Inventors Eye is the USPTO's bi-monthly publication. Each issue features information you can use, tips on working with the USPTO; events, organizations and meetings of interest to the community; issues that impact independent and small entity inventors; and stories about people who have become successful inventors.

In the Nov2010 issue of Inventors Eye, Jeff Look in the USPTO's Office of the Chief Communications Officer reports on the recent gathering of independent inventors at the the 15th annual Independent Inventors Conference at its headquarters in Alexandria, Va., where USPTO Director David Kappos was the keynote speaker.

Kappos said the USPTO recognizes the importance of independent inventors in spurring economic growth and that the USPTO is working to ensure that all of our nation’s inventors have access to our IP system.

“Over the past year, we’ve put a focus on improving our service to independent inventors and small business. We have developed new programs to aid inventors as they secure intellectual property protection on their invention, and we’re working to develop new programs and initiatives that will make the IP system easier to use for the independent inventor community,” said Kappos.

Independent inventors can follow the United States Patent and Trademark Office @uspto on Twitter and read the official blog of David Kappos, as well.

We're sure independent inventors are thankful that the USPTO is reaching out and communicating with the Director's public blog as well as the official social media resources of the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Twitter and Facebook.

Colorado inventor, entrepreneur, former GE-Medical Systems (X-ray manufacture), electrical engineer, Jeff Buske, has applied for a patent for a high-tech underwear garment with a fig-leaf design for men and women that hides a person's privates from display on airport security scanning-machine operators.

Buske and his wife Mary created Rocky Flats Gear, a line of underwear adorned with fig-leaf patches made out of a lead-free radiation-shielding material that protects a person's genital region, including "extra ovary protection" designs

Is this "junk" science? Some, like Buske, an electrical engineer, say you can't be too safe where your private parts are concerned.

The website of Rocky Flats Gear posts the results of a study conducted on its behalf by the University of Wisconsin Radiation Calibration Laboratory to determine the x-ray exposure attenuation of three radio-opaque fabric samples.

Another opportunistic entrepreneur is marketing rubber inserts for undergarments as "Flying Pasties" at flyingpasties.com that shows its Las Vegas roots not only in naming and branding and cheesy website design, but with stand-up comic Mike Francis of "Pure Insanity" fame for its official spokesman. The idea was dreamed up by Michael Luongo, a Las Vegas businessman who claims these Flying Pasties can protect air travelers' privacy from obtrusive TSA full body scanners.

It remains to be seen if these inventions will prove to be effective in protecting air travelers from the "enhanced patdowns" by TSA inspectors that might result from wearing them through the new full-body x-ray scanners at airports.

It was inevitable that these popular iPhone smartphones and iPad touchscreen tablets would be used to search patents and trademarks. Patent and trademark apps have already started appearing in the iTunes store, some for free, with names like Apptorney IP, Patent Finder, and Patent Genius,

 see more Lolcats and funny pictures

 Now, an innovative law firm that specializes in the practice of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, computer, franchise and unfair competition law, has launched the latest app for searching United States Patents and Trademarks, Banner & Witcoff’s IP Lawyer.

Banner & Witcoff's IP Lawyer is a free iPhone application providing iPhone-customized full search access to patents and trademarks issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as well as corresponding assignments.

Banner & Witcoff's IP Lawyer also provides a comprehensive library with up-to-date Patent Local Rules for district courts throughout the country, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Manual Patent Examination and Procedure, the U.S. Constitution, 37 C.F.R., links to international patent offices, and additional tools and resources.

Apple recently reported strong earnings for its third fiscal quarter of 2010, with strong iPhone, Mac and iPad sales helping revenue exceed analyst expectations. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, "The company in the quarter released the iPhone 4, which CEO Steve Jobs characterized as the most successful product launch in the company's history. Apple also launched the iPad during the third quarter, with shipments totaling 3.27 million units."

Sooner or later, we'll probably see IP.com's Intellectual Property Library and the Prior Art Database available as an app for iPhone and iPad, too. What do you think? Would that be cool, or what?

On the list, the electric roadster made by Tesla Motors Inc. manufactured not in Detroit but in Silicon Valley, California.

Tesla Motors Inc. made history last week with the first IPO by an American car maker in half a century. We've come a long way since American cars were marketed with a jingle, "See the USA in your Chevrolet."

