I was listening to the most recent episode of the Kennedy-Mighell report (legal technology podcast) earlier today and was shocked to hear Tom Mighell report that law blogging (at least “starting a law blog”) seems to have peaked, with fewer and fewer new law blogs starting every year. It shocked me, but now that I think about it, I can only think of a handful of new, active IP law blogs (http://www.1201tuesday.com, http://www.patentabilityblog.com/, http://inventivestep.net/),
The podcast (The State of the Blawgosphere) itself is an excellent summary of the past, present and future of legal blogging…definitely worth listening to.
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It’s too bad that I had not already heard this podcast because I just started a patent law blog at http://www.patentzen.com where I plan to investigate the possibilities for a simpler way of patenting. At least there will be less new competition for readers
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I haven’t yet listened to the podcast, but I will. Though I’ll add now that I think you will see continued growth in legal blogging. Traditional advertising is becoming a dead-end. Increasingly, you make and build connections and build your brand via social media and personal broadcasting. Personally, I only recently started a patent blog at http://www.mxlegal.com/blog.
And yet, my most recent post (about David Kappos) has already generated dozens of page views from first-time visitors–mostly via Google searches, including many originating from uspto.gov. That’s a lot more traffic than my website ever received before I had a blog; and I now have a few subscribers on my RSS feed, as well. Steve, I know you were a real pioneer on this front, but I expect that within the next few years even most of the big conservative GP firms will have blogs (don’t underestimate how long it takes for the mainstream in this profession to latch onto new ideas). Think of how many law firms (IP firms even) resisted the use of email for years before giving in and starting to dictate email messages and replies for their secretaries to type.
I can accept that the wave of “early-adopters” for legal blogging may have crested, though you have a tidal wave in the mainstream that are still just warming up to the idea. Though, in the end I don’t really care if others start to blog (except that it may add more interesting content for me to absorb); a lot of folks will continue to find that they enjoy blogging (at least for anything they can’t adequately express in 140 characters or less) and that provides reward in itself.
Finally, James, nice start on your patentzen blog.
Quite interesting indeed. I, too, am an exception to the rule as I have also recently started an IP blog (http://floridaip.blogspot.com/) I agree with James’s sentiments — good to know there is less competition for new readers. And like Bob, regardless of my readership, I am finding the process of blogging enjoyable as a means of staying current with recent developments in IP, as well as building a repository of useful information that I (and hopefully others) will benefit from in the years to come.
After some fits and starts, I’ve ventured into blogging IP matters as well. It truly requires a lot of thought and dedication…I’m in awe of you and Crouch.