Patently-O Bits and Bytes No. 4

• Patent Reform: The influential Intellectual Property Owners association (IPO) recently reported its belief that the Senator Leahy will “attempt to pass a revised version of S. 1145 in the Senate in February.”  The Bill has already successfully passed through the Senate judiciary committee. [www.ipo.org]
• RelatIP: An “online community tailored exclusively to the unique requirements of intellectual property (IP) attorneys.” [www.relatIP.com]. 
• Facebook: To meet Patently-O readers, join the Patently-O Facebook Group.
• Patent Troll Tracker Concedes: The Patent Troll Tracker is tired of the “kerfuffle” and plans to limit use of the occasionally offensive term troll.  PTT’s specialty is sifting through the chain of shell corporations used by patent enforcers.  Feeling the fire, Ray Niro’s $10,000 reward is reportedly dangerously close achieving success — unmasking the identity of the troll tracker.  See McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (“Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.”). (Image of Hamilton as the anonymous Publius).