productivity

This article from the Institute for Policy Innovationhttp://www.ipi.org/ipi_issues/detail/what-software-patents-have-wrought-a-lottery-ticket-to-a-lawsuit comments on yet another issue in the turmoil of today’s IP landscape- one that resembles a war zone.  Because software has become such a vital part of today’s tech and semi-tech products and services, it makes sense to provide some real protection for the originators if the invention is unprecedented and provides value.  The flood of software patents has opened Pandora’s box however and the box is…

IP counterfeiting doesn’t get alot of press these days and hasn’t for decades, but, this article definitely needs reading.  Here is the link:IP Counterfeiting Yet another in a growing list of situations in which crime appears to pay- or, it is clearly worth the risks involved.IP owners have another aspect of commercialization that must be continually addressed on a corporate level.

Bill Gates’s Favorite Business Book – WSJ: I was at the beach over the summer and the condo had a book by Bill Gates. I started reading it and was intrigued. I thought I had read it before, but it was still very interesting. As I’m skimming through into the second chapter, it hit me like a metric ton of CO2. This book was more than 2 decades old, 1994, The Road Ahead. Knowing how…

Justices Rule Aereo Violates Broadcasters’ Copyrights http://online.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-rules-against-aereo-sides-with-broadcasters-in-copyright-case-1403705891 Interesting ruling today. Kind of reminds you of the old NAPSTER daze when pirating muzak was king, and paying for music was passe.This is interesting. So you can not necessarily pay someone to put up rabbit ears for you, and steam you the air broadcast shows. The commercials would still be in the live shows, right. So the only difference is that you got someone else to record…

This is a great editorial by Caroline Little (June 8, 2014) on the value of good journalism and the part that IP law plays in supporting good journalism:TBO: news-opinion-commentary/strong-copyright-law-supports-journalism-and-informs-communitiesWe totally agree. The parallel problem is with pirating, knock off, and just plain duplication. It Is hard to make money on something, when most of the copies sold are illegal sourced or counterfeit.The additional problem, now, is that everyone has a license to write, the solo…

These Aren’t The Patent Trolls You’re Looking For | TechCrunch: Wow this is a great analysis/discussion of Patent Trolls. This is a great discussion of the companies that exercise their IP rights and ways in which they do so. IBM invents a lot (patents) but doesn’t directly utilize most of their inventions directly. Plus, even if they do, they often have peripheral uses of the technology where licensing out is a great way to commercialize….