Next PTO Director must have management experience, patent savvy, and leadership skills; IPWatchdog, June 12, 2017

Judge Paul Michel, IPWatchdog; Next PTO Director must have management experience, patent savvy, and leadership skills

"All these ills can be addressed effectively by the PTO’s new Director, provided they have the necessary management experience, patent savvy, and leadership skills.  Someone like me who has not run anything larger than a courthouse may lack the needed capabilities, as may someone who has run nothing larger than a litigation team or small law firm.   Same for the gifted academics who provide  such useful commentary on all matters patent.  Same with former Capitol Hill staffers(I was once one myself).  They all have their place, but it is not at the helm of America’s 13,000 person innovation agency.

Rather, we need someone from a large company who has shown leadership ability and has a proven record of successfully managing a significant part of a large organization.  Of course, the person must also have experience prosecuting, licensing and litigating patents.  And, a background in science or engineering.  But many patent lawyers have such experiences.  Few, however have the necessary management chops.

In my opinion, David Kappos embodied all these attributes to a great degree.  And, he came from a long, highly successful career at IBM, where he ran a large operation that depended on using patent skills both for protecting patented inventions and defending against patent assertions by others.  A company or law firm that primarily or only employs one or the other strategy is probably not the best talent pool from which to select a PTO Director, because achieving balance between owners and users is the key to success.

Finally, the person should have deep experience with the patent policy debates and the many agency reports and legislative proposals that have roiled the patent community for a decade.  Today, those debates continue, unabated."

Public deserves open access; Daily Press, June 10, 2017

Marisa Porto, Daily Press; Public deserves open access

"American writer Walter Lippman once wrote, "The best servants of the people, like the best valets, must whisper unpleasant truths in the master's ear."

His quote describes perfectly the mission of a newspaper and its staff.

That mission remains at the heart of why Americans should be concerned about the state of the Freedom of Information Act around this nation.

This year alone, journalists from my news organization have filed dozens of FOIA requests. The topics they asked about ranged from bus accidents to crime statistics to how millions of dollars of taxpayer money was spent on a private business venture at our local airport. The last request sparked a statewide investigation, prompted a change in state law and has caused the firing of the airport director and the resignation of one top city official — so far...

Playwright Arthur Miller once said, "A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself."

Let's keep the conversation going."

10 Intellectual Property Strategies For Technology Startups; Forbes, June 6, 2017

Richard Harroch and Neel Chatterjee, Forbes; 10 Intellectual Property Strategies For Technology Startups

"Intellectual property issues often are among the most important considerations that a technology startup will encounter. A startup will face numerous issues involving developing a product, hiring qualified employees, raising capital, and more. With all of these issues, intellectual property can feel distracting, expensive, or contrary to the goals of just getting a product to market before someone else does.

However, intellectual property is often the most valuable asset of a technology startup. Protecting intellectual property can be essential to obtaining venture capital funding or preventing competitors from unfairly competing with you.

In this article, we provide 10 critical intellectual property strategies for you to implement."

Yoga Teachers Need a Code of Ethics; New York Times, June 7, 2017

Sarah Herrington, New York Times; Yoga Teachers Need a Code of Ethics

"According to the 2016 Yoga in America survey co-sponsored by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance — the largest nonprofit in the United States representing the yoga community and providing teacher-training requirements — there are 36.7 million yoga practitioners nationwide, 72 percent of them women. Though Yoga Alliance has published a bullet-point code of conduct, few know it exists until they are explicitly looking, and by then it may be too late."

Comey’s testimony changed everything — and not in Trump’s favor; Washington Post, June 9, 2017

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; Comey’s testimony changed everything — and not in Trump’s favor

"Before Comey, Republicans and Democrats had many bones to pick with Comey. After Comey, both sides avoid questioning his integrity. Republicans carped about his refusal to rebuke the president in the Oval Office (for a group that has never seriously confronted Trump on much of anything, this is rich). They made hay out of — gasp!– a leak of unclassified materials after Comey was fired. Not once, however, did any senator say he disbelieved Comey’s account or try to shake his recollection. Aspects of Comey’s factual account can be supported now by others, which will further bolster his own credibility and diminish Trump’s. Comey may be prickly, overly concerned with his own reputation and even a little schoolmarmish, but few will argue that he is a liar."

Trump doesn’t understand how to be president. The Comey story shows why.; Washington Post, June 7, 2017

E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post; Trump doesn’t understand how to be president. The Comey story shows why.

"Here are the things Trump still doesn’t get: (1) Comey is his own person concerned with his own reputation and standing. (2) A president, unlike a despot, can’t unilaterally change the rules that surround a legal investigation. (3) People in government don’t work only for the president; their primary obligation is to the public. (4) Personal relationships matter a great deal in government, but they aren’t everything; Comey could not go soft on Michael Flynn just because Trump likes Flynn or fears what Flynn might say. (5) Because of 1, 2, 3 and 4, Comey was not going to do what Trump asked, even if this meant being fired...

There has been a lively debate among Trump critics about whether he’s dangerous because he’s inclined toward authoritarianism or because he’s incompetent. The Comey episode allows us to reach a higher synthesis in this discussion: Trump is incompetent precisely because he believes he can act like an autocrat in a constitutional democracy. This doesn’t work, and it makes him do stupid things."

Webinar: Understanding Patent Basics: Law Librarians Bringing Added Value June 28, 2017, 2pm ET

Webinar

Understanding Patent Basics:

Law Librarians Bringing Added Value

June 28, 2pm ET

As a law librarian you serve a wide array of lawyers so you may not have a background specific to patent law. Many law librarians feel they could be more productive if they could better communicate in patent attorney "speak" and may feel awkward in asking for definitions of basic patent terminology.

As part of our efforts to offer on-going support to law librarians, LexisNexis IP Solutions is offering a crash course in basic patent concepts to help you better communicate with your colleagues.

Join us for this informative webinar which will demystify patent terminology and review basic concepts. The presenters will discuss:

• Common terms in patent law, such as "What is a provisional patent application?"
• What patents lawyers are looking for in terms of help from their law librarians relevant to common concepts.
• Why research related to each of these terms, or concepts, are important in the area of patent prosecution.
• Q&A to answer those questions you have been meaning to ask.
  
  Sign up today! We will provide slides from the webinar to all registrants.
  
  The presenters are Amantha Allen, User Experience and Professional Development Manager, LexisNexis^® IP Solutions and Megan McLoughlin, Product Director, LexisNexis PatentAdvisor® 

Trump is now raging at Jeff Sessions. This hints at a deeply unsettling pattern.; Washington Post, June 6, 2017

Greg Sargent, Washington Post; Trump is now raging at Jeff Sessions. This hints at a deeply unsettling pattern.

"Students of authoritarianism see a pattern taking shape

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University who writes extensively on authoritarianism and Italian fascism, told me that a discernible trait of authoritarian and autocratic rulers is ongoing “frustration” with the “inability to make others do their bidding” and with “institutional and bureaucratic procedures and checks and balances.”

“Trump doesn’t respect democratic procedure and finds it to be something that gets in his way,” Ben-Ghiat said. “The blaming of others is very typical of autocrats, because they have difficulty listening to a reality that doesn’t coincide with their version of it. It’s part of the authoritarian temperament to blame others when things aren’t working.”

Trump expects independent officials “to behave according to personal loyalty, as opposed to following the rules,” added Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale University who wrote “On Tyranny,” a book of lessons from the 20th Century. “For Trump, that is how the world is supposed to work. Trump doesn’t understand that in the world there might truly be laws and rules that constrain a leader.”

Snyder noted that authoritarian tendencies often go hand in hand with impatience at such constraints. “You have to have morality and a set of institutions that escape the normal balance of administrative practice,” Snyder said. “You have to be able to lie all the time. You have to have people around you who tell you how wonderful you are all the time. You have to have institutions which don’t follow the law and instead follow some kind of law of loyalty.”

Where Are the United States Attorneys?; New York Times, June 6, 2017

Editorial Board, New York Times; 

Where Are the United States Attorneys?

"Three months after President Trump abruptly fired half of the nation’s 93 United States attorneys, following the resignations of the other half, he has yet to replace a single one.

It’s bizarre — and revealing — that a man who called himself the “law and order candidate” during the 2016 campaign and spoke of “lawless chaos” in his address to Congress would permit such a leadership vacuum at federal prosecutors’ offices around the country. United States attorneys are responsible for prosecuting terrorism offenses, serious financial fraud, public corruption, crimes related to gang activity, drug trafficking and all other federal crimes.

As is usually the case when confronted with his own incompetence, Mr. Trump has spent his time looking for somebody else to blame...

There are two other obvious, and perhaps simpler, explanations, and both may be correct. Mr. Trump does not actually believe in or care about his campaign claim of “lawless chaos” in our streets. And Mr. Trump is not a good manager — not of his businesses, certainly, and not of the vastly larger, more complex organization he now runs, the one that matters to the well-being of every American."

The Lawless Presidency; New York Times, June 6, 2017

David Leonhardt, New York Times; The Lawless Presidency

"Democracy isn’t possible without the rule of law — the idea that consistent principles, rather than a ruler’s whims, govern society.

You can read Aristotle, Montesquieu, John Locke or the Declaration of Independence on this point. You can also look at decades of American history. Even amid bitter fights over what the law should say, both Democrats and Republicans have generally accepted the rule of law.

President Trump does not. His rejection of it distinguishes him from any other modern American leader. He has instead flirted with Louis XIV’s notion of “L’état, c’est moi”: The state is me — and I’ll decide which laws to follow...

Unfortunately, Trump shows no signs of letting up. Don’t assume he will fail just because his actions are so far outside the American mainstream. The rule of law depends on a society’s willingness to stand up for it when it’s under threat. This is our time of testing."

After 75 years of progress, was last week a hinge in history?; Washington Post, June 4, 2017

Lawrence Summers, Washington Post; After 75 years of progress, was last week a hinge in history?

"We may have our first post-rational president. Trump has rejected the view of modern science on global climate change, embraced economic forecasts and trade theories outside the range of reputable opinion, and relied on the idea of alternative facts rather than evidence-based truth.

Even for conservative statesmen such as Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Henry Kissinger, the idea of a community of nations has been a commonplace...

It is essential that leaders in U.S. society signal clearly their disapproval of the course the administration is taking. History will judge poorly business leaders who retain positions on Trump administration advisory boards because they hope to be in a position to cut favorable deals. Elon Musk of Tesla and Robert Iger of Disney have taken the correct and principled stand by resigning their presidential appointments. More should follow.

What is to be done? The U.S. president is not America. The world will be watching to see whether Trump’s words and deeds represent an irrevocable turn in the nation’s approach to the world or a temporary aberration. The more that leading figures in U.S. society can signal their continuing commitment to reason, to common purpose with other nations, and to addressing global challenges, the more the damage can be contained. And, of course, Congress has a central role to play in preventing dangerous and destabilizing steps."

Harvard withdraws 10 acceptances for ‘offensive’ memes in private group chat; Washington Post, June 5, 2017

Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post; Harvard withdraws 10 acceptances for ‘offensive’ memes in private group chat

"The students in the spinoff group exchanged memes and images “mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust and the deaths of children,” sometimes directing jokes at specific ethnic or racial groups, the Crimson reported. One message “called the hypothetical hanging of a Mexican child ‘piñata time’” while other messages quipped that “abusing children was sexually arousing,” according to images of the chat described by the Crimson.

Then, university officials caught on. And in mid-April, after administrators discovered the offensive, racially charged meme exchanges, at least 10 incoming students who participated in the chat received letters informing them that their offers of admission had been revoked...

According to Harvard college admissions policies, the university reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission if the admitted student “engages or has engaged in behavior that brings into question their honesty, maturity or moral character,” among other conditions, Dane told The Post."

A Player Falls Injured At The French Open, And Compassion Takes Over; NPR, June 1, 2017

Bill Chappell, NPR; A Player Falls Injured At The French Open, And Compassion Takes Over

"It's still early in the French Open, but the tournament has already seen a remarkable show of sportsmanship. On Thursday, Juan Martín del Potro climbed over the net to console his opponent, Nicolás Almagro, who was visibly upset by an injury that forced him to withdraw from their match...

As del Potro stepped over the net and walked toward him, Almagro collapsed on the clay court, his sobs clearly audible over the crowd's cheers of encouragement and appreciation. Del Potro, an Argentine who has faced his own injuries, talked quietly with Spain's Almagro before the two walked slowly back to the bench.

As he passed center court, Almagro, who at 31 is ranked No. 69 in the ATP's world tennis rankings, turned back to shake hands and hug del Potro, and to shake the chair umpire's hand.

"People first, tennis players second," the Roland Garros Facebook page stated."

