Intellectual Property Law

Wow! Blog crash! Sorry.

Posted on February 02, 2009
I may owe an apology to any of you that received a rash of posts from this blog to their RSS reader this weekend.  I am so sorry. On Friday I was performing routine maintenance and adding a plugin…and the blog crashed (being sent into an non-ending loop)...

Web Tip of the Day ? Google Alerts

Posted on January 20, 2009
Did you know that you can use Google Alerts to monitor key words on the Internet (e.g., blogs, news, new websites)? Do your clients know that? What could Google Alerts be used for? Vanity searches (who is talking about you or your business) Trademark monitoring (looking for misuse of your trademark) Damage control (to quickly react to bad news or [...

Mechanically separated chicken?again

Posted on January 16, 2009
A few years ago I had a post discussing the “mechanically separated chicken” ingredient found on a package of hot dogs.   Thanks to Wikipedia, now we have a picture:

Patent Reexamination Numbers and PatFT, part II

Posted on January 14, 2009
In a previous post, I asked: The USPTO PatFT page for Patent Number Search lists three examples for reexamination patent numbering: Re-examination ? RX29,194 RE29183 RE00125 However, if you type in those three ?example? numbers into the search box, you get a ?PN/RX29,194: 0 patents? error and two reissue patents...

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Web Site Tip of the Day ? Renew Your Domain Names for Longer

Posted on January 12, 2009
Did you know that one of the factors Google uses in determining the importance of your website is how long until its registration lapses (how long until you need to renew)? Think of it…if you were running hundreds of junk websites filled with nothing but advertising, you’d likely only register each domain for a year at [...

Ignite Boise ? Put it on your calendar NOW

Posted on January 09, 2009
Ignite Boise is coming on March 19th, 2009.  For my local readers (Boise/Idaho), this is going to be something you will want to go to.  Trust me. For more details, see the Ignite Boise website:  IgniteBoise.com. For an explanation of what an “Ignite” event is, see this Wikipedia entry.

Happy Fifth Birthday!

Posted on January 08, 2009
It is hard to believe that this blog has been around for five years now… [Thomas Alva Edison, 1847-1931, punching time clock on his 74th birthday anniversary, February 11, 1921, standing, rear view, source]

Web Site Tip of the Day ? Purchase Your Kids? Domain Names

Posted on January 07, 2009
If you have young kids, you really should consider purchasing their personal domain names for them NOW.  Why? 1.  In case their preferred domain name isn’t available 10 years from now. 2.  To give them a canvas that you can supervise…helping you hammer into their heads that Google never forgets (they need to ALWAYS be concerned about what [...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Theme Linkbacks

Posted on January 06, 2009
There are thousands of “themes” that web site owners (particularly bloggers) can use to easily make their website look more professional. The individuals that create these “free” themes typically do so with the caveat that if you use their theme you should maintain the embedded link back to their website...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Reserve Your Name (and Encourage Your Clients to do the Same)

Posted on January 06, 2009
Like with domain names, once a desired username is gone…it is gone*. Thus, you should seriously consider registering your personal (or preferred) name on the most popular social media sites (just in case you decide in a few months/years to start using the site)...

PatentMarvel.com - PDF Patent Copies

Posted on January 06, 2009
New PDF Patent Downloader — PatentMarvel.com. Added it to my Guide to Downloading Patent Copies (PDF).

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Does your design suck?

Posted on January 02, 2009
Check out ”Web Pages That Suck,” a website that provides a blunt (but spot-on) analysis of how NOT to design websites.  Incredibly funny, too. The site also has a checklist called “Does My Site Suck?” that helps you self assess your own website’s design...

Web Site Tip of the Day ? Get Listed on Google Local

Posted on January 01, 2009
Can your potential customers find you on Google Maps?  If you haven’t created a listing for your office in Google’s Local Business Center…they may not be able to.   The solution is to    Use the Local Business Center to create your free listing...

New blog I stumbled upon ? IP?s What?s Up

Posted on December 31, 2008
Ip’s What’s Up –  ”intellectual property news and commentary.  a place to engage in conversation and reflect on happenings in the world of IP. (updated wednesdays and sundays).”

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Don?t Share Your ?Google Juice?

Posted on December 31, 2008
This tip is mainly for those of you whom use Twitter and other social networking websites. I won’t bore you with a detailed explanation, but one of the ways that Google (et al.) ranks pages is based upon what websites link to it.  Inbound links are good...

