Futurelawyer

US PTO Getting Tough On Apple? No Trademark For You!

BBC News - Apple denied iPad Mini US trademark. Has Apple's run of luck at the US PTO run out? The Patent and Trademark Office has turned down Apple's request to patent the "iPad Mini" mark as simply descriptive and not unique. Say what? Then how did Apple get a patent on the rectangle, the color green, rounded corners and all the other descriptive terms it has been litigating for a while now? Maybe the Patent office reads the news? Maybe the Patent office is tired of being an Internet joke? Here's hoping. 

Dr. Who And The Impossible Girl

I have been a Dr. Who fan for many years, and the new season began last night. She Who Must Be Obeyed and She Who Will Someday Be Obeyed are waiting for tonight's Game of Thrones debut. However, give me Dr. Who, and new monsters, and Cybermen, and Daleks any day. 

Happy Easter

Today is a day to celebrate the risen Christ, if you are Christian. It is a tradition, and the most important day in the Christian calendar. Regardless of your beliefs, have a happy and blessed day.

He Should Have Received A Million Dollars

Man stranded on Disney's 'It's a Small World' ride wins pain and suffering damages - ABA Journal. OMG. Can you imagine being forced to listen to "It's A Small World" for over half and hour while Disney employees tried to fix a broken ride? Rather than call an EMT to free him, a disabled man was forced to sit in the ride while Disney employees tried to fix it. He was awarded $8000.00 in damages, which seems like a pittance to me, considering the unbelievable pain and anguish he suffered. OMG. Here is a taste of the music. I dare you to listen to it for 30 minutes without going crazy.

Smallworld

How Are Law Blogs Like The Yankees?

Are we seeing the demise of law blogs?. I found this discussion of the purported demise of law blogs between friends, Carolyn Elefant and Kevin O'Keefe, interesting. Carolyn speculates that law blogs may be dying, like an aging Yankees team full of older players whose injuries are having an effect that is symbolized by this photo of a melting snowman. As a Rays fan, I have no problem with this image. However, as a law blogger I must agree with Kevin. While my blog is not the only way I engage with the world of readers of these things any more, it is still the repository of my current thought about just about everything. I would probably write it, even if nobody read it. On the other hand, it is now just a part of a growing group of audiences, which are each different in their own way. Twitter and Facebook and Google+ are each important to the way users connect to the Internet of ideas. Whether a reader engages with a law blogger via RSS feed, or a more modern method of communication is irrelevant. I think of my law blog as a foundation in a large house, that keeps growing new floors. Come in the front door, or the back door, or fly in by helicopter. I am waiting for you.

Apple, Are You Listening?

Google's Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge: Don't start nothin', there won't be nothin'. What a concept! Using patents defensively, instead of offensively. Google has a large portfolio of patents, and anyone who has the bad judgment to sue Google probably deserves what they get. That includes Apple, which has sued everyone on the planet to enforce their patents, except for Google. Google has kept to its "Do no Evil" pledge in the patent enforcement space, pledging never to sue a user, distributor or developer of open source software for patent infringement, unless first sued by them. While limited to open source software, this commitment to an open Internet buttresses my long held opinion that no one should be able to claim ownership of the common elements of the Internet. Apple, are you listening?

Texting While Driving...Are You Afraid?

Nearly half of commuter have "habit" of texting while driving, higher than teens | AndroidTapp. Be afraid. Be very afraid. If you drive, stop worrying about whether you can resist the temptation to text while driving. Your biggest worry should be that half of the drivers you meet on the road are texting while you drive in their vicinity. It is bad enough that you can't even protect yourself while driving defensively any more. You can't even protect yourself against the bozo who is looking down at his phone while piloting a 2,000 pound metal projectile down the street. Do you feel safe? I didn't think so.

The FutureLawyer's First Mobile Computer?

Retire? Retire? From What?

When I'm 64: Lawyers Want to Stay "Needed" in Their Retirement Years - Features/Substantive Law - The Hennepin Lawyer - The Hennepin Lawyer. I am a solo lawyer. It is not my job, it is not even my profession. It is who I am. Were I to stop being a solo lawyer, I would probably die. I consider it a boon that I can still practice law, and intend to do so until I am lowered into the ground, God willing. I may work fewer hours; but, client emergencies being what they are, I suspect that won't happen. The extra money is really irrelevant. It is about being needed; being essential to a client's well being, and a part of their problem solving. I am a solo lawyer. It is not my job. It is who I am.

Florida Courts EFiling Mandatory On April 1st

Florida Courts eFiling Portal. Let me begin by assuring my readers that this is NOT an April fools joke. Florida lawyers must file all papers and pleadings electronically on and after April 1, 2013. No paper filings will be permitted or required. It was the talk of the courthouse when I was downtown for a hearing this morning, and it will most certainly bring its own set of problems. However, it will save tons of postage expenses for most of us, since we will be filing Motions and Answers and other papers electronically both to the Clerk of Courts, and to opposing counsel. I have been waiting for this day since the late nineties. I am happy that I have lived to see it. Unfortunately, pro se litigants and others will still be filing paper; but, the Clerk will be scanning them into the system and destroying the paper as received. This will save a lot of steps and aggravation for those of us who already scan everything and save electronic copies. Welcome to the future of lawyering.