Patently-O Tidbits

Patentable Subject Matter in Boston:

• On March 16, 2007, I'll be speaking at Harvard Law School as part of the Journal of Law & Technology's 20th Anniversary Symposium titled: "Progress of Science and Useful Arts" My panel will be discussing "The Outer Limits of Patentable Subject Matter." Registration is FREE.

LexisNexis and Amazon

• If you are not satisfied reading this free version of Patently-O, you can now get the same content through LexisNexis for a fee. Lexis has begun archiving content from a select group of "web blogs" including Patently-O.  Unfortunately, they will not be including some of our best content -- reader comments.
• On the other hand, if you are satisfied with this free version of Patently-O, you should think about using the site as a portal for purchasing your books and other junk from Amazon. If you click on an Amazon link from my site, I get about 6% for any item that add to your cart during that session.  (I only need about $2.6 million in sales to reach to the income level of a first-year associate).  
• In response to a comment, I'll mention that the books linked through Amazon are all books that I have read or at least browsed through and found redeeming value. In some cases, like Alan Durham's book and Patent-it-Yourself, I have the earlier edition.  I have given Patent-it-Yourself to a number of clients, including corporate counsel and inventors.  For the most part, they followed some of the advice in the book, but none of them decided to 'patent it themselves.'

Comments

[john]

How much does Lexis pay you? Just curious.

[Dennis Crouch]

I expect about $15 per year from Lexis if I'm lucky.

[john]

Thanks. I guess you're now making plans to retire early. ;-)

[Post from EU]

Are the books presented in the Amazon links of your site endorsed by you, or are they just some IP books that Amazon has selected ? I mean, can we consider as readers of Patently-O that we will find in those books the same level of quality as we do find on your site ? If yes, I would suggest that you improve your site further with a book review, or that you post your comments on the Amazon pages related to those books.
Thanks.

[Dennis Crouch]

Thanks EU -- I've updated the post above to indicate that I only put books that I like in the left-hand-panel. I would like to do more book reviews, but have not found the time.

[me]

I would be curious to hear your opinion of the EST case (In Re Fisher) and whether ESTs are patentable subject matter. ESTs certainly have a use as more than "landfill."

[Dr. Michael Factor]

I recommend Patent-it-yourself to trainees and to clients. I think it is a good overview of the system, and is informative without being heavy. I do not accept the basic premise of DIY patenting, and it reminds me of a lovely book I used to own called "Do it youself brainsurgery and other hobbies", which included a knitting plan for a suspension bridge that required 23 miles of woven steel cable amongst other things.

Now and again I do get interesting jobs from clients who seek professional advice after writing, filing and handling early prosecution of their applications themselves. sometimes it is challenging to pull people out of holes that they dug themselves into.

[Cynthia Casby]

Thanks, Dennis. I really appreciate the blog and read it daily. I picked up a few of the books on click-through. It's kind of like contributing to NPR. It's just the right thing to do.