Month: February 2019

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Copyrights, attorneys fees, and a fascinating autobiography of a rock star

click to buy for $8.15 on Amazon

This book came out in 2016, and somehow I missed it.  By accident I stumbled upon it a few days ago, and I could not put it down.  I found it a fascinating autobiography by John Fogerty, the singer, songwriter, and guitar player for Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Here are some of the songs that made CCR famous:

  • Suzie Q (1968)
  • Born on the Bayou (1969)
  • Proud Mary (1969)
  • Green River (1969)
  • Bad Moon Rising (1969)
  • Down on the Corner (1969)
  • Fortunate Son (1969)
  • Lookin’ out my Back Door (1970)
  • Up Around the Bend (1970)
  • Have you Ever Seen the Rain? (1970)

Fogerty wrote all but the first.

The members of Creedence, four sixteen-year-olds, signed a contract with Fantasy Records, which until then had made very little money.  You know where this is going.  The contract was stunningly favorable to the record company and gut-wrenchingly unfavorable to the sixteen-year-olds who signed it.  Continue reading “Copyrights, attorneys fees, and a fascinating autobiography of a rock star”

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Please USPTO no more foot-dragging on retrieving certified copies from DAS

(Update:  A letter got sent on February 22, 2020 to the Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO, asking the USPTO to stop its foot-dragging on retrieval of electronic certified copies from DAS.  See blog post.)

The other day I taught another webinar about PDX and DAS.  And the usual gripe about the USPTO came up — why does USPTO actively age the DAS retrieval attempts?  Why doesn’t USPTO simply suck it up and carry out the retrieval of an electronic certified copy when asked to do so?   

I blogged about this in 2014, urging the USPTO stop the aging of such requests.  Now in 2019 the USPTO continues its policy of aging the retrieval attempts.  So now, dear reader, you are treated to another rant. Continue reading “Please USPTO no more foot-dragging on retrieving certified copies from DAS”

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Selecting an irrigation controller

Recently I got the idea of replacing an ancient irrigation controller at my house. The existing irrigation controller was a Rainbird ISA408 (photograph at right) which dates from before the Internet happened.  In today’s world of course we all have the idea that anything around the house, no matter what it is, should somehow be connected to the Internet or to our smart phone, or should in any event be very high-tech. Taken to its extreme we would have the Internet of Things.  How might one go about selecting a new irrigation controller?  In this article I talk about the new irrigation controller that most people choose these days, and what I think might be a better choice for some people. Continue reading “Selecting an irrigation controller”

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Register now for PCT Seminar in San Jose April 4

It is by now a well-known annual event for which I told you to save the date.  The patent firm Schwegman Lundberg Woessner hosts an all-day seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty.   This year it will be in San Jose.  Last year it was in Minneapolis.  The year before it was in San Jose.  This one-day PCT seminar is presented by yours truly.

But what I point out to the reader is the really remarkable thing, namely that the Schwegman firm, working together with the World Intellectual Property Organization as a co-sponsor, provides this event free of charge to the patent community. Continue reading “Register now for PCT Seminar in San Jose April 4”