LeBron may or may not be a better player than Jordan, but he's a better man; Guardian, June 1, 2017

Damon Young, Guardian; LeBron may or may not be a better player than Jordan, but he's a better man

"Anyway, while the debate about their games and their talents and their respective grades of greatness remains relevant, there’s no argument that the 32-year-old LeBron far surpasses both the 32-year-old Jordan and today’s 54-year-old Jordan in integrity and bravery. And not the contrived, SkipBaylian artificial measure of character that bases and assesses a man’s testicular fortitude on his LinkedIn profile and whether he possesses an arbitrary “clutch gene,” but real actual character."

Trump is abdicating all the country’s moral power; Washington Post, June 1, 2017

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post; Trump is abdicating all the country’s moral power

"With his backward policies and his tiresome antics, President Trump seems to be trying his best to do something that ought to be impossible: make the U.S. presidency irrelevant to world progress...

Trump is abdicating all moral power. The world has no choice but to move on."

Rethinking Ethics Training in Silicon Valley; The Atlantic, May 26, 2017

Irina Raicu, The Atlantic; Rethinking Ethics Training in Silicon Valley

"I work at an ethics center in Silicon Valley.

I know, I know, “ethics” is not the first word that comes to mind when most people think of Silicon Valley or the tech industry. It’s probably not even in the top 10. But given the outsized role that tech companies now play, it’s time to focus on the ethical responsibilities of the technologists who help shape our lives.

In a recent talk, technologist Maciej Ceglowski argued that “[t]his year especially there’s an uncomfortable feeling in the tech industry that we did something wrong, that in following our credo of ‘move fast and break things,’ some of what we knocked down were the load-bearing walls of our democracy.”...

I work in an applied ethics center, and we do believe that technology can help democracy (we offer a free ethical-decision-making app, for example; we even offer a MOOC—a free online course—on ethical campaigning!). For it to do that, though, we need people who are ready to tackle the ethical questions—both within and outside of tech companies."

Comey documented 'everything he could remember' after Trump conversations; CNN, May 16, 2017

Pamela Brown, CNN; Comey documented 'everything he could remember' after Trump conversations

[Kip Currier: In my Managing and Leading Information Services course, one week's module is devoted to "Managing Legal Issues". In that module I walk students through the importance of documenting and how to do it well. Former FBI Director James Comey's documenting practices, revealed yesterday, vividly illustrate why documenting is such an important skill set and responsibility. And how documenting can potentially serve as both offensive and defensive evidence for an individual and/or organization.]

"Former FBI Director James Comey wrote in a memo that President Donald Trump asked him to end the investigation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Comey was so appalled by the request that he wanted to document it, the source said. Comey shared it with FBI senior officials, according to the source.

Why did he do it?

Comey would write down everything that happened -- the good and the bad.

"Everything he could remember," the source said.

"You realize something momentous has happened and memories fade so he wanted to memorialize it at the earliest time," the source said. The source said it was not common practice for Comey to document conversations with senior officials unless he thought it was significant."

Trump’s Leaky Fate; New York Times, May 16, 2017

Frank Bruni, New York Times; 

Trump’s Leaky Fate

"This much leaking this soon in an administration is a powerful indication of what kind of president we have. He is so unprepared, shows such bad judgment and has such an erratic temper that he’s not trusted by people who are paid to bolster him and who get the most intimate, unvarnished look at him. Some of them have decided that discretion isn’t always the keeping of secrets, not if it protects bad actors. They’re right. And they give me hope."

The 25th Amendment Solution to Remove Trump; New York Times, May 16, 2017

Ross Douthat, New York Times; 

The 25th Amendment Solution to Remove Trump

"One does not need to be a Marvel superhero or Nietzschean Übermensch to rise to this responsibility. But one needs some basic attributes: a reasonable level of intellectual curiosity, a certain seriousness of purpose, a basic level of managerial competence, a decent attention span, a functional moral compass, a measure of restraint and self-control. And if a president is deficient in one or more of them, you can be sure it will be exposed.

Trump is seemingly deficient in them all. Some he perhaps never had, others have presumably atrophied with age. He certainly has political talent — charisma, a raw cunning, an instinct for the jugular, a form of the common touch, a certain creativity that normal politicians lack. He would not have been elected without these qualities. But they are not enough, they cannot fill the void where other, very normal human gifts should be."

Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017; U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, April 26, 2017

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017

"Remarks by Director Michelle K. Lee to Commemorate World IP Day 2017

For more than two centuries, the United States of America has promoted and protected intellectual property rights. In the process, we have made revolutionary advances in science and technology. We have become a global leader in innovation, and we have helped create a strong IP system throughout the world. The USPTO is committed to continue working with the IP offices of the world to ensure that all of our IP systems continue to foster innovation.

The theme of this year’s World IP Day—improving lives through innovation—could not be more relevant. We have seen the profound impact that good ideas, protected through a world-class IP system, can have on humanity. From new and powerful technology that we can wear on our wrists and carry in our pockets, to new methods of diagnosing and treating disease, intellectual property can not only improve lives, it can save lives. It can also create new jobs and grow our economy, which is why we must always ensure that our IP system supports small businesses, startups, and individual inventors. Rewarding new ideas with IP rights guarantees that new improvements keep coming. In fact one of you may hold the next idea that could shape our lives for years to come.

So, please, get out there and invent and create. And don’t forget to protect your great ideas. Thank you for being a part of World IP Day!"

More CEOs are getting forced out for ethics violations; Washington Post, May 15, 2017

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; More CEOs are getting forced out for ethics violations

"If it seems like more CEOs are getting cast aside amid ethical blunders or corporate scandals, they are. According to a new report on CEO succession from Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business, the percentage of CEOs getting pushed out for questionable behavior — lapses including environmental disasters,  insider trading, résumé fraud, accounting scandals and sexual misconduct — is up over the past five years."

The experts were right: Trump isn’t fit to be president; Washington Post, May 16, 2017

Anne Applebaum, Washington Post;

The experts were right: Trump isn’t fit to be president

"We live in an age that denigrates knowledge, dislikes expertise and demonizes experts. But now we have proof that experts are sometimes right...

At the time, Trump dismissed this letter as “nothing more than the failed Washington elite looking to hold onto their power.” But the “elites” were right. The experts were right.  Next time maybe more people will heed them."

John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights; New York Times, May 8, 2017

John McCain, New York Times; 

John McCain: Why We Must Support Human Rights

"In a recent address to State Department employees, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said conditioning our foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance our national interests. With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Don’t look to the United States for hope. Our values make us sympathetic to your plight, and, when it’s convenient, we might officially express that sympathy. But we make policy to serve our interests, which are not related to our values. So, if you happen to be in the way of our forging relationships with your oppressors that could serve our security and economic interests, good luck to you. You’re on your own...

In the real world, as lived and experienced by real people, the demand for human rights and dignity, the longing for liberty and justice and opportunity, the hatred of oppression and corruption and cruelty is reality. By denying this experience, we deny the aspirations of billions of people, and invite their enduring resentment...

We are a country with a conscience. We have long believed moral concerns must be an essential part of our foreign policy, not a departure from it. We are the chief architect and defender of an international order governed by rules derived from our political and economic values. We have grown vastly wealthier and more powerful under those rules. More of humanity than ever before lives in freedom and out of poverty because of those rules.

Our values are our strength and greatest treasure. We are distinguished from other countries because we are not made from a land or tribe or particular race or creed, but from an ideal that liberty is the inalienable right of mankind and in accord with nature and nature’s Creator."

New Zealand Campaign Had Concerns Using Eminem-Like Song; Associated Press via New York Times, May 3, 2017

Associated Press via New York Times; 

New Zealand Campaign Had Concerns Using Eminem-Like Song

"De Joux said she sought and received assurances from music and advertising experts that using "Eminem Esque" would be acceptable because it was part of a licensed music library and was free from any copyright issue...

Under cross-examination, de Joux said she had not sought legal advice on using the song nor approached Eminem's representatives to get approval."

A Commencement Address; Reading, Archives and the Academy Blog, May 1, 2017

Richard Cox, Reading, Archives and the Academy Blog;

A Commencement Address

[Kip Currier: Dr. Richard Cox, a colleague in Pitt's Information Culture and Data Stewardship department, gave a stirring call-to-action commencement address yesterday--focused on ethics, technology, and responsibilities of information professionals.]

"On April 30th I was the speaker at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences commencement ceremony. This was the last commencement of the school, as it becomes the School of Computing and Information on July 1. This was a great honor, and a nice way of marking my own forthcoming retirement on December 31. I was asked to address the topic of the school’s focus on information ethics. Here is the address."