New FedCirc.us Search Tool Released

The master plan for the FedCirc.us site includes several web features designed to deliver patent caselaw information in a more effective manner.  The first – the GimmeTen! feature – has quickly become the most popular page on the site…and for good reason.  Not familiar with it?  Simply bookmark http://10.fedcirc.us and visit regularly.  That page always provides concise summaries of the ten most recently posted case reviews.  We’re confident you’ll quickly be hooked.

Today we announce the second feature in our bag of tricks – the travelling FedCirc.us search engine.  By following the steps below, you’ll be able to search the FedCirc.us site from anywhere on the web.

The best part is the simplicity — 5 easy steps (4 for most people).  Five minutes tops.

1.  Make sure you’re using either Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2.0 as your browser.  If you’re not, download the latest IE here or Firefox here (both are free).  For the record, FedCirc.us is optimized for Firefox.

2.  Start your browser.

3.  Visit FedCirc.us.

4.  Pull down the drop-down search box in the upper right hand corner and select “Add FedCirc.us” (in Firefox) or select “FedCirc.us” with the gold star next to it (in IE, see image at right).

5.  Surf the web.  Whenever you want to search the site, simply enter a search string in the box in the right hand corner, pull down the list, select FedCirc.us, and hit return.  You can do this from any page on the web…and you’ll immediately be transported to a listing of search results from the site.

I’ve quickly gotten used to searching by party name or full case name as I’m reading on the web.  This little trick has changed my surfing habits for the better…it’s a wonderfully efficient way to find information quickly.  We hope you find it useful as well.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.  You can e-mail Matt directly at jmb @ rtipllc.com.

Enjoy!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, February 15, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Permalink: New FedCirc.us Search Tool Released
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The Resolution(tm) — a new Fedcirc.us Product

FedCirc.us (Matt/Steve/and I) announced earlier today the availability of a free preview issue of The Resolution, the inaugural issue of our quarterly magazine, The FedCirc.us Reader.  Download the .pdf here.

According to Matt:

The Resolution will give you a sneak-peak at the features of the magazine.  It’s jam-packed with all sorts of patent-caselaw goodness, including a ‘Trend Spotting’ article, a featured case review, prosecution- and litigation-focused digests, chronological and alphabetical listings of cases from last quarter (including summaries), and a fun “Quotables” section that includes some of our favorite quotes from cases issued during last quarter.

For this issue, we’ve even included a brief note about the story behind the FedCirc.us name and domain.

We think you’ll agree that the magazine is an exciting and effective new tool for staying current on patent caselaw developments.

Of course, the free preview issue includes subscription details for the magazine.  The site will be ready to accept subscription payments starting tomorrow.

Please download our first copy and let us know what you think.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, January 31, 2007 at 10:20 am
Permalink: The Resolution(tm) — a new Fedcirc.us Product
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Recent jobs on LegalMojo

Recent IP jobs (or at least jobs the IP crowd might be interested in) listed on the LegalMojo legal jobs site:

• Director of Federal Government Affairs — MICRON Washington, DC

• Group Counsel Converted Products – AVERY DENNISON Mentor, Ohio

• Patent Attorney – GPCI Suffern, New York

LegalMojo RSS feed:  http://www.legalmojo.com/feedburner.php

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, January 16, 2007 at 2:33 pm
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A Little Something New – Fedcirc.us

Happy New Year!  – and – Happy Birthday PHOSITA! 

Wow – it is amazing to think we just stepped into 2007.  When we started PHOSITA three long years ago, we had no idea how this little project would turn out or even how long it would stay in existence.  Thanks to all of our readers for the great tips, the snarky criticisms and the amazing friendships that have occurred.  We are looking forward to our fourth year and we have a couple of new things up our sleeves to trot out down the road.

Speaking of friendships and new things, Matt, Steve and I are happy to announce the launch of FedCirc.us – the patent caselaw portal!  Built largely upon Matt’s stellar leadership and insightful writing, we have been tiddying up the tents and getting the main ring ready for y’all to come and explore.  A few folks have been testing the lines and unfurling the flags for us, but today…. well, today – WE GO LIVE!

