A Boston firm labeled a ‘patent troll’ by some says it is actually performing a service; Boston Globe, July 29, 2017

Andy Rosen, Boston Globe; A Boston firm labeled a ‘patent troll’ by some says it is actually performing a service

"Whether known by the pejorative “patent troll” or the more plaintiff-friendly “patent assertion entity,” such repeat claimants generally keep a low profile.

Not Blackbird. Verlander and her staff display their pictures, bios, and links to social media on a company website that says Blackbird helps inventors who are outmatched by big companies with little incentive to respond to claims not backed by expensive lawyers.

Verlander sees herself as doing a service to combat rhetoric by what she calls the “infringer lobby,” which seeks to conflate all patent assertion work with the more dubious pursuits of unscrupulous trolls. There are bad actors, she said, on all sides.

“If in the end you can’t reward someone for their invention regardless of whether they make a product, then you’re discouraging people from inventing, and that’s bad,” Verlander said."

Patent Record Broken 2 Years in a Row; PittWire, June 21, 2017

PittWire; Patent Record Broken 2 Years in a Row

"Pitt innovators have been issued a total of 92 U.S. patents through May, already surpassing the previous record of 80...

Along with the record-breaking fiscal year, in an overlapping measure of the University’s increasing strength in innovation, Pitt advanced into the top third of the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents Ranking for 2016.

Pitt moved up eight slots from last year to rank No. 27 — topping Duke University, Yale University and other top research institutions. The National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association has published the ranking annually since 2013 to highlight the important role patents play in university research and innovation.  

Those rankings are compiled by calculating the number of utility patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that list a university as the first assignee. Utility patents are issued for the invention of a new or improved useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter and generally permit the owner to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention for a period of up to 20 years."

Without intellectual property licensing, where would we be?; CIO, June 19, 2017

Roger Kay, CIO; Without intellectual property licensing, where would we be?

"Intellectual property (IP) is a lot like taxes: you don’t care about the legal niceties until they apply to you. IP (not to be confused with the IP in TCP/IP, which stands for Internet Protocol) is the fuel that runs our information economy, the wellspring from which a thousand flowers bloom in the form of a plethora of products based on IP previously created, established, and licensed to all comers.

When an inventor creates a valuable technology and patents it, there are two ways to go:

• exploit the technology directly and try to profit from being the sole supplier, or

• license it to anyone on a “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) basis and nurture an entire industry.

There are plenty of examples of both.

IP licensing can enable not just one company, but an entire industry."

"Foolish Visionary"; Bizarro, May 20, 2017

Dan Piraro, Bizarro; "Foolish Visionary"

'Edison", Frank and Ernest by Thaves, GoComics, March 20, 2017

Frank and Ernest by Thaves, Go Comics; "Edison"

America as a Place of Innovation: Great Inventors and the Patent System: Thursday, February 16, 2017

America as a Place of Innovation: Great Inventors and the Patent System: 

[Kip Currier: Looking forward to attending this panel discussion at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.]

DATE AND TIME

Thu, February 16, 2017

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EST

LOCATION

National Museum of American History

1300 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C 20013

DESCRIPTION

The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution and the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) at Antonin Scalia Law School invite you to a panel discussion at the National Museum of American History.

This panel will explore the history of innovation and the broader social, political, and legal context for inventors in late nineteenth century America. The panel will address the historical role of patents, research-intensive startups, litigation, and licensing during an important period of disruptive innovation.

• Speakers:

  • Prof. Ernest Freeberg, University of Tennessee, discussing Thomas Edison and how the invention of the electric light impacted American culture. Professor Freeberg is the author of the book The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America(Penguin, 2014)
  • Prof. Christopher Beauchamp, Brooklyn Law School, discussing Alexander Graham Bell and the legal disputes that erupted out of Bell’s telephone patent. Professor Beauchamp is the author of the book Invented by Law: Alexander Graham Bell and the Patent That Changed America (Harvard University Press, 2015)
  • Prof. Adam Mossoff, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, discussing early American innovation by Charles Goodyear, Samuel Morse, and Joseph Singer.Professor Mossoff is the author of the influential article “The Rise and Fall of the First American Patent Thicket: The Sewing Machine War of the 1850s.”
  • Moderator: Arthur Daemmrich, Director, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Closing Remarks: Alan Marco, Chief Economist, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute's "First Gear Program", 2017

[Kip Currier: Last week I highlighted a few from-invention-to-market initiatives offered through the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute. First Gear is another of these Pitt initiatives:]

"The First Gear program helps shape Pitt inventions originating from University research from early-stage discovery to products and services that can be taken to market. The program offers hands-on guidance and mentorship that takes an inventor through the necessary steps in creating a go-to-market plan that can result in the creation of a new enterprise or licensing agreement for the technology. As a designated NSF I-Corps site [sic; this is the correct link re NSF I-Corps sites], First Gear participants also receive $3,000 in funding to help validate the market-readiness of the innovation, and qualify for additional NSF funding of larger amounts. Want to learn more, watch the Pitt Ventures & NSF I-Corps webinar.

