Patently-O Bits and Bytes No. 15: Law Professor Edition

• Rankings:
  • Professor Jay Brown recently ranked the most cited law professor blogs. (i.e., law review citation count). Patently-O ranks No. 6 with 73 citations since 2005. [LINK]
  • Professor Paul Caron ranked the most frequently visited law professor blogs and ranked Patently-O as No. 5 or 6 in the world. [LINK]
  • The site Volokh Conspiracy (a group of 20 law professors) is the only site ahead of Patently-O on both lists.
  • Other IP related sites making the lists: LessigBlog (Lessig is now running for Congress…) and Goldman's great blog.
  • I ran a search this morning to compare Patently-O cites with Harvard's excellent "Journal of Law and Technology."  Over the two-year period, Harvard's JOLT certainly has been cited more times than Patently-O. However, to make things fair, I limited the search to articles published by Harvard JOLT to 2005 – 2007. Comparing new articles to new articles, the Crimson team barely passed Patently-O: 78 – 73… (Stretching back to Mid-2004, Harvard jumps on-top with 130 cites)
• IP & Start-ups: Berkeley's Center for Law and Technology (BCLT) is hosting what will likely be the best conference of the year focusing on Intellectual Property's interplay with Entrepreneurship: http://www.law.Berkeley.edu/institutes/bclt/entrepreneurship/about.html.  They have an amazing lineup of top law and economic professors; lawyers; and business leaders. Registration is pretty cheap, even for the food-chain leaders Law Firm folks ($350). Academics $100; Entrepreneurs $75; Students $25. March 7–8 at the newly christened UC Berkeley Law School. (Formerly known as Boalt Hall).
• Houston IP Law: One of Berkeley's top professors — Rob Merges — will speak at the annual Baker Botts Lecture at UH Law Center April 1 at 5:30 pm.
• F. Scott Keiff: One of the few law professors who remains staunchly in favor of strong patents (and staunchly conservative) has been appointed to the PPAC to advise the PTO director on patent policy. [LINK]
• Missouri Inventor of the Year: I'll be giving the keynote at address at the Missouri Inventor of the Year award March 6 in Forest Park. [LINK]

I was hoping to see several Patent Law folks today in at Drake.  Sorry that I could not make it.

Comments

[CaveMan]

"F. Scott Keif: One of the few law professors who remains staunchly in favor of strong patents (and staunchly conservative)" ~ as if being in favor of strong patents or staunch conservatism is a crime. Also, the fact that Dennis opines that Mr. Keif is "one of the few" - a fact that can't really be proven, shows a certain herd mentality rather than thoughtful analysis. As if being of a different mind makes one wrong. I personally think following the herd is for cows and lemmings.

I guess the secret is out, Patently-O has a political agenda. (And BTW, I usually don't equate Berkeley and entreprenuership)

[patent junkie]

Good point CaveMan. Many of us have arrived at that opinion over time. It is extremely unfortunate that this blog is not more supportive of the patent system, since it is becoming so much more critical for this country's economic standing in the world.

The question is: Why do law professors pretty much uniformly have it in for the patent system? Is it just a general lack of understanding of how business works?

[Dennis Crouch]

CaveMan -- Are you implying that I'm with Scott Kieff or against him?

[M. Slonecker]

Mr. Crouch,

It is difficult to know where you stand since words like "normative", "externalities", "internalities", "social costs", etc. do not dominate your comments. If they did then perhaps the question could be answered one way or the other. In the meantime I will just have to assume that based upon the fact you have actually had a job(s) outside of academia and the law your views are more closely aligned with intellectual property law as it now exists by acts of Congress and state legislatures.

You recently noted that the breakneck race towards patent reform might actually be shortsighted and harmful in the absence of meaningful debate about real world problems and real world solutions calculated to address such problems. Undoubtedly your words of caution sent shivers down the spines of those in academia who regale in the insight provided by their mostly inaccurate missives that pass for "scholarship". Judge Michel made this point quite nicely and tactfully in his recent presentation.

BTW, I must be an advocate for a strong patent system. Just the other day I almost presented my internality as an externality. Fortunately, my wife was there to remind me my zipper was down.

[CaveMan]

Sorry Dennis, I just can't tell!

[Gobhicks]

I'd have to say that CaveMan's first post clearly suggests that he considered Dennis' words about Mr Keif to be pejorative, a view that PJ's comment obviously supports.

If CaveMan really can't tell, then I suggest that Dennis is doing fine. I have always found Patently-O to be very neutral in its reporting and I respect it all the more for that.

Some of the regular posters however (they know who they are, & present commpany excepted) need to learn some basic manners!

[Mark Lemley]

Larry is not running for Congress after all.