Category Archives: Information Technology

Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 2

My colleague, Ben Gornall, Patent and Trademark Consultant, has continued our earlier discussion.  My initial post was “IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model“, to which Ben commented here.  I replied with “Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and … Continue reading

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Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1

My colleague, Ben Gornall, Patent and Trademark Consultant, has continued our earlier discussion.  My initial post was “IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model“, to which Ben commented here.  I replied with “Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and … Continue reading

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Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness

How many of the would-be defendants simply negotiate the licence – not a one-time settlement but an ongoing licence (perhaps under duress?) – to avoid the more costly lawsuit, even though they have no intention of using the patented matter any further?
Here we come to the difference between potential usefulness, which speculation underlies the granting of the patent, and actual usefulness, evidence of which underlies the infringement lawsuit. Continue reading

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Lawyers and iPhones (and iPads) Shouldn’t Mix

“A lawyer shall not disclose … having been consulted or retained by a person…” … The question that remains for me is whether, in light of the iOS4 privacy policy, lawyers should avoid even carrying unsecured electronic devices that allow questionable access to information by undisclosed third-party app providers. … You don’t need a person’s name to identify them, nor any unique piece of data. What you need is a unique combination of non-unique pieces of data. Continue reading

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RoB Magazine declares victory on the Smartphone Plains of Abraham

RoB Magazine has declared Apple the victor over Research in Motion in a presumed battle between Cupertino and Waterloo for the smartphone Plains of Abraham. … I understand that for an investor, the likely more profitable performer in the short term is an important determination; but to pronounce the industry a zero-sum game is foolish. That said, the author raises an important point that if followed in combination with RIM’s existing advantages could shoot it back up to leading Apple around a marketplace of its own design. Continue reading

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Bill C-32: The Latest Attempt to Amend the Copyright Act

There’s a new copyright bill that was tabled yesterday in Parliament.  It’s been in the papers, online news sources, etc.  It can be found at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4580265&Language=e&Mode=1 Activities that are commonplace and have been legal in the U.S. for about 3 … Continue reading

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The Speciation of Web Sites

I saw a headline the other day in someone else’s newspaper:  Days of Static Website Over.  Not that I was on the bus and read the headline from several yards away and didn’t read the article at all. My first … Continue reading

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Technology (law) is everywhere!

At the firm where I’m working, I deal a lot with wills & estates, family law, and small business. “But wait!” you say. “Where’s the intellectual property and information technology?”

And I answer, “Everywhere.” Continue reading

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Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era

I’m reading “Business @ the Speed of Thought,” by Bill Gates.  (Chapters-Indigo Link Here)  He wrote it ten years ago, which allows me the critical distance I prefer when reading a book that prognosticates. Say what you will about MS … Continue reading

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On Virtual Travel

Why would a denizen of a virtual world want to cross over into another virtual world, especially if she couldn’t bring her special powers, skills, or goods into that other world?  This was the question asked in a comment the … Continue reading

Posted in Information Technology, Video Games, Virtual Worlds | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments