rethink(ip)

Surviving and thriving in times of revolution

Posted by J Matthew Buchanan at June 25, 2006 06:35 AM

I'm currently reading a book that I've been meaning to get to for several years. So far, Intellectual Capital by Thomas A. Stewart was worth the wait....it's a gem, and seems to be more relevant today than it was a few years back. I'm at least a little glad that I waited.

Stewart on the revolution that is the arrival of the Information Age: "Surviving and thriving in such times require peripheral vision as well as focus, adaptability as well as power. The better you can understand the large forces - the tectonic plates - reshaping our world, the better you will be able to cope with the surprises they are certain to throw at us. These days, keeping your nose to the grindstone is a big, shortsighted mistake."

Reminds me of some of our initial thoughts about the Rethink(IP) project and the purposes behind our little adventure.

Carnival of the Vanities #196

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at June 21, 2006 10:19 AM

One Hundred and Ninety-Six?  Crikey.  That's a heck of a lot of Carnival of the Vanities issues. 

Welcome to Rethink(IP)!   We're three patent attorneys who blog separately at PHOSITA®, PROMOTE THE PROGRESS® and THE INVENT BLOG, and (of course) together here at RETHINK(IP).  We won't bore you with a detailed description of who we are or what we claim to be.  Just have it known that we're in the field of patent law and that an object of our work together is to transform the practice of patent law.  We'll incorporate a little background material (including links to our most popular posts) by reference, for those of you so inclined. 

We will tell you this, though.  We're sort of a Carnival enigma.  No..no...we're not a freakshow, like the bearded lady or something.  We're an enigma...something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained (according to Google, anyways).  We keep hosting them - this is the fourth time we've stepped onto the carnival barker's platform, including two editions of the Carnival of the Capitalists.  According to some of our critics, though, we're anti-Carnival.  Most of that stems from our "rethinking" of Blawg Review #48 (the lawyer blog (blawg) carnival).  Apparently lawyer bloggers didn't want to hear it...regardless of our intent in doing it.  Oh well...sue us.  ;)

The Vanities needs no rethinking.  Nope...the Vanities is exactly what it says it is.  Pure, unadulterated vanity.  Send in a post, and your blog will appear in lights.  So...we offer no rethinking this week.  Nope...we respect and follow the CotV tradition of posting everything.  Absolutely Everything.

This week, Absolutely Everything means the following thirty plus submissions:

The Needle and the Damage Done Madeline Begun Kane, known in the blogosphere as "Mad Kane," writes a notable limerick about Mad Ann Coulter (please excuse all of the Mad's - Ms. Kane's nom de plume got me thinking about General Mad Anthony Wayne, the American General who scored a decisive victory in the Northwest Indian War less than a stone's throw from where one of the Rethinkers is sitting right now).   Read the limerick and laugh.  If you're a Coulter fan, it might make you a bit mad.  Well, I guess maybe if you're Coulter it might make you mad.

Here's a tasty bit...a tasty Bacon Bit to be exact (hey, isn't that a registered mark of some sort?).  DL of TMH's Bacon Bits draws a parallel between the cheating husband and republican leadership .  Both, apparently, have done so much damage that the wronged wife (the GOP base in the analogy) can't be won over simply with flowers.  Nope....the "lawyers' phones are ringing as bags are being packed."  Wow...does anyone know if DC requires a separation period?

Mmm...politics.  Mr. Right at The Right Place gives us an ode called Ms. American Spy.   Michael McCullough at Stingray: a blog for salty Christians gets wound up about Al Gore and some inconvenient truths about global warming.  Of course, then there's Below The Beltway's meme on The Flag And Freedom, a lengthy discussion of the history of flag burning and the proposed Constitutional Amendment.  Finally, The Radical Libertarian asks whether libertarians against everything?  They are apparently not against submitting posts to Carnivals...  ;)

Uh oh.  The Washington Post featured an essay by Linda Hirshman, author of Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, that, um, tells women to get to work.  Forget the family, pursue an "elite job", and rake in the cash.  Leslie Carbone, of the aptly named LeslieCarbone blog, has fired back with a well-written responsive rant that themes with "it ain't all about the money, honey."

Need 10 reasons why allotments should be preserved?  Check out "Allotments: Ten Reasons Why Preston City Council Should Not Build Over Them " at Save the Ribble. 

Genius!  In the business of making medicaments for bad breath?  Stop the manufacturing lines immediately....and incorporate this breakthrough idea.  Make your product taste like crap.  Seriously.  Well, um, at least the TamsPalm blog is serious about it .  "Revolting taste protects them from getting gobbled up...," which would, of course, defeat the purpose of these products.  What?  I don't know...at least I know that the post isn't about the religious theory of intelligent design (thanks to the explanation of the title). 

Thousands of journalists from across the globe have waited for decades to write about Paul McCartney turning sixty-four.  Well, it's finally here.  Sir Paul is officially sixty-four and most journalists used the birthday, and the song, to celebrate the life and career of the ex-Beatle.  But we're bloggers....we're different.  We see things differently.  Apparently, we hear things differently, too.  To wit...the dustbury blog celebrates Paul's much-anticipated birthday with mocking lyrics that call Paul a bore, long for John's return, and pledge not to buy anymore.  Ouch.

Soccer.  Football.  Hmm...bloggers blogging on it?  You bet!.  Andrew Ian Dodge at Liberty Cadre has had enough and has instituted a personal boycott, while Mark Rayner asks "Do you have soccer on your home world?"  Do you?  Maybe Soccer Dad knows....he had a post titled “The critically acclaimed for a plinth.” 

Thanks Dad.  Of course, Mom wants to tell us all about Four Year Old (Mis)Behavior, Portrait Studios and Pants-Dropping.  We guarantee that is the only blog this week using the term "wenis."  Lisa (next week's host) at Lil' Duck Duck tells another interesting story in The end of the duck & fried carpet??!!  I presume all of those kids know that you should Leave Things Better Than You Found Them.  OK, now that you've left things better than you found them, maybe a little staff motivation would be a good idea, or so Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World thinks.
 
Mothers...Fathers...hope you remembered Sunday was Father's Day.  Sunday was "also the day of loss of the USS Bonefish in 1945."   Jack Yoest had the scoop in Fathers' Day on Eternal Patrol.

A number of blogs took a financial advice theme with their submissions:  The AMT – If You're Not Scared, You Damn Well Should Be!, Wire Transfers When Closing on a House, Rate Buydowns, Stock Market Beat: Symantec Leverages Up, Using Mind Games To Stop The Cycle Of Debt.  We're not sure if all of that indicates a hot economy or a cold one...  I guess we could always start a new charitable organization.

Ooops...I forgot to mention that Free Money Finance raised the question Extended Warranty: Worth the Cost?  We’ve always been of the opinion that extended warranties are gambling...and the house always has the advantage.  FWIW.

Where are the CotV tech bloggers?  Aside from A DC Birding Blog’s test drive of new Internet browser Flock in the appropriately titled:  Flock Review, the pickings were quite thin in that area.  Maybe tech guys/gals aren’t vain.

The Rethink(IP) guys are science nerds at heart...thus you've got to love a blog writer who goes by GrrlScientist (Living the Scientific Life blog)!  The Grrl’s submission to the Car-r-nival:  The Rise of The Feathered Dragons.

Finally, three posts that didn't really seem to fit in anywhere else.  Makes me want to shout out "Potpourri for $1000, Alex!"  First, the death of FTD.com is predicted in:  A New Paradigm Replacing the Old.  Of course, Western Union is still around (although they did send their last telegraph earlier this year....  Goosing the Antithesis brings up Lovey-Dovey Christianity vs Reality.  Last, but not least, Suldog at Suldog-O-Rama gives us "A Recipe.”  Good luck finding a pan for that.

And that's a wrap!  Next week's host:  Lil' Duck Duck. 

Astute Insight

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at June 20, 2006 07:48 AM

Couldn’t the same be said for bloggers – even law bloggers?

 

New Podcast Available - Rethink(IP) Aloud #6

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at June 18, 2006 02:54 PM

We are proud to announce that our newest podcast is available for your down loading and listening pleasure – Rethink(IP) Aloud #6. 

The audio is approximately 47 minutes long and the file is a 41.1MB file.  If you want to grab the RSS feed and subscribe to the Rethink(IP) Aloud podcast – you can get it via FeedBurner at Rethink(IP) Aloud Podcast.

This podcast is the audio portion of Matt’s lecture on U.S. patent reform in 2006 and covers the efforts happening in the 109th Congress and at the Supreme Court and USPTO.  We posted the video of the presentation over at Phosita last week and received many requests for an audio only version.  Matt’s PowerPoint slides to go along with the Patent Reform lecture are also available.

The intro and ending music is “Patricia” by Billy May and his Orchestra off the Ultra-Lounge Vol. 11 album.

Happy father’s day!

 

Digital downloads are bad for recording artists?

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at June 15, 2006 01:40 AM

I've always wondered what the long term impact of letting people pay 99 cents for the songs they want (instead of buying a CD containing 2 songs they want and 10 they don't for $17.99) would do to the recording industry. Time will tell, I suppose.

Based on comments Weird Al Yankovic recently made, The Digital Music Weblog set out to compute the difference between what an artist receives per song on a CD vs a downloaded albumn. The results...31 cents per song via CD, and 4.5 cents per song downloaded. OUCH. Do read the DMW post...very interesting discussion of how recording artists are compensated.

Yet another reason not to buy proprietary digital downloads.

Announcement: New Weekly Newsletter Covering Trademark Litigation

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at June 13, 2006 10:14 AM

The fact that a lawsuit has been filed can be an incredibly valuable piece of information, especially in the practice of trademark law.  To wit, Rethink(IP) has released a new weekly e-mail newsletter.  Called Trademark Lawsuit Mojo, the newsletter consists of a list of Federal trademark lawsuits that surfaced in the previous week. 

Why is the existence of a lawsuit being filed such a valuable piece of information?

First, the defendant might not know that he/she/it has been sued!

Your company, or your client, might have no idea that a lawsuit has been filed. How can this be? Remember that in the United States, a plaintiff has 120 days from the date of filing to serve a Complaint upon the defendant(s). To reserve a preferred venue/forum, many times a plaintiff will preemptively file the suit and not serve the Complaint, spending up to the next 120 days putting their case together, acquiring additional evidence, and (sometimes) attempting to settle the dispute.

Knowing that your company or client has been sued (but hasn't been served) can be priceless information when counseling them. How's that for a valuable "heads up?"

Second, the filing of a lawsuit can also be a valuable piece of competitive intelligence.

Knowing that competitor X just sued competitor Y may change discussions you're having with competitor X, Y, and/or A! It could also help in decision-making on several issues, such as marketing and product development. Best of all, it may allow you to monitor the case for information that might be helpful in a variety of situations.

As one reader recently put it:

I subscribed last week and already impressed a client yesterday by being aware of a lawsuit filed by one of its competitors.

You can subscribe to Trademark Lawsuit Mojo using one of the below links.  Current rates are $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month.  The first three weeks are free (free trial).  After the free trial expires you can decide whether you would like to continue your subscription.

We don't expect any of us will be quitting our day jobs anytime soon … commercialization of this project (and eventually Copyright and Patent newsletters) is done to fund the “Rethink(IP) Projects Account” and let us provide additional cool tools and services to the legal community.  Apparently computer programmers don’t work for free. 

Please contact Stephen M. Nipper at steve@rethinkip.com for additional information.

$99.99/year
$9.99/mo

[update: if you'd like to see what our "beta" test of the data looks like, please check out the old site.]

US Patent Reform Video

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at June 12, 2006 03:03 PM

Video of Rethinker patent reform expert Matt Buchanan’s recent speech on patent reform is available over at the PHOSITA® blog.  If you want to know the latest in what’s going on in the patent reform world, the video is well worth watching.

