Tear the roof off the sucker

Entertainment Weekly reports that George Clinton is suing hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas for copyright infringement for failing to clear their sample of his 1979 track "(Not Just) Knee Deep" in two remixes of their song "Shut Up."

Funkadelic samples are everywhere in hip hop, notably used by Dr. Dre and De La Soul among many others.  I wonder -- maybe George just doesn't like the Black Eyed Peas' music?  Just speculating...

The first patent? Recipes!

All you cooking/public radio enthusiasts out there may have caught the trivia question on last week's The Splendid Table with Lynn Rosetto Casper.

If not, Lynn reveals that the first known patent law was on the books of the ancient Greek city Sybaris.  The winner in an annual cooking contest was given exclusive rights to prepare the dish for the whole year.  

Listen to the segment here.

Speaking of food, I highly recommend folks check out SFPL's SF Eats exhibition, with programming and displays running through March.  I recommend seeing it before New Year's resolutions begin!

FR Notice from USPTO: Pilot Program for Extended Time Period for Missing Parts in Nonprovisional Applications

The USPTO is implementing a pilot program 'in which an applicant can request a twelve-month time period to pay certain fees and to reply to a Notice to File Missing Parts of Nonprovisional Application."

Read the whole notice here and let them know what you think!

2010 USPTO Performance and Accountability Report is available now

The USPTO's annual performance review is up and available for viewing here.

It looks to me like the pendency is still a bit longer than they'd like it to be, that they cut costs without a major impact on productivity, and that electronic filing a payments now make up nearly all transactions.

Anyone else want to point out your highlights (or lowlights)?

A tale of patent intrigue

Patent librarian extraordinaire Michael White spins a great tale of  patent intrigue that includes political assassination, terrorist attacks, and patent that "disappeared" from the files because of political pressure.

Check it out at White's blog, the Patent Librarian's Notebook.

Great coffee break reading!

USPTO website survey begins Dec. 7

The USPTO is conducting a survey on their website and I'd like to encourage anyone who regularly uses USPTO.gov, TESS, PatFT, etc., to please take the survey if prompted.

I know it can be kind of a drag, but the USPTO is committed to improving their web presence and user input is essential!  Think of it as a chance to let them know what you want from the site.  Get the details here.

I'm back from my hiatus, by the way.  I'd like to belatedly acknowledge Thanksgiving by offering this snippet from US Patent 4,581,991, Pie Filling Device.  Yum!