From Professor Crouch
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
A patent improvement | Economist.com
Another good article from the economist: A patent improvement Economist.com
It is always interesting to see how the media picks up on patent issues. Key takeaway for most readers; examiners need to have the best art in front of them, new technology is important to making this happen, and the major patent offices of the world are testing or planning to test a community approach to vetting references.
The most interesting note here is the problem the USPTO is trying to solve. What made the Google founders billionaires is understanding how to organize an incredible amount of disaggregated information such that the most relevant results are in the top 10-20 hits.
The key question now is how we do that for every public technical document, every part of every good ever offered for sale, and everything in every library, journal, or code base ever published in any language in the history of the world?
The answer probably involves the US classification codes, however it seems another x-prize may be appropriate...
It is always interesting to see how the media picks up on patent issues. Key takeaway for most readers; examiners need to have the best art in front of them, new technology is important to making this happen, and the major patent offices of the world are testing or planning to test a community approach to vetting references.
The most interesting note here is the problem the USPTO is trying to solve. What made the Google founders billionaires is understanding how to organize an incredible amount of disaggregated information such that the most relevant results are in the top 10-20 hits.
The key question now is how we do that for every public technical document, every part of every good ever offered for sale, and everything in every library, journal, or code base ever published in any language in the history of the world?
The answer probably involves the US classification codes, however it seems another x-prize may be appropriate...
Technical Incentives
Interesting article from the economist: Space Eyes on the prize Economist.com
Being in patents, it is interesting how various fields can be incentivized to innovate (e.g. open source software, "pure" sciences, etc.).
As an astronomy undergrad, I thought having a manned, lunar observatory would be the greatest development in data collection since Tycho Brahe. However, the unsolved key question was how to incentivize such a massive development. At the time, the only way I believed this could happen was through sub-licensing the radio spectrum reserved for astronomers to wireless carriers. Years later, faculty in Cornell's Astronomy department - and operators of the Arecibo Observatory - assured me this method of funding development would never happen, as the science community would never give up their facilities for such a risky undertaking.
What was not clear at that time, was that there would be any for-profit organization that would benefit from a lunar infrastructure. Amazing development - glad to see the prize model encouraging innovation.
Being in patents, it is interesting how various fields can be incentivized to innovate (e.g. open source software, "pure" sciences, etc.).
As an astronomy undergrad, I thought having a manned, lunar observatory would be the greatest development in data collection since Tycho Brahe. However, the unsolved key question was how to incentivize such a massive development. At the time, the only way I believed this could happen was through sub-licensing the radio spectrum reserved for astronomers to wireless carriers. Years later, faculty in Cornell's Astronomy department - and operators of the Arecibo Observatory - assured me this method of funding development would never happen, as the science community would never give up their facilities for such a risky undertaking.
What was not clear at that time, was that there would be any for-profit organization that would benefit from a lunar infrastructure. Amazing development - glad to see the prize model encouraging innovation.
Interesting stats: Patent Cases, as Percent of all Civil Cases: 1997 vs. 2007
Great statistics on where patent litigation has been initiated lately.
Friday, September 14, 2007
IP Software Resources
One of the most important aspects of efficiently running an IP organization is selecting great technology.
Here is a great place to start: IP Menu - Intellectual Property Software Resources
Here is a great place to start: IP Menu - Intellectual Property Software Resources
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