Factoid: The USPTO has issued millions of patents. Number 8,000,000 will issue in 2011.
The USA is a very, very inventive country. At 8,000,000 patents in just under 200 years, we’ve come a long way since the verdict was issued that “everything that can be invented has already been invented.” We’ll keep on inventing … and inventing … and inventing. That’s how progress is made.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Tucson victims and their families as we watch the tragedy of the shooting aftermath unfold.
Hospital Update on Tucson Shooting
The other day a cashier was lamenting, in advance, to one of my FaceBook pals (from whom I copied this posting) of the “dreaded next few weeks”. He said that he dreads the holidays and the number of customers that will yell at him, scowl at him, complain to him and push their way into lineups just to get ahead.
“Hmmmm,” my friend thought to herself, “Doesn’t sound much like Christmas to me.” Then she thought some more. She promised the cashier that if by chance she came to his till again over the holidays, he would be guaranteed one smile and no grumpiness. He grinned at my FaceBook friend, thinking that she was joking……but my friend kept on thinking.
So, here’s what’s become of my friend’s thought process. This is a challenge for me and for you. Take time daily over the month of December to be intentional about doing something for someone else that expresses the Truth of Christmas (or of whatever winter holiday you choose to celebrate): show love by shoveling a neighbor’s driveway; show peace by letting someone ahead of you in line; show hope by paying for someone’s groceries or plugging their parking meter; show joy by writing a note to put in your kids lunchbag or to send to a long lost friend; show hospitality by inviting someone new over for dinner; show compassion by holding a door open for an elderly person. Whether its for a stranger, a friend or someone we live with, the list is endless, but its so easy to lose sight of in the hustle and bustle of our Christmas obligations.
I hope that by being intentional, our eyes will be opened more often to the people around us and the ways that we can make their lives better. Maybe, by experiencing a bit of hope, love, joy or peace, the recipient will choose to continue to do the same.
Maybe the world can become a better place.
This post is the brainchild of Jacki Petker Kliever, whom I have never met except to steal this posting from her Facebook page.
Now isn’t this interesting. China, whose ancient and noble culture does not include much respect for intellectual property, believes that it will be the leader in the world for issuing patents in 2011, outgunning the USPTO, the European Patent Office, and Japan. They say that both number and quality of patents have increased steadily to the point where the Chinese Patent Office will issue the greatest number of patents in 2011.
I never knew it was a race. Patents are good within the geographic boundaries of the sovereign nation that issues the patent during the term of the patent. Therefore, patent offices don’t compete with each other the same way that, say, a car dealership competes with the dealership down the road. You can — and often should — obtain patent protection in more than one country. China cannot grant patent protection in the United States or in Japan or in the European Union or in any other country; the patents issuing in China may well also issue in other countries. Other patent offices might consider hunkering down and getting ready for a blitz of applications based on the number of Chinese patents whose owners may seek foreign protection.
I am delighted, however, to see that China’s Patent Office is so very busy. That says to me that Chinese law recognizes the intellectual property rights of others; the culture, then, should follow suit, though perhaps the culture will move more slowly than does the law in this instance. The fact that they are signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (they entered the treaty on 1 January 1994) says that the laws governing this culture are changing, which will eventually change the culture’s respect for intellectual property.
So, bravo for China!
The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens George David Weiss of The Tokens, the group that brought The Lion Sleeps Tonight to worldwide fame, died yesterday.
I always thought that The Tokens had written the song. Turns out I was wrong. The tune was written by a Solomon Linda, who lived outside of Johannesburg. He sold the rights to his song to a movie for less than $1. That tune went on to make millions, but the songwriter died in squalor. He was so destitute at the time of his death in 1962 that his wife couldn’t afford a headstone. Meanwhile the song was raking in millions of dollars for the copyright holder.
Mr. Linda’s estate sued the copyright holder in 2000, and the copyright holder agreed to pay royalties on the song retroactive to 1987. There was really no reason for the copyright holder to agree to share the wealth with the songwriter’s estate. The copyright had been sold in 1952, before the song came into its own. The purchase and sale transferred the rights to the song to the purchaser. It was really very decent of the studio to agree to share the wealth. It was, in fact, the right thing to do.
There’s a new patent infringement case in effect now. In SEB, S.A. v. Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc., the Federal Circuit held that the “knowledge-of-the-patent” requirement for proving inducement of patent infringement can be satisfied by a showing of “deliberate indifference” on the part of the accused infringer, such as when the accused infringer copies a patentee’s product and fails to inform its patent attorney of that fact when obtaining a “right to use” opinion.
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