Reason number one to build a law school in Boise…

The rush is on to build a law school in Boise, with the University of Idaho and Concordia University (Portland) clamoring to be first. Sounding like it came straight from a Letterman Top Ten list, Concordia apparently has one very interesting rationale for choosing Boise…

Concordia University has a history with Idaho, from enrolling its students, to its farmers providing food to our campus. The proposed law school is a natural extension of that history.

Source: Concordia University Law School’s website.
[Hat tip: Idaho Business Review]

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How much does a patent cost?

According to Alan Kasper, the First Vice President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), more than I expected. In recent testimony before Congress, Mr. Kasper noted that:

…the preparation and filing of an original application of minimal complexity (10 page specification, 10 claims) on average by a firm having my firm’s size is $8,548.00. Similar costs exist for relatively complex biotechnology/chemical cases ($15,398.00), relatively complex mechanical cases ($11,482.00) and relatively complex electrical/computer cases ($13,684). The average cost for filing an Amendment in a case of minimal complexity is $2,244.00, in a relatively complex biotechnology/chemical case is ($4,448.00), in a relatively complex electrical/computer case is ($3,910.00) and in a relatively complex mechanical case is ($3,506.00). (Pages I-78, I-79 and I-80 of the Survey). The government fees related to such filings are the same (unless the Applicant is a small entity) — $1,030.00. The cost for filing an RCE is $810.00 plus a service charge, which in the case of my firm, is $350.00. The cost for filing of a continuation application is $1,030.00 plus a service charge, which in the case of my firm is $585.00.

Those numbers shock me. I guess that is the disadvantage (to me) of practicing (1) in a small firm and (2) in Boise, Idaho.

[hat tip: Chicago Patent Attorney Peter Zura]

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Boise Inventor Makes it to the Finals of the Gold Channel’s Fore Inventors Only Show

Congrats to a local inventor! Idaho Statesman — Boise businessman reaches final of Golf Channel reality show

Not that I’m biased or anything (I wrote the patent)…but I think that Dean Thompson’s “Z-Factor” invention is clearly the winner. Go Dean!

The winner will be determined by the viewers. To vote, go to http://www.thegolfchannel.com/foreinventors/.

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Fore Inventors Only — Golf Channel

In case you missed it, the Golf Channel has a new show “Fore Inventors Only” directed towards inventors of golf related inventions. 

[It] will uncover the next big thing in golf. Aspiring inventors will showcase their inventions and compete for prizes as they attempt to be the last person standing in the competition. This series will give inventors the opportunity to share their designs with the world, and at the culmination, one product or idea will be selected as the top invention…

The prize package includes: shelf-space for the winning invention within a major national golf-retail outlet; a Golf Channel-produced infomercial; air time for the infomercial on Golf Channel.

More than a thousand inventors auditioned, 103 made it onto the show, and now they are in the process of narrowing the field down 39 inventions that will advance to the “field testing stage” of the competition.  It looks like the most recent episode (covering day two of the narrowing) will be reshown tonight, Saturday and Sunday.  Here’s a link to the Tivo “record this show” page.  The live finale, where the winner is announced, will be September 4. 

What interests me about this show the most is the fact that a local Boise inventor (Dean Thompson, Z Factor Sports, U.S. Patent No. 6,893,356) made the second day cuts, making it into the final 39 and the “field testing stage.”  The Golf Channel page spotlighting his invention can be found here.Additional information about his product can be found at www.perfectputtingmachine.com.  Good luck Dean!

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TechLaunch 4.0 next week in Boise

TechLaunch 4.0 takes place next week here in Boise.  It is an excellent program, giving seven local companies the opportunity to “practice and hone their pitch in front of potential investors.”  TechBoise blog is reporting that this years seven are:

• Check a Biz - “Everyday, thousands of people in your area have shopping experiences. 
  Some of these experiences are great, others are awful.  Some of them
  are funny, others are just plain weird.  Check a Biz exists to give
  people a place to share all of these experiences with other people in
  their area.  We give our members access to everything that people have
  said about businesses in your area,whether it is eloquent or
  incomprehensible, sparkling or scathing.” 
• GoSleepGo - “GoSleepGo is building a network of urban explorers, adventurers, and anyone else who loves to travel. Once you have an account you’ll be able to share your favorite places and hangouts, write about your adventures, and upload unlimited pictures!”
• Ivus Industries, Inc. - Products include “a professional rechargeable flashlight…and an emerging energy storage system.  Product Highlights:  fully charges in under 2 minutes, run time of 90 minutes, super-bright LEDs, no batteries or bulbs to replace, 10 year life.”
• Meth Lab Cleanup, LLC - a certified clandestine drug lab decontamination contractor providing safe and effective teasing and clean up of illegal drug lab contamination.
• OKOS Solutions - “a leader in cutting edge signal processing and next generation data
  acquisition technologies & solutions for Digital Imaging, Software
  Radio, LIDAR, RADAR and the Signal Intelligence Community. Specializing
  in real time data acquisition, OKOS offers end to end solutions for
  communications processing applications, real time digitization and
  processing.”
• Pronetos - think MySpace for academic types, a place where “scholars can collaborate, network, and publish their ideas.”
• U2ML - software and consulting services regarding meeting the requirements of
  the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

More details on the Idaho TechConnect site.

Update: Winner = Ivus.

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