In other Green Motoring news, from across the pond, the Telegraph reports that "the Automotive X Prize, the finals of which take place this month, aim to find a car that is both eco-friendly and fun to drive. So far, it's proving tough, New Scientist reports."

Discover more about patents and innovations in fuel efficient cars in IP.com's Intellectual Property Library.

Like the Blue Monster Hugh MacLeod created for Microsoft, this well-expressed thought, "all good ideas must die (so that great ideas might live)" seems apropos the Boogie Board, a quintessential writing tool with the magical "erase" button that instantly creates a "clean slate" ready for your next great idea to come to life.

iMPROV Electronics, a Kent Displays Company, was named by Igor, as was the Boogie Board.

The eTablet is developing into a major product of Kent Displays, Inc. Based upon the bistable cholesteric technology, the tablet is a writing surface in which an image can be drawn with the touch or light pressure of an untethered stylus such as pointed object or even the finger or finger nail. The unique feature of the eTablet is that the written image is instantly erased with the push of a button and a new image written. Kent Displays, Inc. has issued patents (US Patents 6,104,448, 6,061,107, 5,453,863 and 5,437,811) and patent applications (US Patent Applications 11/762,174 and 12/217,158) on file basic to the eTablet for two different modes of operation.

Searching IP.com's Library, can one find subsequent patent applications and technical disclosures by Kent Displays Inc. that might indicate features that could possibly be included in future evolutions of the eTablet?

Multiple color writing tablet (05-Feb-2009)

Selectively erasable electronic writing tablet (16-Apr-2009)

Handwritten Messaging with the eTablet (26-Aug-2009)

Who knows? One can dream of future applications that IMPROV Electronics might bring to market with the name and trademark Boogie Board.

For the latest information, visit myboogieboard.com on the web and follow @Boogie_Board on Twitter.

Schools are making the Boogie Board tablet a must have learning aid used in place of note pads, loose leaf paper and chalk, magnetic and dry erase boards for a wide variety of student activities such as handwriting/arithmetic practice, solving equations, and drawing pictures. The Boogie Board tablet’s ease of use has also made it a favorite of individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities, including as a basic means of communication for those with limited speech and hearing. A pilot program allows schools to purchase up to 30 units at a significant discount. Discounts for larger education and institution-related purchases are also available.

Although the initial launch focused on the U.S., global demand for the tablet was immediate and has grown steadily. It has been featured by the Today Show, the Bonnie Hunt Show, What Now (New Zealand), Popular Science and hundreds of newspapers, magazines, web sites and blogs worldwide.

"The heavy demand created numerous out of stock situations for which we apologize," said Taesun Cha, VP, Global Operations. "To meet ongoing global demand, we dramatically increased production and created its own online store, with low shipping rates to many international addresses." The Boogie Board tablet can also be purchased at amazon.com, brookstone.com, Brookstone stores (U.S.), taobao.com (China) and Ziho International (Korea). Other resellers and e-tailers will be added in coming months.

Based on market input, several new features will be added to the Boogie Board tablet beginning with a stylus holder and protective sleeve this summer. New standard colors, image save, and a larger size will be available in 6-12 months. Custom colors and graphics are available now for promotional product orders (minimum 100 units). 

About Kent Displays

Founded in 1993, Kent Displays, Inc. is a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of Reflex No Power LCDs for unique, sustainable applications including electronic skins, writing tablets, smartcards and eReaders.

Kent Displays announced it is expanding global distribution and developing new product features for the Boogie Board Paperless LCD Writing Tablet based on heavy demand. Kent Displays subsidiary Improv Electronics launched the Boogie Board tablet in the United States in January 2010. It is the first paperless writing tablet to utilize a pressure-sensitive, Reflex™ LCD from Kent Displays for its writing surface.  Information in this post is from a press release published by Kent Displays, which has investors and shareholders also affiliated with IP.com.

For more information, technical disclosures, patents, patent applications, and prior art, search "Kent Displays" in The IP.com Library.

Boogie Board, Reflex and Push Green are trademarks of Kent Displays, Inc.

Last year, we marked the occasion here on Securing Innovation, the corporate blog of IP.com, by hosting a special Father's Day Blawg Review by Tom Colson, a patent attorney and our CEO. His message is timeless, so we trust you'll appreciate it again this year.