To request an application or more information on the program, fill out the form on this page."

More New Ways to Explore Patent Data; Blog by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee, Director's Forum Blog, 1/12/17

Michelle K. Lee, Blog by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee, Director's Forum Blog; More New Ways to Explore Patent Data

"Making patent data accessible to the public has been a cornerstone of this agency’s policy since its inception. I’m pleased to announce yet another step we’ve taken at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to make such data even easier for the public to understand and use, namely the addition of new features to our patent data visualization and analysis tool, PatentsView. First launched in 2014, PatentsView provides the public a variety of ways to interactively engage, through a web-based platform, the highest-quality patent data available. The underlying database connects 40 years’ worth of information about inventors, their organizations, and their locations in unprecedented ways. PatentsView is a key component of our open data efforts to improve the accessibility, usability, and transparency of U.S. patent data...

You could argue that the innovations documented in our records may very well, collectively, constitute the world’s largest repository of scientific and technological knowledge. But the larger a data set, the more challenging it is to find useful information or trends or, put another way, to separate the signal from the noise. This collaborative tool, developed by the USPTO’s Office of the Chief Economist in conjunction with the American Institutes for Research, New York University, the University of California at Berkeley, Twin Arch Technologies, and Periscopic, aims to make that sorting and separation possible. The shared public and private effort in creating and improving the platform is symbolized in the “.org” domain of http://www.PatentsView.org.

By providing new tools and data to the public, PatentsView demonstrates this agency’s continuing commitment to open data, open government, and evidence-based policymaking."

Still lovin’ it: Jim Delligatti’s Big Mac changed American culture; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/7/16

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Still lovin’ it: Jim Delligatti’s Big Mac changed American culture:

"Not content with McDonald’s menu, he invented the Big Mac even though the chain initially rebuffed his efforts and he had to hunt down a sesame-seed bun with enough brawn to contain the two all-beef patties, special sauce and extras he packed into the 550-calorie sandwich. It first sold in 1967 in his Uniontown restaurant, one of nearly 50 he came to own. The Big Mac was a smash hit, establishing Mr. Delligatti as one of the most important ingredients in McDonald’s success.

Surprisingly, Mr. Delligatti told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1997 that he received no royalties from the sandwich that helped put the gold in McDonald’s arches. He received no big pay raise, either. “All I got was a plaque,” said Mr. Delligatti, who also developed the McDonald’s breakfast.

The Big Mac today is criticized for contributing to the nation’s obesity epidemic and couch-potato culture. Yet the Big Mac was a product of its time, and Mr. Delligatti did what inventors and entrepreneurs naturally do. He filled a niche, brilliantly."

Pitt Innovation Showcase; University of Pittsburgh, 9/28/16

[Press Release] University of Pittsburgh; Pitt Innovation Showcase:

"The Pitt Innovation Showcase is your opportunity to see firsthand the exciting technologies being developed and moved toward commercialization at Pitt. It is also the opening reception for Science 2016.

Please plan on stopping by Alumni Hall on Wednesday, October 19, from 4-7 p.m. to network with Pitt Innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and members of the regional startup community.

The event begins with the Michael G. Wells Entrepreneurial Scholars Lecture that features this year a panel of leading healthcare entrepreneurs and investors who will give a behind-the-scenes look at getting a healthcare innovation from the lab to the market.

This will be followed by the announcement of the winners of the Wells Students Healthcare Competition and the Kuzneski Innovation Cup.

The Opening Reception and Innovation Showcase begin at 5 p.m. in the J.W. Connolly Ballroom, First Floor.

Come and be inspired by the Pitt faculty, students and staff who are working to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality and make an impact on the world.

Click here to register."

University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute; University of Pittsburgh, Press Release, 9/1/16

Press Release, University of Pittsburgh; University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute:

"You are invited to tour the newly renovated offices of the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute, from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14, 2016, at the Gardner Steel Conference Center, 130 Thackeray Avenue. Come and meet Innovation Institute staff and learn about the many resources, programs, events, and competitions planned for the new academic year. Appetizers and beverages will be provided. Click here to RSVP.

The Innovation Institute’s mission is to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at Pitt. Through its innovation commercialization services and entrepreneurship education programs, the Innovation Institute served nearly 2,000 Pitt faculty, students and staff in fiscal 2015. During the year Pitt Innovators submitted a record number of invention disclosures, were issued a record number of patents, and witnessed their discoveries translated into a record number of spinout companies.

As the Innovation Institute celebrates 20 years of providing innovation commercialization services to the University and the region this year, it is launching version 2.0 of its organization, following the consolidation of multiple offices under the Innovation Institute banner in 2013. With a streamlined technology management and commercialization organization, a new website, and expanded resources and programming, the staff of the Innovation Institute look forward to another banner year serving the needs and launching the dreams of Pitt Innovators."