Quote of the Day: Service

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at June 9, 2006 03:39 PM

Doug had a “quote for the day” yesterday…I thought I’d turn the tables on him and fire one of his own quotes back to him:

Never confuse "service" as in what bulls do for cows with "service" as in what good attorneys do for their clients.

I’m betting that is a prime example of Oklahoma wisdom.

Quote of the Day: Logical Thought

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at June 8, 2006 12:01 PM

“Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure.”

— Albert Einstein

Whatever Happened to Manners?

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at June 7, 2006 11:16 AM

I guess the title of this post is fairly explanatory – but it is worth repeating. 

What has happened to manners in our society?  Rudeness seems to prevail everywhere –which makes me wonder if it is any easier to be rude than it is to be mannered?

Case in point (get ready for a rant):

I have been travelling non-stop the past couple of weeks and as we all know, the airlines are really not doing much to help their customers be comfortable, let alone, enjoy the flight.  Planes are crowded, the facilities are cramped, they are charging for soft drinks, checking our bags at the curb and for tinny little earphones — and we are now being treated to the “reserved” first class lavatory – is it absurd to anyone but me that people from row 5 have to traipse 30 rows backward to use the “steerage” restroom. 

Air travel sucks.  Plain and simple.

So, I guess I have been feeling a bit of esprit de corps with my fellow travelers  lately – it is us versus them afterall.  The people versus the man.  Humanity versus inhumanity. 

And I don’t think I am alone… in fact, I witnessed both sides of the coin tonight.

A mother and her two young children board the plane – the mother is in the aisle bulkhead seat while her kids are in the middle and the window seat one aisle behind her.  She politely asks the passenger in the aisle seat next to her kids if he would be willing to take the bulkhead aisle seat so that she could sit next to her young children (why in god’s name does the airplane put her in this position to begin with?) – a very simple request and, afterall, the passenger would get the bulkhead seat and more legroom.

So - what do you supposed happened?

If you guessed that the passenger changed seats, you would be sadly mistaken.  Instead the passenger refused, pouted and when confronted by the flight attendant, outright whined about having to move – remember, it is only one row forward and in the bulkhead seat to boot.

I think the flight attendant, myself and the mother all must have stood there for at least five minutes with our mouths open.  We couldn’t believe it.  Since I am mouthy, I asked the passenger if he had a problem – didn’t his mother teach him any manners?  Well, that went over well.  And then another passenger asked the same thing.  And then another.  And another.  And another.  Pretty soon the whole front section of the plane was glowering at the passenger for refusing to move.

Well lo and behold – he succumbed to pressure and moved forward – all the while grumbling about it.  In fact, he demanded that his bag stay under the seat in front of the woman who was taking his place.  His precious bag couldn’t end up in the overhead compartment.  Another one of the passengers picked up the bag and moved it to the overhead compartment for him.  I think I heard people applauding, but I am not certain.

Later during the flight the attendant brought free drinks back to me and a couple of the other folks who spoke up.  The passenger actually asked why he wasn’t getting something for moving.

And up piped the voice of one of the children in the row behind him:

Because you didn’t do the right thing when it was the right thing to do, mister.

I think the mother was mortified that her son made the comment – if I was her, however, I would be proud of that boy. 

I now know of at least one mother who is teaching her children manners.  Let’s hope I am still travelling when he is a bit older – I would like to sit and chat with him and see if he remembers this experience and how it impacted his life (or not).

This story is really not about intellectual property - although I could probably twist it in some manner.  If the lesson is applicable to your practice, great.  If not – I am sorry I wasted your time.

I just needed to rant.

 

Carnival of the Capitalists - CoTC - Rethink(IP) Redux

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at June 5, 2006 09:31 AM

Well, as Steve said earlier – we are at it again.

Welcome the the June 5th edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists.  Lots of good things to read and plenty of information for everyone.

My special thanks to Brian Gongol who posted the spreadsheet template that we used to create this weeks edition.  It has been a crazy week and weekend – without the template, it would have been a very long evening last night.

