Society

Another look at USPTO Allowance Rate

by Dennis Crouch Here is a different look at the USPTO grant rate that looks at two numbers for each quarterly period: how many patents issued, and how many applications were abandoned.  These can be added together as a total number of applications disposed-of during the period.  The percentage reported in the chart below is the percent of patents out of that total disposal. These numbers roughly conform to the work that examiners do on a quarterly basis, but I did not count allowances/rejection...
Tags: Law, Patent, Dennis Crouch

The French Army Is Testing Spot the Robot on the Battlefield

Boston Robotic’s Spot quadruped robot seems to be hitting the battlefield with a group of French Army trainees in a series of drills and simulations that explore how these currently unarmed robots could work side-by-side with humans.Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Companies, Military, Robot, Boston Dynamics, Battlefield, Cyr Coetquidan, Alphabet Inc, SoftBank Group, French Army, Economy Of The United States, Technology Internet, War Conflict, Coetquidan, Gerard Du Boisboissel

Neo-Nazi leader pleads guilty to threatening journalists and opponents of anti-Semitism

Raymond Duda, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Seattle, speaks as he stands next to a poster that was mailed earlier in the year to the home of Chris Ingalls, an investigative reporter with KING-TV. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Cameron Shea, 25, has pled guilty to federal hate crime and conspiracy charges. Shea was a member of the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group linked to multiple killings. He was charged with threatening journalists and others who exposed anti-Semitism. See more stories on ...
Tags: Florida, Nbc, Law, California, Washington, Trends, United States, Guardian, Associated Press, Nazi, Department Of Justice, Seattle, Hate Crime, Charles Davis, The Washington Post, Justice Department

UK halts funding for Oxfam over sexual misconduct claims

Foreign Office acts over alleged sexual misconduct by staff in Democratic Republic of CongoThe UK has halted aid funding for Oxfam following allegations of sexual misconduct made against staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The charity confirmed last week that two members of staff in the DRC were suspended as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of abuses of power, including bullying and sexual misconduct. Continue reading...
Tags: UK, Africa, Society, World news, Charities, Voluntary sector, Global development, Oxfam, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Foreign Office, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Drc, Sexual Violence, Democratic Republic of CongoThe UK

RAF engaged in 10-day attack on Isis in Iraq this spring

Typhoon planes and cruise missiles used in biggest air raid against group in two years, ‘probably killing dozens’ says forceRAF and other coalition planes last month engaged in the biggest air raids against Isis in two years, in a 10-day mission that attacked up to 100 cave hideouts in Iraq and is likely to have caused dozens of casualties.The attacks concluded on 22 March, the Ministry of Defence said. Continue reading...
Tags: Isis, Islamic State, Iraq, UK News, World news, US news, Military, Middle East and North Africa, Royal Air Force, Ministry Of Defence, Raf, Weapons technology, MI6

What’s The Big Deal About The Top 14 Law Schools? — See Also

What's A T14 Anyway?Georgetown knows all too well. No Loans For You!: DOE to Florida Coastal, basically. This Seems Wrong: Surrogacy debacle in Michigan. Don't Announce Bonuses On Friday: Come on, get with the program. Top Schools For Music Law: A list. What In The World In Going On In South Bend: This is outrageous.
Tags: Florida, Law, Michigan, DOE, See Also

In Harvard speech, Breyer speaks out against “court packing”

Emphasizing that the Supreme Court’s authority hinges on the public’s trust in the court, Justice Stephen Breyer used a speech on Tuesday at Harvard Law School to argue against efforts to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court. The 82-year-old Breyer contended that public trust in the court rests in the public’s perception that “the court is guided by legal principle, not politics” and would therefore be eroded if the court’s structure were changed in response to concerns about the inf...
Tags: Featured, Supreme Court, Law, Senate, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harvard, Mitch McConnell, Biden, Albert Camus, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harvard Law School, Antonin Scalia, Howe, Stephen Breyer, Breyer

A Follow Up On The Price Of Mandating Civility In Litigation

The consequence of imposing civility rules could hamper an attorney’s representation of a client facing debt collection, eviction, or deportation.
Tags: Law, Civility, Litigators, Steven Chung, Coronavirus, COVID-19