Don't forget Father's Day. As a reminder, leave yourself a few Post-it® Notes.

 The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.

On June 1, 2010, the World Intellectual Property Organization launched WIPO GOLD, a free, on-line global intellectual property (IP) reference resource that provides quick and easy access to a broad collection of searchable IP data and tools relating to, for example, technology, brands, designs, statistics, WIPO standards, IP classification systems and IP laws and treaties.

“The launch of WIPO GOLD is a significant step towards fulfilling one of the Organization’s strategic goals – that of serving as a world reference source for IP information and analysis,” said Director General Francis Gurry. “The WIPO GOLD portal is a rich, dynamic and evolving information tool that will continue to be expanded and improved over time,” he added in a press release announcing the launch.

WIPO is committed to narrowing the global knowledge gap by facilitating the free-flow of IP information globally, and by improving access to and use of IP information. For example, much of the technological information found in patent documents is not published elsewhere. Patent documents, therefore, represent an extremely valuable resource in today’s knowledge-based societies.

Powerful databases, such as WIPO’s PATENTSCOPE® search service, makes it possible to conduct, free-of-charge, high-quality searches of data relating to over 1.7 million international patent applications filed under the PCT, and patent data collections of a growing number of countries.

Google Patent Search enables users to search the full text of the U.S. patent corpus and find patents that interest them.

All patents available through Google Patent Search come from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Patents issued in the United States are public domain government information, and images of the entire database of U.S. patents are readily available online via the USPTO website.

Using the same technology that powers Google Book Search, Google has converted the entire image database of U.S. patents into a format that’s easy to search. You can search the full text of U.S. patents from the Google Patent Search homepage, or visit the Advanced Patent Search page to search by criteria like patent number, inventor, and filing date.

Google and the USPTO have entered into an agreement to make bulk patent and trademark information available to the public at no charge.

Earlier this month, Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) David Kappos announced that the USPTO has entered into a no-cost, two-year agreement with Google to make bulk electronic patent and trademark public data available to the public in bulk form. Under this agreement, the USPTO is providing Google with existing bulk, electronic files, which Google will host without modification for the public free of charge.

Director Kappos said the USPTO does not currently have the technical capability to provide this public information in a bulk machine readable format that is desired by the intellectual property (IP) community. This arrangement is to serve as a bridge as the USPTO develops an acquisition strategy which will allow the USPTO to enter into a contract with a contractor to retrieve and distribute USPTO patent and trademark bulk public data. The contractor will be capable of acquiring this bulk data and providing it to the public.

“The USPTO is committed to providing increased transparency as called for by the President’s Open Government Initiative. An important element of that transparency is making valuable public patent and trademark information more widely available in a bulk form so companies and researchers can download it for analysis and research,” said Under Secretary Kappos. “Because the USPTO does not currently have the technical capability to offer the data in bulk form from our own Web site, we have teamed with Google to provide the data in a way that is convenient and at no cost for those who desire it.”

“We’re happy to work with the USPTO to make patent and trademark data more accessible and useful,” said Jon Orwant, Engineering Manager for Google. “It’s important to make public data easier to gather and analyze. And when the data is free, that’s even better.”

Until now, the USPTO’s public data in bulk form has been provided solely as a fee-based service. The USPTO estimates that nearly ten terabytes of information will be made available through Google.

This has been described by intellectual property professionals as "good news and bad news." Good news that all this patent and trademark information previously available for a fee is now freely accessible. Bad news that it's only  available in "bulk" form, which is less useful than it might otherwise be. It's also limited to United States Patent and Trademark data. So far, so good.

IP.com provides companies and intellectual property professionals with tools and solutions to more effectively manage their IP and innovations. Whether your objective is searching for patents or prior art, defensively publishing your innovations, obtaining research prior to applying for a patent or for other IP-related reasons, or realizing improved IP processes, IP.com has the right solution.

Our Intellectual Property Library website is a free international database of patent and patent-related publications. Our goal is to encourage worldwide access to resources where innovators can explore and understand patents, technologies, and related art. The database contains an ever increasing array of international patents (as published by the authorities) as well as non-patent literature (including our own Prior Art Database). The site features such things as full text and English translation searching along with unique "more-like-this" capabilities.

