Patent Baristas

Welcome to the Autumnal Edition of Blawg Review, hosted this week by the Patent Baristas. We’re always glad to have people over to visit so grab a piping hot spiced latte and we’ll see what’s been going on around the blogosphere.

Here in Cincinnati, OH, autumn is by far the best season with a drop in humidity and temperatures along with all the fall events. Despite some legal woes with the Bengals, it’s a good time to spend some time reflecting on the goings-on in the world.

Without further ado, here is this week’s review:

October Sky

Tom Collins of morepartnerincome (not the drink) has a review that is invaluable to all lawyers. He outlines the six basic law firm metrics that every firm should track. Memorize them.

A useful bit of crossover advice for lawyers comes from David Hornik at VentureBlog pointing out that a little hardship goes a long way. Why? Without pain, there is no resourcefulness. And without resourcefulness, there is no growth.

Larry Bodine’s Professional Services Marketing blog tells how to jump-start cross-selling in your law firm (although we think compensating for cross-selling activities should be moved to #1…and #2…and #3…)

And don’t forget the importance of positive law firm leadership. legal sanity offers leader behaviors that have a positive influence on people’s feelings including providing emotional support; giving positive feedback on their work; and publicly recognizing people for good performance.

The Wired GC writes about Hewlett-Packard’s How to Lose a GC in 10 Days.

Adam Smith, Esq., has a piece on law firm “social network analysis” (SNA). What is SNA, you ask? It’s the creation of network maps analyzing how people in your firm really communicate, through email traffic patterns, for example, and can be deeply revealing.

Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground describes the new industry called “associate training and development” for young lawyers who can’t dress themselves, don’t know anything about wine and have covered their bodies with unsightly tattoos.

Turning Leaf

Jonathan D. Frieden highlights the benefits of participation of lawyers in the blogging community in True to Form, Lawyers Blog More than the General Population.

Tracy Coenen gives a brief overview of how executives can get six years in federal prison and two years of full-time community service posted at Sequence Inc..

While David Maister presents More Things in More Places, we think you should also check out BlogTalkRadio.

Kaimipono Wenger at Concurring Opinions writes about Liberation blogology, the thought that bad writers would take to the blogosphere in droves and learn to write succinctly.

Slaw, a co-operative web log about Canadian legal research and IT asks what do you call a law blog in French?

Point of Law’s Ted Frank believes that the bad publicity from food poisoning costs far more than the damages awarded, and Marler Clark’s lawsuits may be more about ambulance-chasing after the injury and problem has been noted than about bringing attention to and correcting dangerous conditions.

Overlawyered wants you to know that in case you imagined that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission these days was all sweetness and reason with employers in enforcing anti-discrimination law, the Sixth Circuit has now upheld the dismissal of a fired employee’s suit on summary judgment on the grounds that morbid obesity, when not caused by a physiological disorder at least, is not an “impairment” under the Americans with Disabilities Act and now NYC plans to ban trans fats.

Autumn Harvest

Dennis Crouch, over at the Patently-O: Patent Law Blog, has a nice update on Microsoft’s petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court in its battle over transnational patent infringement.

Bill Meade has a guest post at Rethink(IP) on Strong-Non-Obviousness … Trap? I think so …

The Rethink(ip) guys have been busy with additional services including LegalMojo, a job board for legal professionals in all areas of law (not just intellectual property).

The Invent Blog has a nice overview of how to tell if a patent has been litigated over.

The Orange Book blog has developed the Hatch-Waxman Tracker. It is a database of all pending Hatch-Waxman cases and a place where someone could quickly and easily check on the status of all the pending cases at once.

Dennis Kennedy at DennisKennedy.com explains why you should describe blogs in terms of effects rather than technology in Explaining Blogs and RSS: A Primer.

Boris Umansky takes a Closer Look At The “Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006”, which was just passed by Congress earlier this week, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law within days.

The Patent Prospector writes that rumors are swirling that the patent office may be rethinking its continuation curtailment campaign. maybe common sense will prevail. Also rife is speculation of upper management shuffling due to due to upcoming presidential elections and the question about whether a Republican or Democrat will take office.

