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May 07, 2005
Corp. Blogging Policies and IP
A reader inquired:
With all the talk about blogging policies going on in the blogosphere,
what does the rethink(ip) team think about the issue? For example,
should technology companies how a more stringent blogging policy
relating to intellectual property? What about academic institutions
where professors tend to collaborate and "self-publish" research
results. Should larger research companies and institutions create
"blogging compliance" officers to monitor blogs of employees to see if
they are sharing employer owned intellectual property?
-- Douglas
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RE: Corp. Blogging Policies and IP
I personally don't see it any worse than the risk of disclosure via e-
mail, chat programs, Internet forums, etc. A company should make it
clear that regardless of the forum...confidential information is not
talked about AND other concerns should be addressed (speaking about
competitors, comments on how the company operates, etc.).
Ultimately, blogging is no worse of a risk than anything else.
--Steve
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RE: Corp. Blogging Policies and IP
Wow. Great question. Employee blogs create many tough issues, intellectual
property being only one of them. But, that's what we're here for so let's
tackle that one.
Release of company intellectual property, intentionally or inadvertently, by
employees is an old problem. Blogs are simply a new technology that provide
a new mechanism for the release to be made. In that sense, existing
policies can be applied to this new technology - business organizations
should take appropriate action when releases occur. Because blogs make it
so easy to publish information to the public at large, I think that special
controls are in order for some organizations. Once it is known that one or
more employees are running relevant blogs, I would be sure to make it
someone's job to monitor the content of the blog. Ideally, the responsible
person would have knowledge of the organization's intellectual property and
would be a part of a group that understands the rights and duties involved.
The legal group seems like the best candidate.
I would not, however, establish a "blog compliance" system of manuals and
officers, seeing that as having potential to be restrictive on the
employee's rights.
-- Matt
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May 06, 2005
Patent Course Study Aids
Hey guys, we got this question to RTIP:
"For those of us that are attempting to become patent agents/attorneys, it
would be helpful to hear what study aids are considered to be worth the
money, and which are the best value. I intend to take the test in about six
months, so I need to pick something and start studying."
For me, the best money spent is on Professor Kayton's Patent Bar
review course - it is the only course that our associates attend and
consistently has the highest pass rankings. I would suppose that one
could spend the time and effort to simply study the MPEP on your own
and look at the materials the Patent Office makes available (old exams
etc.) - but I think it is worth the added investment to spend the
money and take Kayton's class.
What do you guys think?
-- Douglas
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Re: Patent Course Study Aids
I almost passed the exam while in law school and then retook it after
I started working (using my old West study course). Honestly, the
test is 500% easier after you have some experience
(apprentice)...suddenly the real stupid answers jump out at you. If
you can eliminate the stupid answers...the test is considerably easier.
The other thing you have to remember is that none of the three of us
took the current exam (electronic). We were all able to bring in
summaries, outlines, indexes, etc. I wouldn't have wanted to take
the exam without them.
-- Steve
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Re: Patent Course Study Aids
I agree with both of my cohorts. Experience not only helps, but I
think increases your odds of passing exponentially. Kayton's course
is the best. Unfortunately, its also the most expensive (funny how
that works out, eh?). My advice -- don't cut corners here. Take the
Kayton course...it will help you pass and will also give you valuable
information that actually applies to the practice. Not many bar
review courses (of any kind) can say that.
-- Matt
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May 02, 2005
Meow - Should We?
Ok guys - I got the Meow up and running. Basically it is a process by which we can let people look at our email messages back and forth and see what we talk about - basically they can eavesdrop in on our conversations.
What do y'all think?
-- Douglas
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re: Meow - Should We?
I'm not sure I "get" it. Why would we use it? When?
Are you sure anyone cares?
Won't the Between Lawyers crowd be annoyed...
Convince me...'cause I don't get it.
-- Steve
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re: Meow - Should We?
Bizarre. Now we have to take a leap of faith and believe that people
actually want to read our e-mail. Is it reality blogging?
-- Matt
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re: Meow - Should We?
I'm still clueless, but that's nothing new. I don't see why people
bought pet rocks either.
Let's give it a whirl.
Could we create seperate e-mail addresses for this? Then we could flip the switch on a topic by just starting a thread there, instead of pulling in all of the hot air.
Say someone sends us a Q, and we decide to rethink it for them. Flip
the switch by sending a "Ok boys, time to rethink" e-mail out to the
MEOW-enabled addresses. Then, we tackle the Q within those
addresses...all of it captured by the kitty behind the curtain (I',
assuming Toonces is running the show on the MEOW thing...).
-- Matt
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