Lessig on copyright and political speech

Sure, he may have moved on to new, non-copyright related projects, but that didn't stop Lawrence "Mr. Creative Commons" Lessig from speaking up in the New York Times last week about what he sees as a misuse of copyright by overcautious media outlets. Click here for the NY Times website or here to read it without ads through the library's subscription. (Library card required).

Open source hardware

Wired magazine, in addition to suffering from what can only be described as an obsession with the iPhone, often publishes very thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces about intellectual property trends. Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief at the magazine, did in fact recently come by the library to give a talk to some staff members, and he spoke about some of his ideas about intellectual property. Considering the editorial big cheese's interests, it wasn't a surprise to me that this month's issue of his magazine features an article about open source hardware, an idea that fits in well with his words about copyright. The article is about a company called Arduino. They make circuit boards. Find the article here.

Open source hardware is a fascinating idea, and one that I think really gets to the heart of what the patent system is all about. While the monopoly that a patent owner is given is often the focal point of the patent process, it's really secondary, at least in the interest of the public, to the development of technology. Giving an inventor control of the market for an invention is merely an incentive, a carrot to encourage technological development. The practice of publishing patents exists as a way of disseminating technological knowledge; people aren't free to manufacture patented products, but they are free to try to improve on the technology. Taking out the monopoly only makes it easier for people to tinker with the invention, and thus makes that invention a greater good to the public.

It's kind of exciting for me to think of an army of volunteer engineers across the world collaborating on a project that anyone can use. Whether the spirit of voluntary innovation that has made Linux and Wikipedia successful can carry over to the manufacture of physical objects like circuit boards, no one can say. If Arduino's business model of giving away the secrets works, however, the impact on the future of commercial technological development could be pretty huge.

During his talk at the library, Anderson argued that it was in his interest as an author to have his words reach as large an audience as possible, and that the best tactic for spreading his writing is to give it away. Using that model, his profit would come from increased recognition, which, in turn, would lead to increased demand for his expertise (most likely speaking engagements in the case of an author).

It looks like the open source hardware folks are using a similar model. As the inventors of their product, any buzz that the product generates will center on them. People will then seek them out for consulting work, or as the authoritative manufacturer of the product. It will be interesting to see how successful this venture is and if that model catches on.

In the mean time, patent application statistics are on the rise, so don't expect the end of patents to come any time soon, though if the Creative Commons process could be applied to hardware, I wonder if we will soon be seeing more "share-alike" licenses for patented technology. Perhaps there's room for that in the 21st Century.

New in the Patent and Trademark Center (kind of): some magazines

Tucked away in a little corner of the fifth floor of the Main Library, the Patent and Trademark Center is some really prime real estate. Insulated from the activity of the reference desks and the atrium, people who discover the room can enjoy reading by the sunlight coming through the same windows that look down over the UN Plaza (and the farmer's market on Wednesday and Sunday) and the Asian Art Museum. It's a comfortable, quiet, lovely place to be.

Admittedly, there is a bit of contrast between the warmth of the room and the, eh, clinical, nature of most of the material in there. We have a bunch of Indexes to Patents, lots of three-ring binders, and, of course, a couple of computers for CASSIS and the USPTO website. Some of the commercially published books we have in there are pretty interesting -- some histories of invention and technology, a couple of "wacky patent" type books, some popular guides to intellectual property -- but, for the most part, the reading material in the Patent and Trademark Center is all business.

Every once in a while, however, something more broadly appealing than, say, American Marking Gages comes along, something that (no offense to the hardworking author of the above title) could be of interest to a general audience. When that happens, I'd like to use this space to put the word out, so look out for the "New in the Patent and Trademark Center" posts to find out when fun, beautiful, or particularly interesting materials arrive. It doesn't happen very often, but you may be surprised by some of the things we get.

In the spirit of promoting some of our material, I'd like to present a couple of magazines that we subscribe to. We've had some subscription issues that caused a lapse in service, but the problems seem to be resolved and we are now receiving issues of surprisingly interesting titles, including the following:

American Heritage is a history magazine; American Heritage's Invention & Technology is about the history of, you guessed it, inventions and technological advances. It comes to us quarterly full of thoughtful writing about technology and great photos, both original and archival. Features in this summer's issue include a piece about the cameras on the Mars rover, innovations in gold mining, and a high-drama look at the early days of cinema.

Inventor's Digest's self assessment as "the magazine for idea people" is apt -- though centered on the needs and interests of inventors, the magazine transcends the narrow inventor audience by covering the culture of invention and inventors in a format that looks more like People than like wonky trade journal. There is plenty here for inventors and non-inventors alike. The November issue has tips on finding money to market inventions, connecting with large corporations to create business partnerships, and plenty of profiles of people making their ideas work for them.

It may not occur to you that a massive intergovernmental organization such as the United Nations would publish glossy magazines, but the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the intellectual property arm of the UN, puts out a handsome title called WIPO Magazine. It comes to us monthly and covers trends and happenings coming out of the increasingly important world of international intellectual property. The August issue (there's a bit of a lag because it comes to us free through the USPTO depository program) includes articles about the Chinese film industry, intellectual property as a business asset, and African home decoration design, among other things.

You can also access most of the content from these magazines online, but I'd like to suggest stopping by the Patent and Trademark Center to browse the titles on the shelf. Perhaps you'll be inspired.

New invention promotion TV ad channels Lionel Richie

The latest in the series of spots from the Ad Council encouraging kids to invent stuff is so deadpan that I found myself buying it for a split second:



I wonder if Lionel Richie's shoes came up in the kid's prior art search:

Trademarks gone wild in Canada?

Just as we're all winding down from this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, folks in Vancouver are making preparations for hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

I had some fun in this blog highlighting some Olympic trademark issues that have come up here in the U.S. over the years. According to the CBC, it appears that our neighbors to the north are also taking some legislative steps to provide extra protection for Olympic-related marks:

The committee is so serious about protecting the Olympic brand it managed to get a landmark piece of legislation passed in the House of Commons last year that made using certain phrases related to the Games a violation of law.

The list includes the number 2010 and the word "winter," phrases that normally couldn't be trademarked because they are so general.

Read the whole article here.

An excellent comparison of online patent datebases...

...is found at Michael White's Patent Librarian's Notebook blog. White is a heavy-duty patent librarian and he makes wonderful charts.

It's interesting that free patent search websites keep popping up, but, as White's comparison illustrates, nothing has really improved on the USPTO database for searching for U.S. patents.