One blog I stumbled on recently that is a great resource for learning how to answer those “miscellaneous” questions patent practitioners get from prospective clients is Nolo’s “Dear Rich” blog (written by attorney Richard Stim).
Example posts/questions:
Can I use a legal trial transcript in a play?
Can we name our band after a character in a movie?
Can [...]
If your office uses GoogleApps, one slick $20 device that would make it considerably easier to efficiently use Gmail would be Gboard.
Gboard is a USB number pad configured for linking directly to the keyboard shortcuts (forward, reply to all, etc.) that Gmail allows you to use.
Want more information? Read Mashable’s review.
I rarely use Westlaw/Lexis, but the CiteGenie FireFox extension could be really useful for those of you whom do.
As their website points out:
Cutting and pasting when doing legal research using your browser is simple. But having to construct the citation for what you pasted is not so simple. This is especially true with legal citations [...]
Via this article: Free Legal Research by Google & What It Means : My Shingle, Google has released the ability to search case law for free, including state case law. UNREAL.
To test it out, use this URL: http://scholar.google.com/advanced_scholar_search?hl=en&as_sdt=2000. Scroll towards the bottom to select “Legal opinions and journals.”
This day was probably something the “other” case [...]
Some useful articles/posts on wikis and law firms:
Law Practice Today :: Using Wiki Technology to Streamline Information Sharing and Document Management Tasks
Slaw: Wikis and KM at Law Firms
CNNMoney.com::Boosting teamwork with wikis
Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms – Part One: ThoughtFarmer Example
Wikis in Knowledge Management at Law Firms – Part Two: Sharepoint Example
Wikis for the [...]
Here’s a link to my law practice management article in the November/December issue of The Advocate (the official publication of the Idaho State Bar) on “Technology Tips from the Idaho Practical Skills Seminar.”
Most of the other patent blogs have been covering the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Bilski v. Kappos case. [e.g., Patently-O]
My favorite quote from the case comes from Justice Scalia (page 16 of the pdf):
You know, you mention that there are all these — these new areas that didn’t exist in the past because [...]
David Kappos, Director of the USPTO is now publicly blogging! See: http://www.uspto.gov/blog/. I look forward to reading his posts.
The fact that USPTO.gov has RSS feeds (for the blog) now is VERY exciting. Now, if they’d only provide RSS feeds for the “News and Notices” page contents (e.g., press releases, OG notices, Federal Register notices). Hint [...]
As science majors, patent attorneys/agents aren’t typically thought of as being masters of the English language, particularly with respect to using correct grammar. Solution: start taking short grammar lessons by listening to the Grammar Girl podcast (subtitled “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing”). Plus, it is highly entertaining.
A couple of episodes my readers would [...]
A group of my local (Boise) geek friends have been using Google Wave to share Google Wave tips and tricks with one another was we each kick Wave’s tires. Here are some of the most useful tips/tricks that have come out of that ongoing conversation:
1. The “Files” button in the lower right doesn’t work [...]