Start by Searching the Library or visiting the Library's Resource Center.

Like Google, IP.com's Intellectual Property Library is free.

We all know that the iPad is the brainchild of Apple founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, but who invented the ubiquitous VELCRO® brand fastener?

The hook-and-loop fastener was invented by a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral.

In the early 1940's, Swiss inventor George de Mestral went on a walk with his dog... Upon his return home, he noticed that his dog's coat and his pants were covered with cockleburrs. His inventor's curiosity led him to study the burrs under a microscope, where he discovered their natural hook-like shape.

This was to become the basis for a unique, two-sided fastener - one side with stiff "hooks" like the burrs and the other side with the soft "loops" like the fabric of his pants. The result was VELCRO® brand hook and loop fasteners, named for the French words "velour" and "crochet."

Today Velcro Industries N.V. is a technology-driven, global organization providing fastening solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.

VELCRO® is a registered trademark of Velcro Industries B. V.

Free Patent and Non-Patent Literature Database

Our Intellectual Property Library website is a free international database of patent and patent-related publications. Our goal is to encourage worldwide access to resources where innovators can explore and understand patents, technologies, and related art. The database contains an ever increasing array of international patents (as published by the authorities) as well as non-patent literature (including our own Prior Art Database). The site features such things as full text and English translation searching along with unique "more-like-this" capabilities.

Start by Searching the Library or visiting the Library's Resource Center.

Defensive Publishing

Our initial product, the Prior Art Database, was created to provide companies with a fast, effective, and centralized outlet for publishing and searching technical disclosures. In addition to electronic publication, the Prior Art Database collection is also published in print in our semi-monthly publication, The IP.com Journal, which is distributed to libraries and patent office worldwide.

Since its inception, the Prior Art Database has continued to grow, attracting many high profile clients such as IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Abbott Laboratories, and Eastman Kodak (to name a few). More importantly, it is searched and cited daily by patent examiners worldwide.

Learn more about our Prior Art Database.

Patent and Prior Art Research

Our Intellectual Property Search Service is a recognized leader in providing innovative companies with high quality patent searching and analysis. As veteran engineers and scientists with decades of industry and intellectual property experience, we have accumulated knowledge and employ a proven process for managing each search project that enables us to find the most relevant information and deliver timely, accurate, and concise results.

Learn more about our IP Search Service.

Personal Intellectual Property Protection

Our Creative Registry is a web-based registry that allows you to upload your documents and creative work for legal safeguarding. IP.com digitally fingerprints and date-stamps your work while placing it into a private archive for your personal access. IP.com then publishes the fingerprint and date into the public domain as a testament to the existence of your work. Your actual document is never exposed to anyone else, yet you have irrefutable proof of its content at the precise time it was safeguarded.

Learn more about the Creative Registry.

Innovation Repository and Workflow Software

Our InnovationQ software system provides solutions for managing the information, records, and processes associated with innovation and IP. InnovationQ is a software framework which delivers functions including sophisticated workflows, collaborative environments, and legally safeguarded document management. Utilizing this framework, we create configurable modules that provide integrated company-specific solutions. InnovationQ allows companies to improve their processes and derive new and additional value from their innovation and IP assets.

Learn more about InnovationQ.

Many corporations and organizations see the advantages that working with IP.com brings. We offer a variety of affiliate relations to help those companies more easily offer IP.com's services to in-house staff or as an added value to their clients.

YouTube video seen on Mashable

You can even search for patents and prior art on an iPad. Is there an app for that?

According to PC Magazine, "it remains to be seen just how many apps from Apple's App Store have been downloaded by the millions of iPad users thus far--around the one-million-sold mark, Apple announced that iPad owners had been busy nabbing more than 12 million apps and 1.5 million eBooks."

The Association was founded in 1878 by 17 merchants and manufacturers who saw a need for an organization “to protect and promote the rights of trademark owners, to secure useful legislation and to give aid and encouragement to all efforts for the advancement and observance of trademark rights. After 132 years, INTA continues its mission to represent the trademark community, shape public policy and advance professional knowledge and development.