Yes – it lives.  FedCirc.us is alive.  Visit it at http://www.fedcirc.us (and just because we have a wierd sense of humor, http://www.fedcircus.com will work, too).

Currently, FedCirc.us is a website that allows patent professionals and other patent stakeholders to access, digest and manage patent caselaw information.  The site is built on a foundation of timely, accurate, and considered reviews of patent decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Check out some of these great features:

• GimmeTen!(tm) – Get concise summaries of the last ten case reviews written…all on one page.  Bookmark it at http://10.fedcirc.us.
• Read the Latest Review – Hit this button in the left menu to immediately get the full monty on the last case review written.
• Case Data – Check out the Case Data box that appears in every case review.  There’s a bunch of goodness in that box, including citation information and a link to download a .pdf of the opinion.
• Case Flags – Red flags.  Big red flags.  Believe us, you’ll known ‘em when you see ‘em.
• Tags – Navigate the site by keywords.  Conduct legal research with your head in the tag cloud.
• Practice Alerts – We issue specific practice alerts when we detect something important.  Sign up to receive these alerts, free!
• Feature article – We’re working to put together a team of authors that will publish timely and insightful analyses of the latest developments.  We’ll provide more details on this soon.
• E-mail and RSS subscriptions – A lot of the FedCirc.us content is available without even visiting the website.  Go ahead and subscribe.

We’re extremely excited about this project, mostly because the website is just the beginning.  FedCirc.us is merely the leading edge of the most ambitious and significant RTIP LLC (otherwise known as the Rethink(IP) guys…) project yet.  We’ve got a slate of informational products and services – all built around the FedCirc.us foundation of case reviews – that we’ll be announcing over the next several months.

So come on by and stay awhile – we just might buy you some Circus Peanuts!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, January 2, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Permalink: A Little Something New – Fedcirc.us
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LegalMojo – Lawyer Job Board

Well… the Rethink(ip) folks have been promising the unveiling of a number of projects this fall … so, without further ado…

World, meet LegalMojo… LegalMojo, meet the World. 

Now, y’all play nice!

One of the things that we have really enjoyed in our collaborative efforts is the ability to “matchmake” lawyers and other professionals with companies and firms that need their talents.  In fact, we have been doing so much “matchmaking” that we decided to offer a professional site and environment where job seekers can meet up with employers. 

The site has been up about a week now and we are already ahead of all our projected stats — the number and quality of job postings is amazing and the number of people visiting the site has sky-rocketed. 

So – if you are a job seeker, especially an intellectual property professional – head on over to LegalMojo and find something that fits. 

If you are a potential employer – get your ad up quick and enjoy premiere placement.  Placing an ad is easy and painless and we guarantee you won’t find a better value.

So – get your ‘mojo’ working!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, October 7, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Permalink: LegalMojo – Lawyer Job Board
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Rethink(IP) Aloud – New Podcast Available at Rethink(IP)

There is a new podcast available over at Rethink(IP):

We are proud to announce that our newest podcast is available for your down loading and listening pleasure – Rethink(IP) Aloud #6. 

The audio is approximately 47 minutes long and the file is a 41.1MB file.  If you want to grab the RSS feed and subscribe to the Rethink(IP) Aloud podcast – you can get it via FeedBurner at Rethink(IP) Aloud Podcast.

This podcast is the audio portion of Matt’s lecture on U.S. patent reform in 2006 and covers the efforts happening in the 109th Congress and at the Supreme Court and USPTO.  We posted the video of the presentation over at Phosita last week and received many requests for an audio only version.  Matt’s PowerPoint slides to go along with the Patent Reform lecture are also available.

The intro and ending music is “Patricia” by Billy May and his Orchestra off the Ultra-Lounge Vol. 11 album.

Happy father’s day!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 18, 2006 at 2:11 pm
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Rethink(IP) Announcement: New Weekly Newsletter Covering Trademark Litigation

The fine folks over at Rethink(IP) (ok – it is Steve, Matt and I) announce a new service based upon our highly successful “lawsuit filing” email subscription service.

