It Gets Better: U.S. Patent and Trademark employees share their stories; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 6/25/15

[Video] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; It Gets Better: U.S. Patent and Trademark employees share their stories:

[Kip Currier: While prepping for a patent lecture for my Intellectual Property and "Open" Movements course next week, I serendipitously found this inspiring "It Gets Better" video from 2015, featuring USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee and openly LGBT employees in the USPTO.]

"“Do not let the bullies of the world distract you from the commitment to achieve your fullest potential,’ says USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee in this video featuring stories from our employees, “It does get better.”"

The US Copyright Office is the poster child for regulatory capture; Boing Boing, 9/8/16

Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing; The US Copyright Office is the poster child for regulatory capture:

"Public Knowledge's new report, Captured: Systemic Bias at the US Copyright Office makes a beautifully argued, perfectly enraging case that the US Copyright Office does not serve the public interest, but rather, hands out regulatory favors to the entertainment industry.

Starting from the undeniable evidence that the easiest way to get a senior job at the Copyright Office is to hold a senior job in a giant entertainment company first (and that holding a senior Copyright Office job qualifies you to walk out of the Copyright Office and into a fat private sector gig as an entertainment exec), the report documents the numerous instances in which the Copyright Office has said and done outrageous things, and grossly misinterpreted the law, leading in many cases to being slapped down by the courts."

Trade secret law: A brief guide for in-house counsel; Inside Counsel, 8/18/16

Ben Berkowitz, Briggs Matheson, Inside Counsel; Trade secret law: A brief guide for in-house counsel:

"What information does trade secret law protect?

Forty-seven states have adopted some form of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”), with New York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina as the only exceptions. Under the UTSA, there is a two-prong test for determining whether information may be subject to trade secret protection. First, trade secret information must be information that “derive[s] independent economic value” from not being publicly known (See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code § 3426.1(d)). That is, the information is valuable because it is a secret that others, including competitors, do not possess. Second, the information must be “the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.” (Id.) “The determination of whether ‘reasonable efforts’ have been taken is quintessentially fact-specific,” and “‘depends on a balancing of costs and benefits that will vary from case to case.’” (Rockwell Graphic Systems, Inc. v. DEV Industries, Inc.) “Reasonable efforts” may include adopting confidentiality policies, entering into non-disclosure agreements, and establishing digital and physical security infrastructure. (Religious Tech. Ctr. Netcom On-Line Commc’n Servs.)"

Trade Secret Protection Blocks Sick Samsung Workers From Data; Claims Journal, 8/12/16

Youkyung Lee, Claims Journal; Trade Secret Protection Blocks Sick Samsung Workers From Data:

"An Associated Press investigation has found South Korean authorities have, at Samsung’s request, repeatedly withheld from workers and their bereaved families crucial information about chemicals they were exposed to at its computer chip and liquid crystal display factories. Sick workers are supposed to have access to such data through the government or the courts so they can apply for workers’ compensation from the state. Without it, government officials commonly reject their cases.

The justification for withholding the information? In at least six cases involving 10 workers, it was trade secrets. Court documents and interviews with government officials, workers’ lawyers and their families show Samsung often cites the need to protect trade secrets when it asks government officials not to release such data.

“Our fight is often against trade secrets. Any contents that may not work in Samsung’s favor were deleted as trade secrets,” said Lim Ja-woon, a lawyer who has represented 15 sick Samsung workers."

'Moonshot' cancer panel calls for US to create national research database; Guardian, 9/7/16

Amanda Holpuch, Guardian; 'Moonshot' cancer panel calls for US to create national research database:

"The Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel report said the recommendations, if implemented, “will transform our understanding of cancer and result in new opportunities to more effectively prevent and treat the disease”.

The 10 recommendations include existing programs that need more funding – such as research to update guidelines for patient symptom control – and brand new initiatives including a human tumor database to monitor and analyze multi-dimensional cell behavior...

But the funding necessary to fulfill these recommendations has not been approved by Congress despite lobbying by the Obama administration, which said it hoped to spend $1bn on the program."

Tell Your University: Don't Sell Patents to Trolls; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), 8/17/16

Elliot Harmon, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); Tell Your University: Don't Sell Patents to Trolls:

"When universities invent, those inventions should benefit everyone. Unfortunately, they sometimes end up in the hands of patent trolls—companies that serve no purpose but to amass patents and demand money from others. When a university sells patents to trolls, it undermines the university’s purpose as a driver of innovation. Those patents become landmines that make innovation more difficult.

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the problem of universities selling or licensing patents to trolls. We said that the only way that universities will change their patenting and technology transfer policies is if students, professors, and other members of the university community start demanding it.

It’s time to start making those demands.

We’re launching Reclaim Invention, a new initiative to urge universities to rethink how they use patents. If you think that universities should keep their inventions away from the hands of patent trolls, then use our form to tell them.

EFF is proud to partner with Creative Commons, Engine, Fight for the Future, Knowledge Ecology International, and Public Knowledge on this initiative.

A Simple Promise to Defend Innovation

Central to our initiative is the Public Interest Patent Pledge (PIPP), a pledge we hope to see university leadership sign. The pledge says that before a university sells or licenses a patent, it will first check to make sure that the potential buyer or licensee doesn’t match the profile of a patent troll"

No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book. Most People Still Prefer Them.; New York Times, 9/2/16

Daniel Victor, New York Times; No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book. Most People Still Prefer Them. :

"Even with Facebook, Netflix and other digital distractions increasingly vying for time, Americans’ appetite for reading books — the ones you actually hold in your hands — has not slowed in recent years, according to a study by the Pew Research Center...

Lee Rainie, the director of internet, science and technology research for Pew Research, said the study demonstrated the staying power of physical books.

“I think if you looked back a decade ago, certainly five or six years ago when ebooks were taking off, there were folks who thought the days of the printed book were numbered, and it’s just not so in our data,” he said."