that is pushing against the trolls by collecting these demand letters on a website called Trolling Effects. An example of these trolls now branching out and targeting other fields is a company Innovatio IP which became notorious for sending out letters to chain motels and coffee shops for using WiFi which they have some sort of patent for. Overall, it is good to know that the lawmakers know that there are issues and trying to change something though it is hard to tell how far they should go and what the correct plan of action will be.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
John Oliver on Patents
Howdy,
Hello everyone, I will be talking about the Patent segment of John Oliver's show. I really enjoyed this show because it was very entertaining and hilarious but it was also quite informative in regard to patents. Despite the fact that it was funny, it is also kind of sad that this is the reality in which we live where patents can be trolled and harm innovation. Some important points of his message were that a quarter of all patent cases are decided in one small town in Texas where there is a circuit court where the trials are held. The reason for this is that it is a small town that doesn't have the highest level of experience in patent laws and are generally farmers and of high school education. Thus, they tend to skew towards the side of the small firms against the huge. This was such an issue that Samsung put an ice rink in front of the courthouse which is kind of crazy seeing how its quite hot in Texas. Another key point of his message was that the trolls have caused half a trillion dollars in damage by ruining innovation and causing large payouts for these tech firms.
Efrat Kasnik: Why Startups Don't File Patents
Hey hey hey!
The Berkeley Patent Survey of 2010 discovered the top reasons why start ups did not want to file for patents. The main reason was the cost of filing a patent. I think that this is a pretty ridiculous reason for start ups to not defend their own intellectual property. This past Tuesday, I listened to to the founders of Caviar talk about their start up and how it got off the ground. At one point, they only had 10 dollars in their corporate bank account. I can see why they might find it expensive if it costs a few thousand dollars to get it through however if they had done so and were the first to file they could have eliminated the other players in the on demand food market. The second reason was the price of enforcing the patent, which shows that they aren't in the market to be a troll but rather be an earth shattering firm that breaks into new market space. The third reason was that competitors could invent around the patent and essentially steal their idea by adding one small improvement that will then outsell them because they had to make their invention completely public. The last few are that the start ups do not want to disclose private information, believe theirs is not patentable, or that trade secrets covered them enough.
The Berkeley Patent Survey of 2010 discovered the top reasons why start ups did not want to file for patents. The main reason was the cost of filing a patent. I think that this is a pretty ridiculous reason for start ups to not defend their own intellectual property. This past Tuesday, I listened to to the founders of Caviar talk about their start up and how it got off the ground. At one point, they only had 10 dollars in their corporate bank account. I can see why they might find it expensive if it costs a few thousand dollars to get it through however if they had done so and were the first to file they could have eliminated the other players in the on demand food market. The second reason was the price of enforcing the patent, which shows that they aren't in the market to be a troll but rather be an earth shattering firm that breaks into new market space. The third reason was that competitors could invent around the patent and essentially steal their idea by adding one small improvement that will then outsell them because they had to make their invention completely public. The last few are that the start ups do not want to disclose private information, believe theirs is not patentable, or that trade secrets covered them enough.
Efrat Kasnik: Foresight Valuation Group
Hello everybody,
This past week we had a great guest lecturer Efrat Kasnik. She clearly knows about the field of patents and was a very entertaining lecturer. I like how she went over things we learned from Tal and put them in perspective with the industry. One thing directly from lecture that stuck with me was her comparison of IP Rights (Slide 8). I found this very interesting because I might try and go work for a gaming start up so its important when going into the field to determine which is the best approach to use a copyright, trademark, trade secret, or patents. The examples on the slide really make it tangible because its purpose in life. Coca-Cola is a prime example of a trade secret because the rumor has it that there are only a select few people that know the secret recipe and that they can never all be in the same room together at one time and that they never ride together in cars or even acknowledge each other. That seems pretty crazy. Trademarks are interesting because you take a company like Nike and their emblematic swoosh but anyone could really use that but now they cannot because that is their trademark and will be forever until it stops being used commercially. Copyrights are typically for artists and their work so they cannot be copied until they have passed away and 70 years have passed which is practically two lifetimes. That is why we can all use Shakespeare's work because he passed away long enough ago. All told there are a few different ways to protect your ideas.