INTA’s Annual Meeting is the trademark community’s premier event for networking, continuing legal education, and committee and client meetings. Valuable skill-building workshops, industry breakouts, interactive table topics, and trademark law sessions focused on international and U.S. topics, are packed into three days of education, while numerous other events present the ideal opportunity to expand your reach and meet with colleagues. The Meeting also boasts an exhibition hall featuring more than 90 exhibitors debuting new products and services.

You can follow the International Trademark Association @_INTA on Twitter, where the tweets of those attending and following the 132nd annual meeting can be found with the hashtag #INTABoston on Twitter. While in Boston for the annual meeting several well-know bloggers from around the world will get together at an informal meetup styled "Meet the Bloggers VI" that is regarded by many as a must-attend function at the annual meeting of INTA.

The website of the International Trademark Association at INTA.org is a treasure trove of useful information about trade marks.

• Community Trade Mark and the Madrid Protocol: Comparison
• Considerations for Selecting a Trademark
• Filing a Trademark Application in the United States
• Filing for a Trademark Outside of the United States
• Marking Requirements (U.S.)
• Nontraditional Trademarks
• State Trademark Registrations in the United States
• Trademark Portfolio Management Strategies
• Trademark Searching (United States)
• Trademark Searching (International)
• Trademark Fees (United States)
• U.S. Trademark Registrations:  Principal Register vs. Supplemental Register

• Maintenance and Renewal
• Trademark Portfolio Management Strategies
• Unsolicited Offers for Trademark-Related Services in the United States

• Case Excerpts on Survey Evidence in U.S. Litigation  (Member login required)
• Counterfeiting
• Figurative Use (U.S.)
• Misuse of Trademarks in Dictionaries and Style Guides
• Protection of Olympic Trademarks
• Surveys for Litigation – United States
• Trademark Dilution in the United States
• Trademark Infringements and Statutory Redress (U.S.)

• Assignments (U.S.)
• Brand Valuation
• Trademark Licensing

• Difference Between Trademarks and Domain Names
• Domain Names
• The UDRP: Alternative Dispute Resolution For Domain Name Disputes

• International Treaties
• Madrid Protocol
• Fees for International Registration Applications Under the Madrid Protocol  

• Trademark Basics: A Guide for Business
• A Guide to Proper Trademark Use for the Media and Trademark Professionals

To foster creativity, 3M encourages technical staff members to spend up to 15 percent of their time on projects of their own choosing. Also known as the "bootlegging" policy, the 15 percent rule has been the catalyst for some of 3M's most famous products, such as Scotch Tape and — of course — Post-it® Notes.

Thirty years after the invention of the ubiquitous Post-it® Notes, the company's investors are reaping the rewards of a culture of innovation at 3M.

April 27 (Bloomberg) -- 3M Co., the maker of 55,000 products from dental implants to Post-It Notes, reported first- quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year forecast as sales rose in all divisions.

Net income increased 80 percent to $930 million, or $1.29 a share, from $518 million, or 74 cents, a year earlier, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company said today in a statement.

Click here to read the interesting story of the invention of Post-it® Notes.

Here's the patent for the original invention of ACRYLATE COPOLYMER MICROSPHERES by Spencer Ferguson Silver.

Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry, credited with the invention of Post-it® Notes while at 3M, were inducted with others into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010.

3M, Post-it and the color Canary Yellow are trademarks of 3M. © 3M 2010

H/T DVICE

Surprisingly, the first .com domain name was not a now-coveted one or two letter domain name like IP.com but, rather, Symbolics.com. This historic domain name, first  registered by a now-defunct computer company, was recently acquired by XF.com, an investment firm specializing in domain names and commercial real estate.

What are the oldest domain names in the .com  DNS registry?

