rethink(ip)

Rollyo + IP Sites + Nuevos = Great IP Searching

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at March 15, 2006 08:11 PM

Back a few months ago everyone was abuzz with "Rollyo." Rollyo is a website where you can enter your favorite websites into a personalized search engine (ROLLYourOwn search engine or "searchroll"). Neat concept, but after some tinkering creating a "Rethink(IP)" Rollyo page containing all of the Rethinker's favorite IP sites and information...we never created a post for it. Oops. So, here it is: Rethink(IP)'s Rollyo page. Here's an example search: "Patent Troll."

The original sources were thrown together based on my bookmarks/OPML file and at that time I was limited to my top X sites. That may have changed, so Matt, Doug and I will go back and update the sources to make sure they are what we think are the best resources.

Today, I (being a part time Mac user) saw mention of a new (to me) Mac program called Nuevos. Nuevos is a search bar (much like you'd see in FireFox for searching Google/Amazon/eBay/etc.) that lets you search a variety of websites from one box.

Then it dawned on me, what if I added Rethink(IP)'s Rollyo page to Nuevos? So...I did. Now, I can easily search IP sites for a phrase (such as "patent reform") and know I won't be buried in splogs or paid avertisements. Only the sites Rethink(IP) picked will be in the results. Very cool.

Here's the code if you are a Mac user and want to create a Rethink(IP) Rollyo search link for Nuevos:

Email Subscription to Our Trademark (and other) News Feeds

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at November 3, 2005 12:32 PM

Earlier today we had a reader point out that we didn't provide an easy way to subscribe to the Trademark News and Notices feed via email. To remedy that we created a subscription box which we'll have to incorporate into the border:

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You can also directly access that Trademark Feed sign up form by going to this URL.

While I'm at it, here are our Patent Lawsuit email subscription feed and our All USPTO News email subscription feed.

As always, please forward this to any of your colleagues who would find it useful.

Insourcing Quid Pro Quo

Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at November 2, 2005 10:31 AM

Insourcing is one of the main reasons Matt, Doug and I were drawn together almost a year ago. It was a conversation about how to work together to promote the insourcing of patent services to inland patent firms instead of outsourcing them abroad that started this great rethinking project. We've clearly gone beyond insourcing a major Rethink(IP) theme, but that topic is still close to our hearts.

In reviewing my client base recently I noticed something I hadn't seen before (and I'm sure my fellow rethinkers see too in their own practices), namely that the amount of work we are doing for foreign patent and trademark firms has substantially increased in the past few years. Substantially. Maybe The World is Flat has just opened my eyes more to the impact of technology and the Internet on my practice.

I'm not sure whether they are ditching their big city firms and insourcing to the Intermountain West and/or Midwest for customer service, for price, or for other reasons, but it is clearly happening. What amazes me is how quickly foreign IP attorneys get it, but US businesses as a whole don't.

Foreign IP work has traditionally been "quid pro quo," in that "if you send me work, I'll send you work." Perhaps it is due to the low performance of the US dollar or perhaps other factors, but the reality is that having IP work done in the US is as expensive as ever. In my opinion, this is a fact which is causing some foreign IP firms to consider other cost effective ways of protecting their client's intellectual property in the States, and one of those ways is insourcing. The result is that foreign firms are sending lots and lots of work to smaller firms in smaller metropolitan areas, firms that can't possibly support the old school quid pro quo.

Is it the end of "tit for tat" in IP work? I doubt it, but it is sure to have ripples in the market for worldwide IP services.

Other thoughts, insight and comments appreciated (the comments are open)...

Tech tip - city mind maps

Posted by J Matthew Buchanan at October 19, 2005 11:30 PM

If you haven’t tried MindManager yet, you’re really missing something.  I’ve been hooked on this program for the last couple years.  It has changed the way I organize information…and the way I think about information.  Everything has a place.

I have found all kinds of uses for the program in my practice — including mapping of competitive intelligence information.  But, that’s another post altogether.  I thought I’d share a simple tip that you can put in practice on your next business trip — city maps, er, city mind maps, that is.

Here’s the idea.  When I travel, I gather all sorts of information that is related to a particular city — not by doing anything special, but just through the regular activities everyone does on a business trip…I meet new people, learn about local culture, local industry, etc.  This information comes to me from various sources, including the activities I participate in while I am in the city, discussions I have, news I hear on the hotel television, etc.

Before MindManager, all of that information was lost because I relied solely on my memory to recall it at some point in the future, or my ability to find scraps of paper on which I scribbled cryptic notes. 

Now, I create a city mind map to organize all of the information.  I use an “anytown USA” template map I created (see the screen shot below) and throw every bit of information I can think of onto the map…usually on the plane trip home.  I link relevant Outlook contact records into the map, add tidbits of information about local “legend and lore,” add flight details to and fro, and even add a brief description of each of my visits.

Why on earth would I do this?  What value does it have?

It pays off during subsequent trips to the city.  Prior to making those trips, usually on the plane ride there, I review the map.  Everything comes right back to me.  I might remember a local tidbit that helps with small talk during a meeting or be reminded of a favorite restaurant.  And, because the Outlook contacts are linked, the map provides a great way to review contact records for people that are connected to that city (much easier than sorting/searching Outlook in an attempt to find those contact records).

And here’s a bonus tip — as soon as I create a new city mind map, I assign an ActiveWords keyword to it using the airport code.  The result…no matter where I am headed, all I have to do is enter an airport code, hit the space bar twice, and up pops an organized map of relevant information.

It’s a beautiful thing.