This past week we had a great guest lecturer Efrat Kasnik. She clearly knows about the field of patents and was a very entertaining lecturer. I like how she went over things we learned from Tal and put them in perspective with the industry. One thing directly from lecture that stuck with me was her comparison of IP Rights (Slide 8). I found this very interesting because I might try and go work for a gaming start up so its important when going into the field to determine which is the best approach to use a copyright, trademark, trade secret, or patents. The examples on the slide really make it tangible because its purpose in life. Coca-Cola is a prime example of a trade secret because the rumor has it that there are only a select few people that know the secret recipe and that they can never all be in the same room together at one time and that they never ride together in cars or even acknowledge each other. That seems pretty crazy. Trademarks are interesting because you take a company like Nike and their emblematic swoosh but anyone could really use that but now they cannot because that is their trademark and will be forever until it stops being used commercially. Copyrights are typically for artists and their work so they cannot be copied until they have passed away and 70 years have passed which is practically two lifetimes. That is why we can all use Shakespeare's work because he passed away long enough ago. All told there are a few different ways to protect your ideas.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Pool Medical Patents, Save Lives
Ellen ‘T Hoen gave a TED talk about a man
who discovered he had aids and so did his 3 year old son. Since the man was
rather poor from Kenya, he could not afford the AIDS treatment to live a nice
healthy life like those in the United States because it cost 12,000 per year
USD. However, there are certain countries that do not respect US patents like India
who were willing to use their patent and create the same exact concoction for
much cheaper. Thus, the price of these AIDS drugs plummeted to 300 per year in
just two years and now cost about 60 dollars per year to continue this level of
wellbeing. This was made possible through the patent pool which allows people
in third world countries to use the patents for their own and create drugs necessary
to sustain life. Hoen never talked about how much money was spent in research
and development of these drugs which could make it tough for firms to value the
research if it can be copied by someone else the very next day.
TED: How I Beat a Patent Troll
Drew Curtis gave a talk about how he
defeated a patent troll at its own game. At the start, Curtis was confused why he
was actually getting sued and it turned out that this company had a patent that
created a way of communicating news via email and he was in violation of their
patent. In fact, Curtis’ company was not in violation but as it turns out it is
on the side of the defendant to prove that everything they have ever done does
not go against their patent instead of the firm looking for the violation. As
the lawsuit went on, Curtis asked the firm for pictures or screenshots of these
violations to which their lawyer could not provide any. On average, a patent
troll lawsuit costs 2 million dollars if you win so many people settle out of
the cases because you will spend lots of money and be forced into a NDA so no
one knows the terms. In the case of Curtis, since they were unable to provide
any direct violations, he was able to get away without paying anything besides
the lawyers’ fees to get out of it. This goes to show that it is possible to
fight a troll you just gotta stick to your guns and tell them it will be a long
nasty process for them to get a dime out of you.
TED: Embrace the Remix
Kirby Ferguson gave a TED talk about
innovation and how all things new are actually just taking something old and
changing a few small parts then putting it back out there as your own new
creation. Kirby argues that everything new is in fact a remix.
TED: Lessons from Fashion's Free Culture
Hello Everyone,
Yesterday in class we watched 6 TED talk videos that related to patents. The first I wanted to discuss was the Lessons from Fashion's Free Culture that was given by Johanna Blakley. Blakley knows all about the fashion culture and how in fashion unlike other products, there are trends. Now why are there trends? Because clothes were decided to be too utilitarian for patents because it would be difficult to produce clothes if people could patent each and every type of sleeve and size of shirt etc. IN countries like Japan and the EU there are patents for their fashion but they are either far too stringent that it would be impossible to get a patent or far too lenient so that they would issue a patent immediately until it is challenged, then they will check it. That means there is constant innovation in the american market of fashion because there is always a trend for each and every season so unlike the computer industry, there are no fashion police.
Fashion like this could be patented but since it is defined as to be too utilitarian it is in fact just a fashion trend. Overall, Blakely challenges those watching to see if the world would be better with shared technology and patents. Would that better our world? It would significantly drop the prices but I do not think that it would help the companies or those investing in innovation at all.
Yesterday in class we watched 6 TED talk videos that related to patents. The first I wanted to discuss was the Lessons from Fashion's Free Culture that was given by Johanna Blakley. Blakley knows all about the fashion culture and how in fashion unlike other products, there are trends. Now why are there trends? Because clothes were decided to be too utilitarian for patents because it would be difficult to produce clothes if people could patent each and every type of sleeve and size of shirt etc. IN countries like Japan and the EU there are patents for their fashion but they are either far too stringent that it would be impossible to get a patent or far too lenient so that they would issue a patent immediately until it is challenged, then they will check it. That means there is constant innovation in the american market of fashion because there is always a trend for each and every season so unlike the computer industry, there are no fashion police.
Fashion like this could be patented but since it is defined as to be too utilitarian it is in fact just a fashion trend. Overall, Blakely challenges those watching to see if the world would be better with shared technology and patents. Would that better our world? It would significantly drop the prices but I do not think that it would help the companies or those investing in innovation at all. Sunday, April 5, 2015
Crazy Patents: Saved the Best for Last
Hello folks!
