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THE NATIONAL MEDAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Tuesday, 17 January, 2012 17:31 Written by danieldavidson 0 Comments
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By Daniel Davidson

I remember the day i won an award from the President.  Yes, it included a shuttle run and various other physical activities, and was presented to me by my PE teacher, but I still won an award from him!  Albeit, the Presidential Physical Fitness Award is not quite the award that is presented annually to the leading innovator of our country, however, it is an award from the POTUS.

All kidding aside, it has come time for nominations to be submitted for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.  This medal is given to the individual, company, or group that has made the biggest contributions to America’s economic, environmental and social well-being through their inventions and/or innovations.

Currently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is accepting nominations for the award, and information on the nomination process and a nomination form can be found here.  Some of the guidelines include:

  • No self nominations.  They will be rejected.
  • You can nominate an individual, a group (up to 4 people), a company, or a division of a company.
  • Governmental agencies and laboratories are eligible.
  • Finalists are subject to FBI background checks (I would only be worried if the Florida Bar was conducting the background check).

Now that you are up to speed on how to go about nominating someone, or “something,” here are some notable winners:

  • 1985 – AT&T Bell Laboratories – For contribution over decades to modern communication systems.
  • 1985 – Apple Computer, Inc. – For their development and introduction of the personal computer which has sparked the birth of a new industry extending the power of the computer to individual users.

Here is to the next recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.  Cheers!

2011 Year in Review for Zies Widerman & Malek

Sunday, 01 January, 2012 09:03 Written by Mark Malek 1 Comment
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By: Mark R. Malek

2011 was a great year for us at Zies Widerman & Malek, both from a business perspective and a community/family perspective.  I’ll keep the business side short.  The biggest thing that happened for us is moving into our new space in Melbourne, Florida.  The firm outgrew the old office (four offices) and the new space (seventeen offices) more suits our expansion needs.  The intellectual property team of Mark Malek, Philip Zies, Scott Nyman, Mark Warzecha, Gene Quinn (founder of IPWatchdog) and Danielle Roy filed a record number of patent, trademark and copyright applications on behalf of our clients.  Several articles were posted to TacticalIP.  The assumption must be that the articles are well written and contained great information because traffic to TacticalIP has skyrocketed (12,553 visits from September 1 – December 30).  Aaron Thalwitzer, Daniel Davidson and Rene Dial have been instrumental in the success of TacticalIP, and they are thanked.

From a community perspective, the firm was extremely active in supporting many wonderful causes throughout the year.  Without a doubt, the most fun we had as a firm was when we participated in Brevard County’s Corporate Dodgeball Challenge as the Lethal Litigators.  Unfortunately, we did not bring home the win, but with some additional training, we will take down many of the other teams, including our arch-dodgeball-nemesis, Craig Technologies, in 2012.  The firm also supported many charities.  Please take a look at our community page for more information on some of the groups that the firm continues to support.  We encourage all of you join us in supporting these great causes, either through volunteer efforts or financial donations.  Of note this past year, the firm sponsored and attended events for The Scott Center for Autism Treatment, Junior Achievement of the Space Coast, March of Dimes, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Epilepsy Association, and the Space Coast Early Intervention Center.

On the personal/family side, the firm, and many individuals within the firm, enjoyed much prosperity.  We all loved attending Rene Dial’s wedding in early October, and Mark Warzecha’s wedding just a couple of weeks after that.  We wish both of you all the best as you endeavor on the great adventure!  We were also glad to hold our first annual Zies Widerman and Malek family picnic.  It was a bit hot, but a great time for all of us to get together with our families.  We also enjoyed a wonderful holiday party at Silvestro’s in Cocoa Beach this year.  The firm welcomed Danielle Roy as a Registered Patent Agent, and congratulate Mark Warzecha (already an attorney registered in New York and Indiana) on passing the Florida Bar.

The above is just a little bit of the success that the firm experienced over the past year, and we look forward to 2012!  Thanks to all that made this happen.

