Picasso vs. patents: Good artists copy, but can great artists steal?

Steve Jobs, Apple's late CEO, loved the Picasso quote: "Good artists copy, but great artists steal." According to Jobs' biography, the famous Apple computer of the early 1980's that came with a mouse and graphics used technology that was actually developed by Xerox. Yet, Jobs became furious when Microsoft quickly adopted the same interface.

New design elements can be patented. For instance, the "pull-to-refresh" gesture was originally developed for an app named Tweetie, a client for the social media application Twitter. It took so long to get the patent, however, that virtually everyone adopted the gesture in other apps. The inventor claims he obtained the patent "for defensive purposes only", which means that he patented the concept not to sue others, but to ensure that someone else couldn't patent the idea and make him stop using it.

It takes the U.S. Patent Office over two years, on average, to examine a patent application after it is filed. Many applicants take advantage of a "provisional" application process that further extends the time out to 3+ years. Think about the user interface for mobile devices and social media sites from three years ago. They'd seem awfully clunky now, wouldn't they?  

Patents are one way to keep others from stealing your ideas down the road, once you've invested time and money in developing a product, but it takes a concentrated effort to keep up with advances in technology. It takes but a simple glance at the business section of the newspaper to see the patent litigation wars between Apple, Samsung, and Google — these tech giants are duking it out using huge patent portfolios. Oftentimes, these cases result in settlements where the parties cross-license patents to one another to the benefit of all concerned.

So, good artists may copy. But whether they can steal depends on how many patents they have, how soon they were issued, and how much the technology has developed (and moved on) between the time the application was filed and when it issued. (Don't forget that when someone gets caught stealing, they usually have to pay restitution — and some patent damages awards are in the billions of dollars!)

Because patents can take so long to develop, I typically recommend that my clients try to envision where their business will be in 5-8 years. If you have a unique product or service, try to figure out what changes and improvements you'd like to make over time, and include those in the patent application. Later patent applications (called continuations) can further develop more general ideas into concrete, patentable inventions that freeze out competitors.

Please let us know if we can help with your patent needs. 

Black mold causes illness at Arkansas courthouse

This is a story that I've been following over the last several months, as I have a case involving the health effects of mold. According to SEArk Today, mold was found throughout the Drew County Courthouse in late April, and it was making some of the employees sick. One employee reported a sore throat, coughing, and pain in her chest. A later report estimated the cleanup cost at $2.5 million.

The U of A's Cooperation Extension Service has a good white paper on mold here. It discusses the causes of mold growth, its potential hazardous health effects, and how to clean it up. The uptake is that you should prevent moisture, and any resulting mold growth, if at all possible, because it isn't safe to live in a home with high levels of mold.

Nathan speaks to college students about intellectual property

I spoke to a class of upperclassmen at Henderson State University today about intellectual property. These students, all business majors, are preparing business plans for course credit as well as several local and statewide competitions that have cash prizes for the best plans.

Using the Coke bottle analogy, I taught them about the different forms of intellectual property, and I fielded questions from the students about how intellectual property fit into their business plans. The students were curious about the different forms of intellectual property fit together, what type of patent and trademark procurement costs they could expect to report in their business plans, and how to search for software patents using free tools.

Good luck to Professor Lonnie Jackson's students on the upcoming business plan competitions! 

More tips to avoid collisions with big rigs

Last week we posted some tips on how to avoid collisions with big rigs. This week, we're following up with a video clip providing some other tips: 

For more information on why big trucks can be dangerous, please visit our Big Truck Collisions page. 

Tips to avoid collisions with big rigs

Some of the most violent collisions we see as injury attorneys involve big trucks, so this post will focus on what you can do to avoid having a wreck with a big truck.

Our first set of tips comes from Road Safe America. This organization was founded by the father of a W&L student who was killed by a speeding big rig on I-81 near Lexington, Virginia, while Hilary and I were in law school there. RSA has these tips:

• Avoid blind spots around trucks. If you can't see a truck's side mirrors, the truck driver can't see you. One-third of all crashes between large trucks and cars take place in the blind spots around a truck.
• Do not pass a truck on the right while the truck is turning right. Trucks must swing wide to the left to negotiate right turns safely, as the rear wheels follow a shorter path than the front wheels.
• Do not cut in front of any large vehicle, including a truck or a bus. Since they require much more distance to stop in comparison to cars, forcing a large vehicle to stop quickly can result in a fatal accident.
• Use the proper procedure to pass a large truck or bus on the highway. Accelerate slightly and maintain a consistent speed while passing. Wait until you can see the entire cab in your rear-view mirror before signaling and pulling in front of it.
• Observe a truck's turn signals before trying to pass it. If the truck appears to be starting a left turn, check which way the driver is signaling before passing the truck on the right.
• Give trucks at least four to six seconds of space in wet conditions and at highway speeds.
• Call authorities if you see unsafe driving.
• Do not cut off a truck in traffic or on the highway to reach your exit or turn.
• Be extra alert as you approach a large truck. They behave very differently from cars.

 Tractor-trailers and dump trucks can legally weigh up to 80,000 pounds. While big trucks are necessary for our economy, they are also capable of causing great harm (you can read more about this on our Big Truck Collision page). We hope these tips help you avoid trouble with big trucks.