Lawyering Has Changed A Lot In The Past Decade

The legal profession has progressed far in the past 10 years, and this makes one circumspect about how the legal profession will change in the next decade.
Tags: Law, Biglaw, Small Law Firms, Jordan Rothman

Breyer Refuses To Call Conservative-Majority Supreme Court ‘Conservative’

Just because the high court stayed out of the latest election may not mean what he thinks it means....
Tags: Politics, Supreme Court, Law, Courts, Quote Of The Day, Stephen Breyer

Delta Flight To MLB Game Without Encountering Any Diehard Trump Supporters: Travel Paradise?

Maybe there is some kind of perverse logic behind Donald Trump’s choice of Easter weekend to release a hate-filled analog tweet to promote his election lies and trash Delta Air Lines, Major League Baseball, and Coke.
Tags: Law, Finance, Georgia, Delta, Mlb, Donald Trump, Major League Baseball, Voter Suppression, Jonathan Wolf, ATL Finance, Delta Air Lines Major League Baseball

ALSPs’ Role In Legal Industry Diversity Efforts [Sponsored]

Expanding staffing choices opens avenues for change.
Tags: Law, Diversity, Sponsored Content, In-House Counsel, Paragon Legal, Legal Industry Diversity Efforts

New Site Connects Consumers to Lawyers For Instant Video Consultations

Finding a lawyer to consult with remains an intimidating proposition for many consumers. They don’t know who to call or what it might cost them. A new website called Pro Help Legal aims to address that problem by offering near-instant access to video chat with a lawyer, with clear disclosure in advance of the cost of the consultation. The client seeking help answers two questions — legal issue and state of residence — and is presented with a list of matching lawyers. Each lawyer’s profile shows ...
Tags: Google, Amazon, Law, Uncategorized, University Of North Carolina, Cordova, Dorman, Meridian Idaho, Josh Cordova, James Dorman, Chapel Hill They

Why Nike Suspended Deshaun Watson’s Endorsement Deal Instead Of Terminating It

As noted by Nike, the claims against Watson, at this juncture, are merely allegations.
Tags: Law, Football, Sports, Nike, Watson, Deshaun Watson

Does The T14 Even Matter? Asking For Some Hoyas.

U.S. News drops Georgetown from top tier.
Tags: Law, Rankings, Law Schools, Biglaw, Georgetown, U S News, Thinking Like A Lawyer Podcast, Featured Podcasts

COVID Vaccine: Where does freedom end and civic duty begin?

Now that the vaccine is becoming widely available, why do so many insist on not taking it? As different episodes in history have illustrated — including the building of an atomic bomb in the U.S. – true freedom is to choose to place the well-being of your family, community, and country above your own personal values. We shouldn't confuse the privilege of choice with a threat to personal freedom. In threatening times, our best defense is to act together to the benefit of all.Pandemic fatigue is b...
Tags: Europe, Japan, Wikipedia, Germany, Freedom, US, America, Society, Innovation, Brazil, Manhattan, Philosophy, Myanmar, Albert Einstein, Morality, Hitler

Salisbury locals still advised not to litter pick over novichok fears

Local leaders call for Public Health England to rescind guidance issued after attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in 2018Health officials have refused to rescind guidance to people living in and around Salisbury not to pick up litter, as fears linger over the dangers posed by the novichok poisonings more than three years ago.Local leaders have called for people in rural areas surrounding the city to be allowed to resume litter picking so they can clean up those areas. But Public Health E...
Tags: Society, UK News, Public services policy, Pollution, Poison, Local Government, Health policy, Public Health England, Salisbury, Chemical Weapons, Sergei Skripal, Novichok poisonings

Associate Compensation Scorecard: Which Firms Are Sharing The Wealth Through Special Bonuses?