And… without further ado… the Carnival of the Capitalists.

Daily Dose of Optimism	Tadawul (Saudi Arabia) Stock Market Crashes; Saudi King Abdullah Plans "Risk-Free Fund"		In the past three years, up to nine million Saudis, or half the population, have started playing the market in the conservative desert state, whose strict brand of Islam outlaws standard forms of gambling. They were encouraged by a government which hoped the bourse would enable citizens to share in the economic boom that has come with a rise in world oil prices not seen since the 1970s. It hoped that would help to iron out some of the country's huge disparities of wealth.
Ask Uncle Bill	Taxes Country by Country		There will be a lot of debate in the next few years over taxes.  Some tax cuts expire in 2010, I think, and two--the 15% tax on capital gains and 15% tax on dividends-- have been extended for at least two years.  People get all exercised about taxes with the fat cats not paying their share (actually 5% of the taxpayers pay about 50% of the taxes) or somebody yelling about taxes killing them.
The Boring Made Dull	Doha and Agriculture Subsidies		One of the few positive things that can be said about American agricultural policy is that it’s not as bad as Europe’s. So, not only does this toxic mess run up the prices of food around the world, create environmental problems, and generally harm poorer countries who could be exporting food, it now threatens the Doha round on tariff reductions.
Mover Mike	Lawrence Kudlow Wears Rose Colored Glasses		Larry Kudlow says Capitalism needs a moral core, and the G-Men are restoring the rule of law and re-moralizing our economic system.
The Business of America Is Business	Terrorism as Economic Warfare		Two American academics, James and Brenda Lutz of Purdue University, have recently published a very thoughtful and insightful analysis of the choice of economic targets of terrorist attacks.
Passionate America	Passionate America Joins Wide Awakes Radio		Blogging leads to work at home opportunity. I will be hosting my own internet radio talk show.
Big Picture, Small Office	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner		Big Picture Guy comes down on the side of angels, acknowledging that customers are people. But being people means having certain foibles, like expecting freebies from suppliers. This has led to a couple of uncomfortable situations and unfortunate exchanges.
Purple Motes	Sensory Ecology		Lessons from the failure of AT&T's massive investment in PicturePhone in the early 1970s
Personal Finance Advice	Fuel Bank - Hedge On Gas Prices		A new gas distibution system will be introduced this fall where you can prepay for your gas at a set price and hedge against higher gas prices in the future.
Kicking Over My Traces	Evaluating Affiliate Ads		A method to help in choosing among different affiliate ads for your website.
Crossroads Dispatches	Losing My Mind, Coming to My Senses		Looks at a new renaissance of sensual, aesthetic, abundance themes in companies from coffee to chocolate to 'green' architecture. (Ongoing series)
Execupundit	Beware of Good Examples		The dangers hidden beneath good performance.
Photon Courier	Coal-Powered Jets: Update		Within a few years, you may be flying on airlines whose fuel is derived from coal.
GT	Nonviolent Communication		It can be incredibly effective in the pursuit of developing oneself as an Authentic Leader.  Institutions would be much healthier and much more fun places to spend time if we could all operate in the ManyOne-ness and communicate on a needs level.
InvestorGeeks	A Progressive take on Dividends		Do aggessive companies pay dividends? Frank shows that companies like Progressive Insurance can stay lean and provide a dividend to shareholders.
The Browster Blog	Web 2.0 is Bottom up		Web 2.0 is Bottom up. No, not "belly up", bottom up. User generated content is driving the growth.  The idea that the users at the perimeter of the web, not the publishers in the center, are really the ones who create the web, blogging being a great example.
Jack Yoest	Bribery as a Cost of Doing Business In Washington, DC		In India it's called "Speed Money." In Mexico it's call "Facilitation." In China it's called a "Relationship." In the US of A, it's called a "Bribe." Except in Washington, DC, where it's called "Love." Frank Robinson, an Inspector...
FiveCentNickel	Wire Transfers When Closing on a House		Gone are the days when a cashier’s check was essentially treated like cash — while they’re still written against certified funds, there’s been so much fraud in recent years that most banks subject cashier’s checks to the same funds availability rules as plain old personal checks.
