The average pendency of U.S. patent applications is out of control.  Everyone involved in the industry knows this to be true, but it might be easy to forget just how bad it is at times.  Like so many patent attorneys and agents, I did not practice during the Reagan years.  While I have over 10 years of experience as a…

In February I tried to compile a list of the top 25 patent blogs, but the list was admittedly insufficient.  With that in mind, I am giving it another go and looking for nominations.

Yeseterday I wrote an article titled Obama to Fund Entrepreneurs in Latin America.  In this article I discussed President Obama’s remarks while at the Summitt of the Americas, particularly picking up on his pledge to send $448 million dollars to foreign countries impacted by the economic crisis, and a plan to create a fund to restart the lending to businesses and entrepreneurs…

Sometimes I wonder if I am dreaming.  Virtually all of us have been affected by the economic crisis that has gripped the world, so no one can really claim to be uniquely impacted above and beyond others, although to each their own circumstance no doubt feels unique.  There are tried and true solutions that historically have lead to economic growth…

Yesterday as I was watching news coverage of the thousands of tea parties that occurred all across America one particular sign caught my attention.  It was a poster of Ronald Reagan in a style reminiscent of the now famous Barack Obama poster created by Shepard Fairey.  You may recall that Fairey created a popular print made famous through the 2008…

I have been writing for some time about the problems with the United States patent system and my proposed solutions.  As I have continued to write about various issues and work through them with assistance from readers who both send me private e-mails and post comments, I have been getting more and more comments and messages from people on the…

I can honestly say that I never thought I would have any reason to write about Nadya Suleman, the so-called Octomom, but it appears as this omnipresent, attention-seeking mother of 14 children is aggressively seeking to cash in on giving birth to 8 children just a few months ago.  In order to take full advantage of this situation Suleman has…

According to an article on GovernmentExecutive.com, an announcement regarding appointment of an Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property (a.k.a., Director of the USPTO) could come within the next week or two.  This news of a new leader on the horizon seems to be quite pleasing to Robert Budens, the President of the Patent Office Professional Association, which is an independent…

For some time now I have been writing about how a patent stimulus plan would revitalize the economy, but I am all fired up today after a flurry of comments and e-mail exchanges regarding some of my recent blog articles. It is way past time to rethink the patent application process and how patent prosecution is carried out by patent examiners. …

Many readers will recall that on March 16, 2009, I posted an article titled Perspective of an Anonymous Patent Examiner.  That post was and has been one of the most popular posts ever on the IPWatchdog.com Blog.  Therefore, I was quite pleased to receive another e-mail from the same anonymous patent examiner over the weekend.  Not only is this type…

The fact that the FTC is uncomfortable with patent trolls, or non-practicing entities as is now the accepted term, does not mean that the government should launch an investigation to help those tech-giants who can’t figure out how to combat trolling. First, we need to keep in mind that whatever rule is created to apply to the so-called non-practicing entities, will also apply to universities, federal laboratories and research & development companies. So we can use the politically correct term — non-practicing entities — or we can use the term “patent trolls.”

On April 24, 2009, the United Inventors Association (UIA) will release a ground-breaking educational series covering every stage of the inventing process.  This 10 part series, made up of episodes that are approximately 30 minutes in length, was hosted by Steve Greenberg, the author of Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention.  Steve is a multiple Emmy Award…

Trademark owners who attempt to file and prosecute their own trademark applications are really being pennywise and pound foolish. I appreciate the reasons for filing your own trademark applications, particularly in this economy. Many times, trademark owners are small companies in their infancy, or individuals that are trying to minimize legal fees while attempting to obtain valuable trademark protection. Nevertheless,…

On June 10 – 11, 2009, retailers, manufacturers, media, analysts and investors will gather in Midtown Manhattan for the Consumer Electronics Association Line Shows. New York’s consumer electronics conference and showcase will focus attention on what’s new, what’s next and what’s happening in consumer technology innovations.  To show its support for invention and entrepreneurship, this year’s CEA Line Shows will…

Dr. Chris Mammen focuses his practice on patent and related intellectual property litigation and appeals. Twenty years ago, in the 1988 Burlington case, the Federal Circuit expressed its displeasure with the frequent assertion of the inequitable conduct defense in patent litigation, famously calling it a “plague.” Later that year, in the en banc portion of the Kingsdown case, the Federal…