Web Page Tip of the Day ? What is Your Website?s Search Engine Optimization Grade?

Posted on December 30, 2008
In today’s tip, plug your website?s URL into http://website.grader.com and have it determine your score.  They will also give you a report that spells out any obvious issues with your website that makes it score lowly. The score for this blog:  97/100...

Patents on Electronic Games

Posted on December 30, 2008
Very cool article on patents on electronic games (e.g., Simon, Atari 2600).  See: Patentmania: The Golden Age of Electronic Games | Technologizer. [Via Gizmodo]

Web Page Tip of the Day ? Upgrade Your 404 Page

Posted on December 29, 2008
A “404″ page is the page a visitor to your website/blog sees if they try to visit a page that does not exist.  For instance:  http://inventblog.com/1234234213. Most websites have a boring 404 page that merely says “page not found, sorry...

How to Cite a Patent

Posted on December 28, 2008
The Patent Librarian by Michael White on “FreePatentsOnline Launches CitePatents.” — CitePatents‘ purpose it so help journalists and others understand how to best link to and cite patents.  A very noble goal. Sadly, they link to copies from FreePatentsOnline...

Should you fire your patent attorney for being creative?

Posted on December 22, 2008
LinkedIn: Answers: What#8217;s the most creative thing you#8217;ve seen a patent attorney do?.  In one of the answers, the answerer states that it is not a patent attorney#8217;s role to be creative and if he/she is creative#8230;he/she should be FIRED...

Always a bridesmaid?Dennis Kennedy?s 2008 Blawgies

Posted on December 22, 2008
Dennis Kennedy has announced this year#8217;s Blawgies (awards he gives out every year for what he considers exceptional blogs).  Amazingly, The Invent Blog was listed as one of the runners up for the #8220;Practice Specific#8221; blog (Internet Cases (a blog I read daily) won)...

Business Advice & Personal Branding

Posted on December 21, 2008
Good friend Justin Foster (branding guru/social media expert, has a great post on his blog talking about the business lessons he learned in the first five years of running his own business.  What is amazing is how many of those lessons translate directly to lawyers...

Economic worries

Posted on December 19, 2008
Are you worried about the impact of the economic downturn on  your practice?  I found some advice for you: This economic downturn provides a tremendous opportunity for lawyers to look at their practices in a new (and different) way.  Here are ten #8220;rules#8221; for lawyers facing an uncertain economic future...

Webinar Slides

Posted on December 17, 2008
The slides from yesterday#8217;s webinar on #8220;Online Tools#8221; by Justin Foster (http://thetricycle.com) can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/brandmilitia/relevance-20-presentation/. Thanks to all who attended. He told me that the webinar is also available as an internal workshop (3 hours) that goes into greater detail and teaches some of the specific tools...

Trademark Resources

Posted on December 17, 2008
Some trademark sites I bookmarked via Delicious.com that my readers may find of note: INTA TTAB Basics E-Course #8220;Trademark tips for your web app#8221; article I wrote for Think Vitamin Domain Name Portal - Main#8211;Gowlings web page devoted to domain name and trademark tools...

Need MCLE credit? Use your .mp3 player.

Posted on December 14, 2008
For those of you whom need MCLE credit before February, one option is downloading .mp3’s from the Practicing Law Institute. A link to filtered results of just the Intellectual Property seminars is here: http://www.pli.edu/product/mp3s.asp.  [Which you can sort to filter the intellectual property ones to the top] You’d have to ask your tax guru, but [...

Einstein and Patent Examiners

Posted on December 11, 2008
Reading: What Genius Will Teach Patent Examiners? : Securing Innovation.

Promote the Progress Blog adds two new patent caselaw RSS feeds

Posted on December 10, 2008
Matt Buchanan over at the Promote the Progress Blog has added two new patent caselaw RSS feeds that include overview information for the latest patent opinions alongside a series of links that provide one click access to the opinion-related tools on his website, making it easy to explore the reviews you determine warrant more attention...

Searching by reexamination number

Posted on December 10, 2008
The USPTO PatFT page for Patent Number Search lists three examples for reexamination patent numbering: Re-examination — RX29,194 RE29183 RE00125 However, if you type in those three “example” numbers into the search box, you get a “PN/RX29,194: 0 patents” error and two reissue patents...

IP Attorneys on Twitter

Posted on December 09, 2008
I created a new page to host a list of IP Attorneys using Twitter:  http://inventblog.com/ip-attorneys-on-twitter.  Leave a comment on that page if any need to be added.

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