Patent Baristas

As reported in the Atlantic, applicants to law school are down 15.6 percent for the year. Bigger problem? The wrong students may have stopped applying. The smallest drop in applications (4.3%) was among test takers who scored below a 144. Meanwhile, applicants in the 170-174 range are down by more than 20 percent. The Law […]

More commentary on the compulsory license granted by the Indian Patent Office for Bayer’s drug Sorafenib Tosylate (Nexavar): I read your follow-up post on compulsory licensing.  In it, you state that average income in India is $8000.  I have no idea what your source is, but you are regrettably wrong.  Average gross salary in India […]

Well, I’ve certainly heard from a number of people regarding my earlier post on  the compulsory license granted by the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks to Natco Pharma for manufacture of Bayer’s drug Sorafenib Tosylate (Nexavar), a drug used to treat liver and kidney cancer. The gist of the complaints are that I’m […]

Well. as you know, March 14 (3/14) is the day that people around the world celebrate that ridiculously long number known as pi (), which is: 3.14159265358979323 846264338327950288 4197169399375105820 974944592307816406 28620899862803482 53421170679… And that’s just the first hundred digits! Do numbers matter?  Most think so: “Numbers are really just abstract symbols, and we have to bring […]

“I wanted to call this book A Dispeptic Introduction to Intellectual Property, but the publishers understandably said “Um, no.”  ~Dan Hunter Sometimes, a book comes along that is just so cute you have to pick it up and read it.  Such it is in “The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Intellectual Property,” a little guide […]

If you have to participate in Valentine’s Day, at least make it legal when you hand the card to your significant other (hereinafter referred to as “My One True Love”). Docracy, a website of online legal documents, has posted the “Be My Valentine – Lawyer Edition.” The Valentine form allows you to fill in a […]

At the beginning of this month, AT&T rewarded some customers by giving them 1,000 free rollover minutes. While I’ll leave the debate of the dubiousness of such a reward to later, I just received a message from AT&T saying I have been upgraded and now can call any U.S. mobile phone for free: “AT&T Free […]

kar·ma/ˈkärmÉ™/ 1. The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. 2. Destiny or fate, following as effect from cause. As a part of my attempt to become a happier, calmer, and more optimistic person (i.e., the opposite of my natural personality), I’ve […]