Is your firm listed here? If not, what are the partners waiting for?
Tags: Law, Biglaw, Associate Bonus Watch 2021

MedImmune Licensee Standing Does not Apply to Portfolio License

by Dennis Crouch The Federal Circuit’s new decision in Apple Inc. v. Qualcomm Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2021) offers an interesting standing puzzle. After some heated litigation, Apple licensed 20,000+ Qualcomm patents as part of a six-year covenant-not-to-sue which resulted in the litigation being dismissed with prejudice.  Meanwhile, the parallel inter partes reexaminations (IPRs) moved forward with regard to two particular Qualcom patents within the package of 20,000+. Although the PTAB granted Apple’s...
Tags: Apple, Supreme Court, Law, Medimmune, Qualcomm, Patent, Apple Inc, Federal Circuit, IPR, Genentech Inc, Dennis Crouch, PTAB, MedImmune Inc, Qualcomm Inc Fed

"When Animus Matters and Sex Offense Underreporting Does Not: The Sex Offender Registry Regime"

The title of this post is the title of this new paper authored by Ira Mark Ellman now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: In Romer v. Evans the Court drew a constitutional distinction between civil laws enacted for a broad public purpose that justifies "the incidental disadvantages they impose on certain persons," and laws that have "the peculiar property of imposing a broad and undifferentiated disability on a single named group".  Laws of the second kind "raise the inevitable inference ...
Tags: Law, Romer, Douglas A Berman, Ira Mark Ellman, Evans the Court

Virtual Collaboration Tools For Lawyers [Sponsored]

Learn the new standard for law firm connectivity, highlighting Client Intake, Internal Communications, Obtaining Client Signatures + Countersignatures, and 2-Way Text Messaging tools designed specifically for law firms. 
Tags: Technology, Law, Communications, Sponsored Content, Small Law Firms, MyCase

Sexual regrets: why women feel more remorse after one-night stands than men

There are many reasons people regret an encounter with a stranger, including fear of pregnancy or disease – and feelings of disgustName: Sexual regret.Age: Roughly 45 seconds younger than however old the sex is. Continue reading...
Tags: Sex, Life and style, Society

UK public health expert Sir Michael Marmot criticises No 10 race report ‘shortcomings’

Sir Michael Marmot says racial disparities report underplays impact of structural racism in health outcomesMichael Marmot: The Sewell report cited my research. Unfortunately, it was out of dateCoronavirus – latest updatesAn inquiry into racial disparities used outdated references and notably underplayed the impact of structural racism in health outcomes, the UK’s leading authority on public health has said, in a new blow to the credibility of the much-criticised report.Sir Michael Marmot, who le...
Tags: Health, UK, Race, Society, UK News, Inequality, Michael Marmot, Coronavirus

She Gave Birth To Her Own Children, Then A Michigan Judge Ruled Her To Be A Surrogate

There are many ways to form a family, and all families deserve equal respect under the law.
Tags: Law, Family law, Michigan, Ellen Trachman, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART

Vaccine confidence fears as under-30s in UK offered AstraZeneca alternative

Experts warn of impact after advice changes in response to 79 blood clot cases out of 20m vaccinationsJab fears may play into hands of anti-vaxxersCoronavirus – latest UK updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageExperts warned of damage to confidence in the UK’s vaccine programme after 10 million adults under 30 were told they will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab following concerns over rare blood clots.Healthy 18- to 29-year-olds who are not at high risk of Covid should ha...
Tags: Health, UK, Science, Society, UK News, World news, Medical Research, Infectious Diseases, Astrazeneca, Vaccines and immunisation, JCVI, Coronavirus, Oxford AstraZeneca

Alternative to Oxford/AstraZeneca could damage vaccine confidence, say experts

Option offered to under-30s after UK records 79 cases of rare blood clots out of 20m jabs administeredJab fears may play into hands of anti-vaxxersCoronavirus – latest UK updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageExperts warned of damage to confidence in the UK’s vaccine programme after 10 million adults under 30 were told they will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab following concerns over rare blood clots.Healthy 18- to 29-year-olds who are not at high risk of Covid should ha...
Tags: Health, UK, Science, Society, UK News, World news, Medical Research, Infectious Diseases, Vaccines and immunisation, JCVI, Coronavirus, Oxford AstraZeneca