Career Intensity Blog - David V. Lorenzo	The Eight-Step Process to Manage Your Emotions		The most sound strategic thinkers make decisions based upon a harmonious blend of emotional and intellectual drives. Their passions incite them to act, and their minds guide them in navigating and making solid choices. Neither force overwhelms the other. They exist in peaceful synergy.
SportsBiz	World Cup: The Real Battle is Stripes v. Swoosh		The attention of the world will be focused on Germany for the next month as the World Cup gets underway. Adidas and Nike take their marketing battle to a new level as they battle for the largest audience in sports
Patent Baristas	USPTO Biotech Backlog: Bad, Getting Worse, No End in Sight		The San Francisco Business Times ran an article reiterating what patent practitioners already know. That is, the increasing backlog at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is bad, it's getting worse and the new set of proposals meant to reduce the waiting time will not provide relief.
In Cash Flow We Trust	Personal Finance Tip: What Do You Need to Let Go Of?		I believe we all have something we need to let go of to achieve the next level of financial success. When I was clawing my way up the corporate ladder at Merrill Lynch my partner looked at me one day and said:"Can you clean those things up-they look like hell." I sat there in stunned silence for a moment and looked at my crutches.
Blog Business World	Blogging: The lazy person's way		Are you getting lazy about regular posting to your blog? Are you feeling that it's just too time consuming to find topics and then have to develop them into worthwhile ideas? Do you think your time could be better utilized in some other manner than writing yet another blog post?
Coaching4Lesbians	You Can’t Rush a Boiling Egg		I find the busier I get, the more I want to make things happen on my time frame. I want to make that 30 minute commute in 20 minutes (all while still doing it at a leisurely pace) when I’m running late.
Econbrowser	M3 or not M3?		Econbrowser takes an objective look at the growing urban legend about the money supply measure M3.
Slow Leadership	Start-Up Sanity		Advice for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses (especially start-ups) on how to retain sanity and balance.
The Coyote Within	Common Mistakes in Self-development		Adrian Savage lists some common mistakes in setting out on a program of self-development that lead to wasted time and frustration.
Wordlab	Apple Dei		Wordlab points to an excellent parody. Is it defensible as a parody of Opus Dei, The Da Vinci Code, or Apple's marketing style?
Jim Logan	Billing For Your Time Is Like Clubbing Your Next Meal		Billing for your time is like clubbing your next meal. And the time sheet is a modern version of drawing a picture of the hunt on your wall. Clients are interested in buying results, not your time.
Bizinformer	Just the Facts Maam - Union Facts Part II		Ok, I admit it, I am not a union proponent and let me explain why from both an individual point of view and a business owner point of view.
My Financial Awareness	It Is Never Too Late To Save		Over the last few years, the discussion has been on how much money we can have if we only save early. In some articles, it talks about how we can be millionaires if we only save $2,000 a year for 5 years from age 21 to 25. The articles go on to discuss how if we save $2,000 from age 36 to 64, the amount saved would be less than ½ at age 65 than what would have been saved if we only saved from age 21 to 25 instead.
Lip-sticking	Look, Dick. See Jane. See Jane Blog.		Anyone who thinks women aren't blogging - in droves! - needs to wake up. We're online, in large communities, blogging about -YOU, maybe. Pay attention, we like to share product reviews - both good and bad.
AllFinancialMatters	How Much Can You Save in a Lifetime		Life savings calculator.
Searchlight Crusade	Recurring and Nonrecurring Closing Costs		Many people are uncertain as to what closing costs are.
voluntaryXchange	ABAnomics		When the NBA absorbed the ABA 30 years ago, one owner opted out for a share of the TV revenues. It's a great sports story, but the sportswriters have grossly overstated the profitability of the deal.
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity	Vonage IPO Starts To Get Ugly		Vonage sends over Bruno to collect on all its customers who got in on the IPO (and promptly lost a bundle).
Pacesetter Mortgage Blog	Is Traditional Journalism Dead?		Will professional businss blog do away with the need of many of our nations journalists?
The Entrepreneurial Mind	Is it Time for the End of the SBA?		The SBA is a mess. Outgoing Administrator Hector Barreto is only part of the problem. The very concept of the agency itself is flawed.
Simple Thoughts	Corporate Blogging: Meet Fortune 500 Blogger - Sun’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz		Jonathan Schwartz is probably the highest profile individual to blog as CEO of Sun Microsystems, a Fortune 500 company. But that is not what this article is about. It is instructive to note how he leverages his blog to communicate with share-holders and Sun customers.
