The United States Patent Office has announced it will open satellite patent offices to help deal with the backlog of patent applications. Detroit was chosen as the first location due to the highly trained professional scientific and engineering work force, the number of applications which originate from Michigan inventors, and its proximity to world-class universities. The satellite office will create about 100 Michigan jobs.

The University of Michigan, the city of Ann Arbor, Detroit patent law firms, auto manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers are among the many who will benefit from the proximity of the new resource.  U of M Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest stated: ”The opening of a satellite office for the PTO in Detroit will have enormous benefits for the region, and of course, also for the University of Michigan….The ability to do patent business at an office in Detroit will be a boon to the many educational institutions and knowledge-based industries in the larger region.”

I just became a film financier for #lemonadedetroit For $1/frame, you can too. Trailer is here: http://t.co/iTySbrX

Export Admin Regs will finally get a post-Cold War overhaul http://bit.ly/ctw21x

Currently looking for small in-house law department performance evaluation metrics (for the department, not for outside counsel) – anybody?

I am currently looking for any resources on #JSOX compliance with regard to intellectual property portfolio management. Thanks!

The iPad may not be a netbook or a smart phone, but my 80-year old mother wants one. Another Wii-like mature market in the making?

The Copyright Office released a report on March 15, 2009 which provided for increases in several fees, citing rising labor costs and current budget constraints. While the cost of basic online copyright registration (eCO) for most types of works remains the same, the cost of registering a copyright via a 2D barcode application has increased from $45 to $50.

The most significant increase for typical copyright filers is in traditional paper applications (Form TX, VA, SR, GR). The Copyright Office has enacted a 44% increase in filing by paper — raising the fee from $45 to $65. Critics have intended that this unfairly penalizes copyright authors and owners without Internet access. The new Copyright Office fee structure took effect on August 1, 2009. A chart comparing the current and new copyright registration fees is here on the Arborlaw website.

Excellent piece on 20 lessons that business people should learn from Warren Buffett: http://bit.ly/5l69Sb

Murderboarding: critical skill needed by startups to balance out off-track brainstorming. http://bit.ly/6CmBJ1

Music artists selling 10K+ releases 1st time in 2009: 106 via major label, 107 via indie label, 14 on their own http://bit.ly/5oCBQj