1. Symbolics.com registered 15 Mar 1985
2. BBN.com registered 24 Apr 1985
3. Think.com registered 24 May 1985
4. MCC.com registered 11 Jul 1985
5. DEC.com registered 30 Sep 1985
6. Northrop.com registered 07 Nov 1985
7. Xerox.com registered 09 Jan 1986
8. SRI.com registered 17 Jan 1986
9. HP.com registered 03 Mar 1986
10. Bellcore.com 05 Mar 1986
11. IBM.com registered 19 Mar 1986
11. Sun.com  registered 19 Mar 1986
13. Intel.com registered 25 Mar 1986
13. TI.com registered 25 Mar 1986
15. ATT.com registered 25 Apr 1986
16. GMR.com registered 08 May 1986
16. TEK.com registered 08 May 1986
18. FMC.com registered 10 Jul 1986
18. UB.com registered 10 Jul 1986
20. Bell-ATL.com registered 05 Aug 1986
20. GE.com registered 05 Aug 1986
20. Grebyn.com registered 05 Aug 1986
20. ISC.com registered 05 Aug 1986
20. NSC.com registered 05 Aug 1986
20. Stargate.com registered 05 Aug 1986
26. Boeing.com registered 02 Sep 1986
27. ITCorp.com registered 18 Sep 1986
28. Siemens.com registered 29 Sep 1986
29. Pyramid.com registered 18 Oct 1986
30. AlphaCDC.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. BDM.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Fluke.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Inmet.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Kesmai.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Mentor.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. NEC.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Ray.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Rosemount.com registered 27 Oct 1986
30. Vortex.com registered 27 Oct 1986
40. Alcoa.com registered 05 Nov 1986
40. GTE.com registered 05 Nov 1986
42. Adobe.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. AMD.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. DAS.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. Data IO.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. Octopus.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. Portal.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. Teltone.com registered 17 Nov 1986
42. 3Com.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Amdahl.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. CCUR.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. CI.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Convergent.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. DG.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Peregrine.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Quad.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. SQ.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Tandy.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. TTI.com registered 11 Dec 1986
50. Unisys.com registered 11 Dec 1986
61. CGI.com registered 19 Jan 1987
61. 19 Jan 1987 CTS.com registered
61. SPDCC.com registered 19 Jan 1987
64. Apple.com registered 19 Feb 1987
65. NMA.com registered 04 Mar 1987
65. Prime.com registered 04 Mar 1987
67. Philips.com registered 04 Apr 1987
68. Datacube.com registered 23 Apr 1987
68. Kai.com registered 23 Apr 1987
68. TIC.com registered 23 Apr 1987
68.  Vine.com registered 23 Apr 1987
72. NCR.com registered 30 Apr 1987
73. Cisco.com registered 14 May 1987
73. RDL.com registered 14 May 1987
75. SLB.com registered 20 May 1987
76. ParcPlace.com registered 27 May 1987
76. UTC.com registered 27 May 1987
78. IDE.com registered 26 Jun 1987
79. TRW.com registered 09 Jul 1987
80. Unipress.com registered 13 Jul 1987
81. Dupont.com registered 27 Jul 1987
81. Lockheed.com registered 27 Jul 1987
83. Rosetta.com registered 28 Jul 1987
84. Toad.com registered 18 Aug 1987
85. Quick.com registered 31 Aug 1987
86. Allied.com registered 03 Sep 1987
86. DSC.com registered 03 Sep 1987
86. SCO.com registered 03 Sep 1987
89. Gene.com registered 22 Sep 1987
89. KCCS.com registered 22 Sep 1987
89. Spectra.com registered 22 Sep 1987
89. WLK.com registered 22 Sep 1987
93. Mentat.com registered 30 Sep 1987
94. WYSE.com registered 14 Oct 1987
95. CFG.com registered 02 Nov 1987
96. Marble.com registered 09 Nov 1987
97. Cayman.com registered 16 Nov 1987
97. Entity.com registered 16 Nov 1987
99. KSR.com registered 24 Nov 1987
100. NynexST.com registered 30 Nov 1987
 

Bob Metcalfe, an Internet pioneer, Ethernet inventor, 3Com founder, and now General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners, has written an interesting story in the Harvard Business Review's blog, The Conversation, about the day dot-coms were invented.

What's your dot-com domain name story?

The first product sold under the Improv Electronics name, the Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet, is now available. This product is the first paperless writing tablet to utilize a pressure-sensitive Reflex LCD for the writing surface. While most other LCDs are made on glass, the Reflex LCDs used in Boogie Board tablets are made of impact-resistant, flexible plastic. They are mass produced exclusively in the U.S. on the world's first roll-to-roll line for fabrication of flexible LCDs.

Because all Reflex LCDs are reflective and bi-stable, the Boogie Board tablet requires no power to generate or retain an image, and only a small amount to erase (supplied by a small watch battery, which will execute over 50,000 erase cycles). At a retail price of $29.97 USD, the Boogie Board tablet's cost per erase is 15 times less than the per sheet cost of paper in a comparable steno notepad.