Business & Technology Reinvention	Planes and Trains		The lessons of Enron and Katrina have not been learned. So here's steps your your organization can take to prevent repeating those mistakes.
BOB - Business Opportunities Blog	New Business Idea - Ultimate Kid's Restaurant		Every month or so I'm going to try and suggest a new business idea or concept that has yet to be developed. If it's already out there, let me know. If not, try and add to the idea. By the way, feel free to start the business yourself!
Paul's Tips	The easiest way to fool smart people		There’s a saying among con-men that smart people are easier targets, because they don’t think they can be conned.
Philosophy, et cetera	Costs and Regulations		Let's distinguish two forms of regulation, reflecting the statist vs. Hayekian distinction. One option is to make the undesirable activity illegal. The alternative is to make it costly. More generally, we can regulate activities either by using the blunt instrument of the law, or else by the more subtle manipulation of market forces. I think the latter will often be preferable.
MineThatData	Business Review: Sharper Image		A new feature at MineThatData looks at the successes and failures of various businesses. This week, we take a look at Sharper Image.
Free Money Finance	It's Not What You Make, It's What You Spend, Part 437		A couple makes $165,000 a year but is going backwards financially. Just another example of "it's not what you make, it's what you spend."
CaseySoftware	Non-disclosure Agreements		This is the first of a two part series about NDA's and some things that are good and bad about them.
David Maister's Passion, People and Principles	Don't Compromise - Take Turns		As part of leading discussions on the keys to great business relationships, I often ask seminar participants what they think the keys to great relationships are in personal life.
My 1st Million At 33	My experience of 100,000% of inflation in 4 years		Do you know what it is like to experience an inflation of 100000% in four years? Oh no, I did not mis-type the number of zeros. It’s 100000% or 1000X in four years, or 562% in 1 year, or 1.4% daily. It sounds crazy, but that was in the late 1980, once when I lived in a Latin America country.
InsureBlog	Arrested Development		Bob Vineyard asks "does crime pay?" His answer: it sure does if you're sick.
GT	Authentic Leadership		What is Authentic Leadership? To answer this question we can start first by answering what it is not. Authentic Leadership is not the behavior most are familiar with in modern day institutional life (business, government, education, etc.) It is not a relentless focus on quarterly earnings. It is not growth by all means necessary. It is not “The business of business is business.” It is not ignorance of human and natural capital. It is not egoism. It is not unilateral decision making. It is not homogeneity or inequity. It is not a short-term focus. It is not borrowing from the unborn to lavish upon the born. It is not classism, hierarchy, dominance, imperialism, exploitation. It is not carrot and stick. It is not fake, phony, disjointed or disintegral. It is not a growing wage gap, an increasingly undereducated population, ideological supremacy or trickle down. It is not my way or the highway.
Stock Market Beat	SAP Only Imitates Oracle’s Bad Moves		SAP claims independence when it comes to M&A but follows Oracle down the price-cutting path of doom.
Resistance is futile!	We'd have more money if we were gay		Tax breaks for same-sex couples, but not for heterosexuals -- how is that fair?
Servant of Chaos	Ideas are Cheap		Ideas are a dime a dozen, the challenge is implementation. What you need is a "Compliant Idea". Is that the sound of a steam train?
New Development Homes Blog	Flipping off plan property and new homes		Property speculators place deposits on units before they are built (off plan), with the intention of selling them on at a healthy profit before they have to pay the rest of the purchase price.
Matt Inglot	The Top 5 Points A Venture Capitalist Wants To Hear		A list of the top five things venture capitalists look for in a desirable investment. As an entrepreneur you should be hitting every point in your planning even if you don’t intend to seek venture capital, as these are key criteria for an idea that has strong chances of success.
Consumer-Driven Finance	Consumer-Driven Finance 2: Preemptive Strikes Against Medical Debt		Consumer-Driven Finance shows how people can bargain and negotiate to get better prices for expensive healthcare services just like everybody else bargains and negotiates to get better prices for things like cars and homes; maybe medicine is more like other economic goods and services than we think!

