APJ – Administrative Patent Judge
BPAI – Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
CAFC – Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
PTO – Patent and Trademark Office
USC – United States Code

http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2008/04/challenge-to-bp.html

This all seems to hinge on (a) whether a director is a “head of department” and (b) whether a patent judge is an “inferior officer” or an employee. Maybe that’s a no-brainer to Appointments Clause experts, but I could see how it’s the sort of thing you could have an opinion about, especially if you’re one of a hundred lawyers drafting procedural legislation in cubicles.

As for the conspiracy angle, if it hadn’t been Dubya’s “Director of the Patent and Trade Office” making these nefarious appointments, it would have been his Secretary of Commerce (under the old law). I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it doesn’t really matter which one handled it, assuming there was some particular menace intended. But the one thing the article doesn’t suggest is that anyone in particular had something to gain that could only have happened via this evil scheme.

Just because Dubya malevolently turns everything he touches to crap doesn’t mean that this wasn’t an honest oversight by a nonpartisan line attorney somewhere. Does anyone know of anything that even hints at something less innocent than that? Beyond “oh, well, patents are big money so the fix must automatically therefore be in.”

That’s my beat. Back off, buddy.

Method of Exercising a Cat

You should suggest that for the front page. It’s brilliant.

They did warn that the impact of Professor Duffy’s discovery could be cataclysmic for the patent world, casting “a cloud over many thousands of board decisions” and “unsettling the expectations of patent holders and licensees across the nation.”

This is so typical of this administration. When they screw up they immediately attack the person who pointed it out.

My point was that governments can make honest mistakes as well as corrupt ones, and that they call for different levels of outrage. Your point was to call me a fascist on the internet, I guess.

By the by, I made a mistake above. It wasn’t Dubya and a Democratic Congress that let this happen, it was Clinton and a Republican Congress (the law passed in 1999). Those who want to adjust their outrage accordingly should do so. To me it still looks like an oversight that took eight years for anyone anywhere to catch.

Method of Exercising a Cat

“I’m a commie librul America-hatin’ American like nobody’s business….”

That sounded a little too pat.

Just saying.

Just saying.

The Trollhunters may have their lists of red flag words and phrases to watch out for, but I’d personally like to start a campaign against the whole, “I’m just saying . . .” trend in commenting. If you want to accuse someone of something, just do it. If you don’t feel comfortable actually accusing them openly, I’d say there’s a pretty good chance that it’s because you don’t really have enough of a basis for your accusation. At that point just ask yourself, is injecting your vague suspicions into the thread actually advancing the conversation in any way, or have you become the topic-derailing troll?

Let’s try that again….

Umm, I didn’t think I was being vague?

I really am a liberal; I really do think the Bush administration is an abomination for all sorts of excellent reasons I’d be happy to list; I really don’t think this whole patent shenaningans has Thing One to do with him. (From what I’ve seen.) But what I hate much more than being disagreed with is being disagreed with because someone equates “I think that GWB isn’t personally responsible for the death of your kitty” with “I love GWB.”

Sorry if I threw you or anyone else off (really). It doesn’t even seem to have worked for its intended purpose.

You should read BB’s summary again and then the actual article. I think you’re imagining an attack that wasn’t there in the first place.

Good thing we haven’t had that problem with this administration.