This here patent : http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5678617.html is quite interesting because it is an idea and not actually something that I could quite foresee as to how someone would create such a device. The device I am talking about is an apparatus that makes a drink hop along the bar making it from the bartender to the patron. The novelty of this patent is that it is a method. There is no application or feasible way that it could be done in the way they want it done. The patent describes the bartender as placing the drink down, hitting said button, and then the drink seemingly hops along the bar and gets to patron without them seeing the magic behind how it was done. Basically, you need magic. 
Then you will get a look like Hagrid's and be in complete surprise that the drink popped on over bouncing off the bar three times without spilling magically and gracefully. The way I could see this being successfully done would be to actually put it on a spongy device and putting a lid on the glass as to avoid major spills with every drink made. Without magic, this seems out of luck. Overall, this is completely non obvious but a cool idea for the future I suppose. It could not have been anticipated. It also seems impossible that it could have infringed on anything because it has nothing concrete about the whole thing. Very interesting concept and idea but highly unlikely in practice.
Then you will get a look like Hagrid's and be in complete surprise that the drink popped on over bouncing off the bar three times without spilling magically and gracefully. The way I could see this being successfully done would be to actually put it on a spongy device and putting a lid on the glass as to avoid major spills with every drink made. Without magic, this seems out of luck. Overall, this is completely non obvious but a cool idea for the future I suppose. It could not have been anticipated. It also seems impossible that it could have infringed on anything because it has nothing concrete about the whole thing. Very interesting concept and idea but highly unlikely in practice.
Crazy Patents: The Handy Dandy Halloween Backpack
Hello Party People,
This blog is dedicated to the Halloween backpack that comes in handy just about once per year. Halloween is a large celebration in the United States and thus someone went out of their way to create a device to make giving out candy a more optimal and efficient process. The abstract details the use of this backpack which is actually a front-pack because you are supposed to put the straps on your back then have a backpack like a beer belly that has chutes to pop the candy out for all to enjoy. It seems like a decent idea. This is not an obvious thing for people to think about when most would think about just grabbing a plastic or paper bag and passing out candy that way. With this idea, the next steps might be to create a specialized Valentines Day backpack so you can give all your Valentines candy easily. This idea was likely anticipated because of backpack being a very in use object by students worldwide and there could be a possibility for infringement on the already used patents on backpacks. Also, their descriptions of chutes off the backpack could also be open to infringement cases as well. Here is a link to that patent for you to check for yourself http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5878931.html .
Crazy Patents: Umbrella for your Beer
Hello!
This crazy patent takes us to the wild world of drinking beer. Many people around the world love to drink beer. It is normal for socializing with others over a beer or just watching a football game. For those of you who love beer, this invention might be of interest. Someone patented the Beer Umbrella which functions to protect your sacred beer from the harmful warm rays of the sun. When sitting down outside sipping on your cold beer, the last thing you want is to pick it up and it be a lukewarm beer due to the suns rays. The patent is a bit ridiculous because there are things called Koozies that help maintain coolness. However, this is in fact an ingenious non obvious patent that stands out as something completely original and serving a function of keeping your beer out of the sun. The description details a 5-7 inch diameter for the umbrella atop the beer which then can have logos added for advertisement. This kind of reminds me of those tiny umbrellas added to certain alcoholic drinks only a bit larger and more functional. Clearly, this is a fad that never caught on because it seems a bit ridiculous in practice.
Crazy Patents: Animal Toy
Hello Everybody!
Hope you all had a great spring break. This blog is dedicated to the Animal Toy blog. I suppose you might be thinking that patenting a dog toy is not that bad of an idea if you were one of the first. However, after delving into the abstract and claims it becomes apparent that what they are actually patenting is a stick. Yes, a stick. Here is a link to the patent http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6360693.html . Here is a sample of the first claim which I will highlight the ridiculous parts. 1. An animal toy, comprising: (a) a solid main section having a diameter and a longitudinal length and extending a predetermined distance along said longitudinal length; and (b) at least one protrusion attached at one end thereof said main section and extending a predetermined distance therefrom and wherein said at least one protrusion includes a second longitudinal axis that is not in parallel alignment with a first longitudinal axis of said solid main section; and wherein said animal toy is adapted to float on the water. This is an extremely fancy way of describing a stick which has been around forever. The patent might actually infringe on others before it because of this description however, it focuses directly on animals and a possibility of having the stick float. Each of the following claims are the stick possibly being made of a different material or being flexible.
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