http://importance.corante.com/ en-us ernest.miller@aya.yale.edu 2005-07-06T06:19:53-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/07/06/euro_software_patents_are_dead.php Cory Doctorow reports on BoingBoing that Euro software patents are dead (Euro Software Patents are DEAD! w00t!). Good news! UPDATE 0940PT Jason Schultz has more on why this is important and what it means on Copyfight (EU Parliament Votes Down... 6294@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-07-06T06:19:53-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/20/hey_thats_my_handbag_design.php Good article in the New York Times on small fashion creators and how the big manufacturers knock off their designs (That Looks Familiar. Didn't I Design It?). How creativity and intellectual property work in the fashion industry is fascinating and... 6114@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-06-20T10:37:59-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/20/supreme_court_to_hear_patent_tying_case.php Although the Supreme Court did not issue decisions in Grokster or Brand X today, it did agree to hear a patent tying case (SCOTUS Blog | Court Turns Aside Booker Sequel).One case, Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink (04-1329) tests... 6110@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2005-06-20T08:06:05-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/17/licensed_goldfish.php GloFish are fluorescent fish that were originally bred to help detect environmental pollutants. Read the GloFish FAQ: About GloFish. Of course, who wouldn't want a flourescent fish for the dull, unexciting fish tank at home? So, they are now available... 6095@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2005-06-17T11:55:59-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/10/drug_patent_suspension.php Over on Copyfight, Alan Wexelblat writes about the possibility that Brazil will suspend patent rights on antiretroviral drugs in order to afford the fight against the AIDS plague (Patent Suspension? Or Let Them Die?). I sympathize with Brazil's position. However,... 6001@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2005-06-10T10:54:32-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/10/brazil_threatens_to_ignore_us_ip_rights.php The LA Times reports that Brazil is threatening to void US intellectual property rights in retaliation for subsidies provided to US cotton growers (Trade Battle With Brazil Threatens U.S. Copyrights).Angered by subsidies to U.S. cotton growers, Brazilian lawmakers said Thursday... 5993@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-06-10T00:29:02-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/08/pharmaceutical_patent_law_boardgame_no_seriously.php Patential is the boardgame for pharmaceutical patent geeks everywhere! Patential Details:Be the first to reach $1 billion. Get rich. Become famous. Help millions of people solve their health problems - show us your Patential Game!!Patential - a whirlwind tour through... 5975@http://importance.corante.com/ Games 2005-06-08T23:47:39-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/08/patent_reform_act_of_2005_introduced.php Dennis Crouch provides a succinct summary of the Patent Reform Act of 2005, which was introduced today (Patent Reform: Patent Act of 2005).Although some of the provisions in the proposed legislation are toned-down from the discussion draft distributed this spring,... 5972@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-06-08T21:59:53-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/06/01/patent_reform_library.php Interested in ongoing patent law reform? Don't know where to start? Try Promote the Progress, which has put together a handy-dandy patent reform index (The PTP Patent Reform Library - June 1, 2005).... 5885@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-06-01T22:53:36-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/05/29/pop_rocks_patent.php Phosita unearths the patent for Pop Rocks, #4,289,794, from 1980 (How Stuff Works - Pop Rocks!).The present invention relates to improvements in the method of preparing gasified candy. It specifically relates to maintaining the sugar melt at a lower temperature... 5825@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2005-05-29T21:24:13-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2005/05/12/patentlyo_two_briefs_supporting_cert_on_patent_obviousness_case.php Patently Obvious has a succinct summary of two briefs supporting a writ of certiorari for a patent case that goes to the question of obviousness (Supreme Court: Patent Professors Support Tighter Obviousness Standard). Many have argued that the standard for... 5600@http://importance.corante.com/ Blink › 2005-05-12T22:46:11-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2004/06/30/induce_act_iica_patent_extortion_but_for_copyrights.php WIRED reports on the launch of EFF's Patent Busting Project (EFF Publishes Patent Hit List). Slashdot discussion here: EFF, PubPat Each Seeking Some Patent Sanity. This is a much needed project, as patent abuse has become a rampant problem. EFF... 5185@http://importance.corante.com/ INDUCE Act 2004-06-30T16:45:16-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2004/03/12/ricin_patent_removed_from_pto_database.php Security expert Bruce Schneier has written to blogger and Mercury News technology columnist Dan Gillmor about a patent that seems to be missing from the online US database ('Dangerous' Patent Removed from Database?). He quotes Schneier: In October 1962, the... 5047@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2004-03-12T13:38:58-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2003/10/21/first_drugs_now_textbooks_parallel_import_trade_taking_off.php The New York Times (reg. req.) has an interesting article on the growing "gray market" in college textbooks (Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas). Apparently the exact same textbooks used by colleges in the United States are being... 4762@http://importance.corante.com/ Copyright 2003-10-21T07:40:25-08:00 http://importance.corante.com/archives/2003/10/17/requiem_for_bountyquest.php Slashdot has an interesting post noting that this coming Saturday would have been the third anniversary of BountyQuest, a quixotic attempt at patent reform that offered $10,000 bounties for finding prior art which would invalidate troublesome patents (Third Anniversary of... 4746@http://importance.corante.com/ Patent 2003-10-17T09:33:17-08:00