 

 

 

THANKSGIVING TREATS FROM TACTICAL IP

Tuesday, 22 November, 2011 20:50 Written by danieldavidson 0 Comments
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By Daniel Davidson

I am sure everyone has starved themselves to the point of near collapse in anticipation of the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend.  In the name of Pilgrims, Indians, and giblets, I have scoured the patent database for some festive patents to share.

To begin, I am providing a design patent for the shape of “ham.”  Ladies and gentlemen, this is no spiral ham, but what a beautiful ham it is.

On to course number two.  For all of those that like to work for their food, our next festive patent is for an apparatus used to carry your wild turkey.  This patented “turkey tote” includes a “blood-proof bottom pouch, No-See-Um mesh drawstring bag top, and a shoulder harness.”  Dinner is served.

Ohhhh dessert.  If you have any room left, this next patent is used to make those perfect overlapped pie crust tops.

Tactical IP would like to wish everyone safe travels this holiday season and to remember what you are thankful for.  For me, I am going to be thankful to be at the Miami Dolphins v. Dallas Cowboys football game.  Cheers.

REALITY STAR SUES FOR TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT – MAYBE?

Tuesday, 11 October, 2011 17:39 Written by danieldavidson 0 Comments
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By: Daniel Davidson

The only thing worse than the complaint that was filed with the New York Superior Court last week is that the show which is the basis of this complaint has ended.  HBO television series, Entourage, rolled its last season this summer with likes appearing such as Andrew Dice Clay and Bobby Flay.  Also, with his career on a decline, “Johnny Drama, ” played by Kevin Dillon, becomes the voice of a cartoon character, “Johnny Bananas.”

Yea, I can see the likeness

With you now caught up on the final season of Entourage, I can get back to why a complaint was filed against HBO, Time Warner, and the show’s creator, Doug Ellin.

John Devenanzio, a reality star from MTV’s The Real World, says he is known by the name “Johnny Bananas,” and as such, feels that the show’s use of his “name” is in violation of some kind of right.  As stated in the complaint, Devenanzio asserts that the show’s use of “Johnny Bananas” is an, “unwarranted, unauthorized, and unfavorable mention of plaintiff’s name and personality, and allusions the plaintiff’s physical and mental character.”  Well said.

Although usually someone would sue for trademark infringement, Devenanzio is going a different route.  He is saying the show breached his Right of Publicity.  This basically means that someone can’t go and use what someone is famous for and use it commercially.  Such things include name, image, and likeness.  A great case on that is when Vanna White sued Samsung Electronics (971 F. 2d 1395) for using a robot that looked like her to turn letters on a board (Vanna turning letters is her likeness).

I almost feel bad for a reality star that thinks his Right of Publicity is a talking gorilla named “Johnny Bananas.”  Cheers.

Pharmaceutically Speaking, Part 10: Keeping Score

Sunday, 09 October, 2011 23:31 Written by Danie Roy 0 Comments
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Danie Roy

I seem to find myself writing about generics about half the time something pops up in the pharma IP world. Granted, exciting things are happening, such as a lot of really expensive prescription drugs going off-patent.

Which brings me to the topic of today’s article: desperate drug makers. The brand-name companies are trying so hard to continue to profit from their soon-to-be off-patent meds, that they’re trying just about anything to stay the inevitable. Including adding a line to the pill in question. Yep, Warner Chilcot is trying to keep their acne drug, Doryx, from going generic by adding an extra score to the pill.

Everyone else was thinking it, he just did it.

See, the maddening thing about pharma IP is, FDA approval and patenting are two separate and nonexchangeable processes. You can have a patented drug that isn’t FDA approved (still in testing), and you can have an FDA approved drug with no patent (like most generics). Neither drug will make much money for a pharmaceutical company that pioneered said drug. Because the two processes are different, something that is so insignificant and inane to the patent process (and general common sense) could theoretically hold up the FDA approval process for generics.

So, the question is, what is Warner Chilcot’s argument here? Well, they claim that anyone selling a single-scored tablet instead of a double-scored tablet is putting the patient at risk because the patient won’t know how to cut the tablet in thirds. While Warner Chilcot got the part about patients usually being a little on the dumb side, I like to think that the average patient can just go get a pill splitter and figure it out. We’ll see how smart the FDA thinks the average patient is soon enough.

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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