Earlier today the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated the preliminary injunction issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia preventing the federal government from funding stem cell research. Meanwhile, the patenting of stem cells is also currently under attack in Europe. According to European Union Advocate General M. Yves Bot, stem cells have the capacity to evolve into a complete human being and, therefore, must be legally classified as human embryos and must be excluded from patentability on moral grounds. But is it really moral not to perform research that many believe could hold promising cures for such diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s?

Discoveries that lead to scientific breakthroughs that lead to engineering feats that turn discoveries and breakthroughs into reality takes time; a lot of time. A lot of time spent researching, discovering and engineering means a lot of money. Just look at the path we are taking with respect to various clean, green, alternative energy technologies. It isn’t like we don’t know what we are looking for, or what the holy grail is. It will just take decades to get there. Similarly in the life saving technology areas, such as biotechnologies, companies can easily spent a decade sucking in money and not being profitable. Without funding that which society, our leaders in DC and the Judges wearing the black robes all want cannot come into being, period!

I have long believed that the next breakthrough, paradigm shifting technology will be battery technology. Unfortunately, even given all the excellent research and development that is ongoing in the U.S., much funded by venture capitalists (over $200 million last year) and the Federal Government through research conducted at Argonne National Laboratories and other federal labs, the energy density for the lithium ion battery is still a factor of 10 away from the energy density of gasoline. Progress is being made and new lithium derivative batteries are being tested and showing some promise, although they are a long way away from the energy density of gasoline, but there is a path forward.

Once you have done as much as you possibly can on your own you might want to consider hiring an engineering firm to provide additional information and input to put your invention over the top. The thing to remember is that if the person or firm you hire provides information that relates to the conception of the invention they will be considered a co-inventor. As a co-inventor they have rights to the patent. In order to get the help you don’t want to give up rights to your invention. You will want to have an agreement in place keeping ownership of the patent rights if you seek assistance from someone else, whether they are a professional or not. You should also have a confidentiality agreement in place, unless you are speaking with an attorney, in which case a confidentiality agreement is unnecessary. We have some free sample confidentiality agreements you can use as you see fit.

The term “sloppy taps” could make a great name for a race horse, particularly one that thrives on running in the mud, or more accurately on a track where there is standing water, which is the true definition of a “sloppy track.” But what Apple refers to as a “sloppy tap” is a control finger motion used to produce a tapping motion on a touch screen that incorporates a sliding motion. How are you to tell whether a tap was intended or a slide was intended? Luckily, Apple has come up with a method of deciphering sloppy taps, and was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,932,896 on April 26, 2011.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking public comment on a proposal to streamline the procedures governing ex parte and inter partes patent reexamination proceedings. The timing of this announcement, which appeared in the Federal Register on April 25, 2011, seems curious to me. With patent reform circulating in the House of Representatives does this signal a belief that on the part of the Patent Office that patent reform is dead? The patent reform passed by the Senate and that being considered by the House has revised post-grant review proceedings, so wouldn’t it be wise to wait to revamp reexamination until after patent reform passes, that is if it seems likely to pass?

Did World Intellectual Property Day sneak up on you again this year? How could you let that happen? At a time when the United States Congress seems hell bent on destroying the patent system by inadequately funding the United States Patent and Trademark Office we really should celebrate something that seems to be functioning, so why not celebrate the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the innovation policies of nations who are stealing research and development away from the United States? What a tragedy that the World has better innovation policies than the United States.

I was surprised about how wrong my own intuition was, which is why I focus on the myths about patent trolls. Just about everything we thought we knew – good or bad – does not appear to be true. The article may not change too many minds about patent trolls. Those who believe NPEs are bad for society won’t care much about where they came from. However, I think that NPEs are a reflection of inventive society — their patents come from all sorts of sources, and how we feel about NPEs should depend on how we feel about the people who invested in the research that create the patents and the role patent law played in innovation.

I was extremely impressed by what I saw at the University of New Mexico. There are two federal laboratories in New Mexico – Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories – so I knew there was a lot of cutting edge research in the State. I also knew that the University of New Mexico had a strong technology transfer program headed up by Kuuttila, who has spent 30 years in the industry and has an outstanding reputation in the field. That being said, I still didn’t quite anticipate seeing building after building dedicated to research and development. In fact, the University of New Mexico spends over $200 million in annual research funding, and has a wealth of laboratory facilities, high performance computing and information systems capabilities. Researchers also have close, collaborative ties to researchers at the nearby federal laboratories.

If you’re in the profession of technology transfer, you just lost a close friend. Whether you knew him or not, you are a beneficiary of Norman J. Latker who passed away last weekend. Concerned that new innovations were driving up health care costs (a familiar sounding theme), the Carter Administration terminated the program. Norm, Howard Bremer, and Ralph Davis of Purdue set up a meeting with Senator Birch Bayh’s office asking that the program be made the basis for a uniform government patent policy. This request led to the introduction of the Bayh-Dole Act.

Those who live inside the beltway know that rumors swirl left and right, and it is sometimes extremely difficult to cut through the rumor-mill, which sometimes seems more like a “wishful thinking mill” than a true rumor-mill. Notwithstanding, there is one name that I have heard from multiple sources as likely to become the next Secretary of Commerce — Ambassador Ron Kirk.

Can you honestly say that your firm has more business than it can handle? I would venture a guess that no, it does not. Marketing is so often put on the back burner to everything else that needs to be done. This is especially the case for firms that need to cut their budget. If you cut marketing to save funds in your budget, you will likely need to cut more of your budget down the line. Even if the firm’s table is quite full right now, you must always seek to add new clients to make up for yearly attrition.

The last Continuing Resolution (or CR) ran out on April 8, 2011, with a 11th hour agreement, which was ultimately passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama the following week. When the dust had settled the United States Patent and Trademark Office did not fare well at all, with $100 million be diverted from the Patent Office. That lead to the Office today announcing severe austerity measures because they don’t have the funds available to operate as a going concern.

We talked about Peer to Patent, Watson on Jeopardy, where the Supreme Court is heading with patent law, the usual fun questions to get to know Schecter on a personal level and more. As we moved into the “fun stuff” you will learn that one famous IBM invention was tested out in the early stages by the inventors on a Thanksgiving turkey one year, proving that innovation never takes a holiday! We also learn that Schecter is something of a James Bond fan, and selected one recent Academy Award winning film as his favorite movie.

In other words, simply making a sale does not mean you are marketing your products and services effectively. Effective marketing is the process by which you promote your firm through the sharing of information with prospective clients about what you have to offer, with the ultimate goal being that a sale is made. Without an effective marketing strategy, you are far less likely to facilitate the sale.