Welcome CotC---Who is Rethink(IP)?

We’re hosting Carnival of the Capitalists (CotC) again (later today). This will be our second time doing so (the first time was back in September).

We’re also sporting a new design (later today we're told)…if you read via RSS you might want to check out our HTML…

Knowing that most CotC readers probably don’t regularly read law blogs…I thought I’d take the time to prepare a “Who is Rethink(IP)?” post…

We were three of the original patent attorney bloggers: Douglas Sorocco (PHOSITA Blog), J. Matthew Buchanan (Promote the Progress blog) and Stephen M. Nipper (The Invent Blog).

When we started Rethink(IP) the blog, we were three competitors blogging together about a topic all three of us were passionate about: farmshoring intellectual property services. Part of the “farmshoring” discussion is complaining about how other attorneys, usually large firm attorneys, (mis)treat their clients…which itself lead us to spend a considerable amount of time “rethinking” how intellectual property services should delivered to clients.

The fact that we were competitors blogging together intrigued Scobel/Israel enough to garner us a mention in Naked Conversations. However, the “competitors” angle soon took a hit when one of us (Matt) joined on of the other’s (Doug) law firm.

We frequently joke that we all have A.D.D., a condition that results in us frequently creating lots and lots of side projects, crazy ideas, and rabbit chasing. Some of our more interesting projects:

1. RSS Mojo – News and Notices: The Copyright Office for a while now has provided an RSS feed of their news. However, the Patent and Trademark Office didn’t have one. We decided that we’d set out to scrape the USPTO’s News and Notices page and craft a number of RSS feeds therefrom. We thought for sure that the USPTO would release their own RSS feed…it is coming up on a year later and it hasn’t happened yet.

2. RSS Mojo – Lawsuits: On behalf of our clients, we frequently compile and review listings of recently filed intellectual property lawsuits. It dawned on us…why not make this data more available to others. So, we created a weekly feed (RSS/email) of recently filed intellectual property (patent, copyright and trademark) lawsuits.

3. IP Memes newsletter. A free electronic newsletter put out every couple weeks by Technolawyer.com. The three of us author the newsletter.

4. Blawgr. With the help of lawyer blawgfather Kevin Heller we launched an online community for lawyers called Blawgr. It is currently offline for a major redesign and repurposing.

5. ShapeBlog. With Marty Schwimmer (Trademark Blog), Glenn Mitchell and John Welch (TTABlog)…a blog about the intersection of 3-D and the law. Fabrication, rapid prototyping, design…and the intellectual property issues they create.

6. Rethink(IP) Aloud podcast. We even podcast…

7. IP Funny (no, it is not a blog about urinary problems). Yep…we’re the anonymous bloggers (along with an anon fourth) behind the frequently neglected blog about intellectual property humor.

8. Esq Gear. Gear, gadgets, product reviews...for attorneys. Big news coming soon for this site...

9. …and a handful of projects we are not ready to mention just yet.

I’ve always loved Stephen @ Patent Barista’s quote about us: “These guys are like the Army. They do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day.” If we only had more time...

Of course, it IS a blog. I probably should mention some of our more popular posts:

• Pressuring clients for more work...good idea?
• What’s your definition of a rainmaker? Bullshitter?
• Blackballed. You are the brand.
• Controlling RSS Overload…Animal House Style
• Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

And that...in a nutshell...is Rethink(IP).