You know you're a law student at the end of a semester when...

1. You use the money from the book buy back for groceries.... and it's the first time you went grocery shopping in a month.... and you've been making mixtures of whatever you have left in the cupboard until this lovely grocery trip.

2. All the "finals" knitting projects you start you have to tear out because you realize you've dropped stitches/twisted stitches/hate what you decided to make after surfing Ravelry for an hour instead of studying for civ pro.

3. You haven't worn make up, moisturizer, matching clothes even when you leave the house for 5 minutes to remember what the outside looks like

4. You are REALLY surprised when you walk out of an interior room to find that it is not only completely dark outside, but that everyone else doesn't think it is so weird that it is completely dark outside.

5. When you watch Grey's Anatomy, you think about how much easier Med school would be and that there is still time to switch.

6. People ask you if you if you feel okay... all. the. time.

7. Caffeine has lost all of its magical powers.

8. You don't have money for yarn, so you look through your "bag to donate" that's been sitting around since last spring and start unraveling old sweaters.

9. You have 418 unread RSS feeds on your Google Reader page and you haven't been on Perez Hilton in 2 weeks.

10. Working 40 hours a week and taking a class this summer seems like a vacation.

11. You don't post any quality content on your blog for a long long time.

Patent-ly horrifying...

I'm settling in for another studying marathon, but thought I'd share an interesting topic that's buzzing on the web today, first. After all, I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast and the Parol Evidence Rule tends to ruin my appetite. So here we go:

Click here for an article in the NY Times about a proposed bill that would, in my opinion, be the most direct route to mistrust of the patent office - in the eyes of consumers, small time inventors or companies that just aren't as big as the pharmaceutical giants.

A quick background (in English): The main issues in regards to validity are whether the invention is "novel", useful, and "non obvious".

A patent is not novel if it has been already been invented, whether or not that previous invention was patented, or "if all the elements of the patent, or their equivalents are found" within a single description or incarnation of a previous invention. Kiva Corp. v. Baker Oil Tools, Inc., 412 F.2d 546, 552 (5th Cir. 1969). So basically, if I want to patent a type of button making machine, I can't if someone has already made that machine before or if someone has invented a larger machine that includes the same button making machine. Capisce?


Non obvious means that an invention "must not have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter of the invention pertains at the time of the invention and in the light of the teachings of the prior art." I know, I promised English. This just means that if you are in the button making machine business, you can't take two patents that pertain to button making machines and put them together in order to patent them.

The person looking to get a patent on his or her invention has a duty to disclose all "prior art" - basically any prior invention that has elements of the new invention. But sometimes that doesn't happen...

One last patent vocabulary lesson: Inequitable conduct. Inequitable conduct is established when the inventor doesn't share all of that prior art and “(1) the omitted…information [is] material to patentability of the invention; (2) the applicant [knew] of the existence and materiality of the information; and (3) the applicant intend[s] to deceive the United States Patent and Trademark Office.” That is a big no-no. Any patent acquired through the inequitable conduct is unenforceable... unless the bill goes through.

My mind is running absolutely wild thinking of the repercussions of this bill. The article does a great job of confirming that I'm not alone. Read it.

Okay, time for another 12 hour day of studying.... my breakfast is gone, my music is off.... life just got more lame.

Of all the things to get mad about...

There are a lot of maddening things in the IP world. Consumer ignorance is near the top of this list.

Here is a link to an article about a Forever 21 knock off of a Phillip Lim dress. The knock off makes me mad, but the comments to follow aggravates the entire situation. I kind of flew off the handle in my comment, but I couldn't help myself.

After finishing my oral argument today, I slept from 3pm to 11 and am returning to hibernation now. Finals studying starts in full swing tomorrow morning at 8am.

For Shaaaaame

Well, the US Trade Representation board came out with the 2008 Special 301 report, and I can't say I'm very pleased with the findings... nor am I surprised.

The 301 report is basically the Who's Who of Internationally IP Piracy. The report says that the committee looked at 78 countries this year and found that a whopping 46 of those countries should be placed on the "Priority Watch List."

The report starts out with warm fuzzies - Who is getting downgraded either to the regular watch list or off both lists entirely and why. Congrats to past year: Belize (removed from the Watch List), Egypt (moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List), Lebanon (moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List), Lithuania (removed from the Watch List, Turkey (moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List), and Ukraine (moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List).

Then the report goes on to pat the US on the back over and over and over. Why? Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries on the naughty list, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Reviews (I'll talk about this some other time), the proposed IPR practices in Russia, Lebanon, and Uzbekistan under ongoing GSP reviews.
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), and the STOP! Initiative (Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy... basically a collaboration of administration agencies and public and private industry leaders).

Great job America. BUT THERE ARE STILL 46 COUNTRIES ON THE PRIORITY WATCH LIST. Now, I know we can't reach into the countries on the Priority Watch List, but why aren't we employing tougher sanctions when dealing with countries that continue to show up on that list? This goes well beyond 16 year olds buying fake Prada bags on Canal. The report sums up how serious this issue is on page 6, saying:

Counterfeiting not only affects the profits of legitimate producers, but also impacts consumers who waste money and sometimes risk their safety by purchasing fake goods. It also damages the economies of the countries in which it occurs by decreasing tax revenue and deterring investment. Counterfeiters generally pay no taxes or duties, and they often disregard basic standards for worker health and safety, and product quality and performance. Piracy of copyrighted products in virtually all formats, as well as counterfeiting of trademarked goods, has grown rapidly because these criminal enterprises offer enormous profits and little risk. Counterfeiters and pirates require little up-front capital investment, and even if caught and charged with a crime, the penalties imposed on convictions in many countries are so low that they offer little or no deterrence.

My only request is that you be a savvy shopper - or maybe more importantly, a conscious shopper. By that I mean when you're about to get a screamin' deal, look around you... Do you think you can get Windows Vista at the dollar store? Or that the bodega on the corner is really an authorized retailer or Burberry cologne? In our present state of economy, many of us are looking to save a buck. Buying Skope mouthwash at $2 is an appealing alternative to the real Scope mouthwash for $5. If we all close our eyes to the fact that this is an obvious piracy, the aggregate effect will NOT help our economy. Not only that, but "Skope" and other knock off labels aren't tested for chemicals or contamination by any other means. So please, for the health of the global and national economy, and possibly for your own health, be savvy and conscious while shopping.

I need to stop here, as I'm in the midst of studying for finals. I'll likely resume the topic later. You can also read the report yourself here.

They Should Do This On Project Runway...

Okay, this is an amazing video. Video: Predictions on Fashion in the year 2000 from the 1930s.

A few points here that I seriously love:

1) Even THEY knew the dress/skirt would "disappear" (See my previous post)

2) Men SHOULD have that many pockets always... and they should always be carrying coins and "candy for cuties." In fact, it should be illegal NOT to have candy in a tin connected to your belt.

3) Mesh Dress? Oh boy were they right. Remember the 1998 VMAs?

4) And what about the WEDGES!? I love it. These people had some serious insight.

5) The modesty dress? It goes perfectly with our abstinence only sex education and our rising teen birth rates. Has the President seen this??? I see public school uniforms coming back in our future if he does......

Brilliant.

I enjoy being ahead of the game....

As my wardrobe has confirmed.... "the dress is dead."

I think the fashion world was waiting for me to donate that last shift dress to confirm.

Read all about it here.

I've been studying since 11 o'clock this morning. It's time to call it.