Written and graphic images are created with an included stylus or any other instrument that will apply the desired pressure (even a finger nail). Unlike traditional LCDs that have a poor response to pressure, the Boogie Board's Reflex LCD is highly responsive to variable amounts of pressure. This allows different line thicknesses to be easily created (great for sketching) and provides a writing experience very similar to paper and pencil.

Part of Kent Displays' Push Green™ initiative, the Boogie Board tablet provides a highly-effective vehicle to reduce everyday paper consumption. While most reduction strategies have focused on computer-related activities, an equally significant amount of paper is used for everyday writing tasks such as writing memos, jotting down ideas, making reminders/lists, practicing handwriting/arithmetic (young children), playing games, drawing pictures, and diagramming plays (coaches). The paperless Boogie Board tablet can be used for all these activities, replacing memo/note pads and sticky notes in the home, office, school, car and field. It also replaces chalk, magnetic and dry erase boards. Like all the above writing and drawing mediums, the Boogie Board tablet consumes no electrical energy to produce an image.

OEM versions of the Boogie Board tablet for integration into third party devices (e.g., computer keyboard) will also be sold.

Founded in 1993, Kent Displays, Inc., is a world leader in the research, development and manufacture of Reflex No Power LCDs for unique, sustainable applications including electronic skins, writing tablets, smartcards and eReaders. In October 2008, Kent Displays installed a new roll-to-roll production line at its headquarters in Kent, Ohio, U.S.A. to mass produce Reflex LCDs from rolls of plastic. The line is the first of its kind in the world and produces no waste water/chemicals and less solvent emissions than sheet-based processes. The flexibility, durability and exceptional thinness of our plastic displays, combined with no power image retention and superior optical characteristics, result in a versatile, environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional paper and backlit LCDs – with nearly endless applications!

For more information about Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablets, go to www.myboogieboard.com

Become a Boogie Board fan on Facebook and follower on Twitter.

For more information about Kent Displays or Improv Electronics, go to www.kentdisplays.com

Kent Displays, Inc. has shareholders in common with IP.com, so we know and like these folks, and we're happy to help spread the news about this innovative application of its patented technology.

So, it's come to this has it? We're now posting pictures of cats with funny captions in an attempt to meet the standards set by Jeremy Phillips for what makes an Intellectual Property blog remarkable these days. Not sure this will help us.

We can't compete with The IPKat on substance, and we're not sure we'll be able to match his inimitable style. But we're trying. Our featured Guest Blogger is non other than Jeremy Phillips himself. Now, if we can just keep up.

As we pushed ourselves away from the Thanksgiving dinner table and got thinking about what to write about the press release we received yesterday from the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy (SABIP) in the UK, we noticed that Jeremy Phillips had a front row seat at the press conference and has already written extensively, and with authority, here and here at The IPKat blog.

In short, SABIP's chairman Joly Dixon, summarised the plot. We Brits are now going to deepen our knowledge of how IP works within the economy and make up for the fact that we have little hard evidence as to precisely how IP affects its owners, users and the various markets in which it is engaged or exploited.

Here in the former colonies, we aren't surprised that The IPKat scooped us again on the important story of the day, as he so often does. Actually, we're thankful.

Have a great weekend.

Failing to follow sound IP management practices can leave directors and officers liable for breach of loyalty and open to claims of corporate waste...

One classic situation in which director and officer liabilities could arise: A corporation has over time accumulated a substantial IP portfolio whether patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or copyright, and has effectively lost track of what it has. It has not considered how best to maintain or strengthen the protections for the IP, let alone how best to exploit it. The problem is not necessarily in (just) failing to take certain steps to protect the IP or to exploit it, but in the failure to be sufficiently informed to competently consider alternatives so that the decision to take action or not can be defended as one that was given due consideration. This is where sound IP management can enhance internal controls and reduce regulatory and litigation risk.

 Read the article here on the new website for IP Law & Business.

GM needs to cut costs, create stronger brand messages with the consumer, and make better cars. By marketing fewer models under few brands, they should be able to sell more cars than they do now. The plan they need to submit to Congress today is a simple and inevitable one.

Look, here's the plan.