Rite of Fall

Professor Bainbridge asks if Sarbanes-Oxley 404 be fixed (and why it matters – a lot). Consider what’s happened to IPOs: So far this year, there have been just 17 international IPOs on the NYSE and Nasdaq v. 59 with the London Stock Exchange. Section 404 is at the core of the problem.

Jeremy Phillips, on the IPKat Blog, finds feelings are clearly running high over the new UK Patent Office website, writing: Disbelief was the IPKat’s first reaction when he accessed his favourite site, only to find that it had mutated …

John Welch has posted the TTABlog Quarterly Index for July – September 2006.

Ross Dawson at Trends in the Living Networks writes that IBM has announced that it will voluntarily publish its patent filings on the Internet. The upside is that it is taking the lead in creating a clearer, less confused, higher quality patent landscape. The (potential) downside is that it exposes its technology directions and strategy to its competitors as they develop rather than once they’re implemented.

Jonathan Wilson gives an overview of the President’s Identity Theft Task Force. Bottom line: watch out for phishing scams.

Amit Goyal lays out a beginners view on public patent review with Patents 2.0?.

Madeleine Begun Kane offers a Torture Bill Haiku posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness, a tragic day in U.S. history in 17 syllables.

October Road

The Mommy Blawger discusses the freakiness of the revelation that the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby is none other than her lawyer.

Valleywag predicts YouTube’s doom since what makes YouTube great is copyright infringement and it is shifting from “we love our users” to “oh ___ we need to profit.”

Kevin O’Keefe at Real Lawyers Have Blogs likes that the legallyblondepa has a cute MySpace page. He believes that there is a lot to be learned about being real and transparent on the net. Even the Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s David Conti seems smitten with bare shoulders writing that the site “shows a brighter side. Beside the smiling photo of her in a strapless top and information on her body type, dating status and zodiac sign (Taurus), Web surfers will find answers to questions about bankruptcy and links to a free legal consultation.” Whatever.

We could just need more self-help. shlep: the Self-Help Law ExPress has an overview of the Justice Department urging the Supreme Court “to clarify when a non-lawyer parent of a disabled child may file a lawsuit, without a lawyer, to enforce the child’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

But then, a study published in the Journal of Labor Research shows that people who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers. Not sure if that means consuming alcohol while at their jobs.

Better to check out Tom and Ray over at Car Talk who’ve posted Tommy’s favorite new lawyer joke.

Lion in Autumn

Patent Baristas have had a rough go at the Legal Bloggers Fantasy Football League, Blawger Bowl III. After drafting a team of underperformers, we’re soundly in 11th place by points. We’ll see how things shake out given the awesome perfomance of Santana Moss and Marques Colston this weekend.

Current Standings:

Rank Team
1. BizzBang Buzzers
2. Your Daddy
3. Jersey Teamsters
4. Raspberry Tort(e)s
5. Arabica Grounds
6. Cert. Denied
7. Tech Law Advisor
8. Loosely Coupled
9. Brkln Drppd Vwls
10. Completely Guessing
11. Draconian Measures
12. 13-3

BB3 is not the only blogger bowl, though. See SoCal Law Blog. But then also see the Biotech Fantasy League and even Concurring Opinion’s Fantasy Law School League.

Although Blonde Justice would prefer the Fantasy Fashion League, BlogHer says bring it on.

A freebie: the very cleverly named Get Free Downloads on the iTunes Store is a one stop shop website for all things free from iTunes. Great for listening while trying to decide whom to pick up on the waiver wire.

Pink for October

Pink For October urges bloggers to Go Pink during the month of October to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, get people talking about breast cancer and raise money for research.

Linguist Mark Liberman on Language Log prints a female lawyer’s email about Sex, status and law-office culture as a follow-up to his earlier post about Stereotypes and Facts, and The Female Brain. But, you might want to Fact-Check The Female Brain.

And in a final commentary to one of the Barista’s favorite blog sites, our review would not be complete without a nod to Go Fug Yourself. Fuggers Heather and Jessica critique the gymorexic physique and Crayola-colored skin of Jessica Simpson.

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We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition of Blawg Review. Nothing herein should be construed as an endorsement of any product or service. The decision on any inclusion (or not) in the review was completely arbitrary and capricious. Past performance does not guarantee future returns.

Thanks for dropping by and visiting our place. We’ll meet at your place next time.

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.