The fact that a lawsuit has been filed can be an incredibly valuable piece of information, especially in the practice of trademark law.  To wit, Rethink(IP) has released a new weekly e-mail newsletter.  Called Trademark Lawsuit Mojo, the newsletter consists of a list of Federal trademark lawsuits that surfaced in the previous week. 

Why is the existence of a lawsuit being filed such a valuable piece of information?

First, the defendant might not know that he/she/it has been sued!

Your company, or your client, might have no idea that a lawsuit has been filed. How can this be? Remember that in the United States, a plaintiff has 120 days from the date of filing to serve a Complaint upon the defendant(s). To reserve a preferred venue/forum, many times a plaintiff will preemptively file the suit and not serve the Complaint, spending up to the next 120 days putting their case together, acquiring additional evidence, and (sometimes) attempting to settle the dispute.

Knowing that your company or client has been sued (but hasn’t been served) can be priceless information when counseling them. How’s that for a valuable “heads up?”

Second, the filing of a lawsuit can also be a valuable piece of competitive intelligence.

Knowing that competitor X just sued competitor Y may change discussions you’re having with competitor X, Y, and/or A! It could also help in decision-making on several issues, such as marketing and product development. Best of all, it may allow you to monitor the case for information that might be helpful in a variety of situations.

As one reader recently put it:

I subscribed last week and already impressed a client yesterday by being aware of a lawsuit filed by one of its competitors.

You can subscribe to Trademark Lawsuit Mojo using one of the below links.  Current rates are $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month.  The first three weeks are free (free trial).  After the free trial expires you can decide whether you would like to continue your subscription.

We don’t expect any of us will be quitting our day jobs anytime soon … commercialization of this project (and eventually Copyright and Patent newsletters) is done to fund the “Rethink(IP) Projects Account” and let us provide additional cool tools and services to the legal community.  Apparently computer programmers don’t work for free. 

Please contact Stephen M. Nipper at steve@rethinkip.com for additional information.

$99.99/year
$9.99/mo

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, June 13, 2006 at 4:48 pm
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Recently on Rethink(IP)’s RSS Mojo Blog

• Listings of recently filed IP Lawsuits

• Trademark Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 27, 2006)
• Patent Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 27, 2006)
• Copyright Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 27, 2006)
• Trademark Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 21, 2006)
• Patent Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 21, 2006)
• Copyright Lawsuit Filing Update (through May 21, 2006)

• Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Japan Patent Office (signed 22May2006)
• Notice of Collection of Practitioners’ E-mail Addresses
• Commerce Deputy Under Secretary to Address Midwest Businesses On U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Counterfeiting and Piracy in China
• USPTO Exam Guide for Geographical Indications Used on Wines and Spirits
• Request for Comments on Patents Search Templates (16May2006)
• Commerce Deputy Secretary to Speak at USPTO’s Community Day
• U.S. GOVERNMENT BRINGS ANTI-COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY PROGRAM TO OHIO

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, May 29, 2006 at 10:58 am
Permalink: Recently on Rethink(IP)’s RSS Mojo Blog
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a coup at blawg review

Opps… RTIP’rs did it again.

It was Steve, Matt and I’s pleasure to host Blawg Review over at Rethink(IP) this week – and, as usual, we couldn’t just leave things at the status quo.  We rebelled against “the man” by actually following the rules – namely, we posted the top three law blog posts of the week – no link whoring (at least not for other people) allowed in this edition.  We picked them, we posted them – now let’s hear why we are/are not wrong!

The “honorable mentions” are over at Blawgr – our community blogging portal for legal professionals.  So, once you have been over to Rethink(IP), you should wander over to Blawgr and read the remaining links — lots of wholesome goodness awaits you over there as well.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, March 13, 2006 at 10:37 am
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uspto pdf electronic filing system podcast

If you are interested in patent wonkiness – head on over to Rethink(IP) to listen to an interview/podcast Steve Nipper and Matt Buchanan had with Carl Oppedahl on the new electronic patent application filing system being rolled out by the USPTO on March 17, 2006.

According to Carl’s comments (he was a beta tester of the new system), this time the USPTO has gotten it right: easy to use, accountability and reliability.

It’s a long conversation (50 minutes) but well worth the listen!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, March 7, 2006 at 2:29 pm
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