BP/G Radio Intellectual Property Podcast

Guest: The Honorable Arthur J. Boylan, U.S. Magistrate Judge

Intellectual property cases are (almost) exclusively the province of federal courts in the U.S. And, in keeping with the complexities of federal court, these cases (especially patent and trade secret) are often a firestorm of obscure technology, massive e-discovery fights and ever-shifting law. IP cases cry out for sensible governance and disposition. Enter the Honorable Arthur J. Boylan, a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota who likes patent cases. His story is one of transformation – from small-town Minnesota to the big city, from lawyer to judge and from the high-volume of state court to the intricate remedies and practice of federal court. Judge Boylan has an ideal background to bring order and intellect to the wild west of IP litigation.

We were happy to get 30 minutes with Judge Boylan to chat about his personal journey, the differing challenges of state and federal court, the effect of big IP cases on federal courts, how to speak to judges (like they’re human beings), the virtue of patent-specific pretrial schedules, the value of technology tutorials and simpler ways to resolve discovery fights (a phone call).

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Robert Morris of Walker Morris - in a special video.

Watch it at:  http://ernestgrumbles.posterous.com

Guest: Robert Cumming, Esq., Walker Morris -

Sometimes we get guests by chance - and usually we have great luck.  This happened again when Robert Cumming, a UK trademark solicitor from the Walker Morris firm (Leeds, UK), was bouncing his way around the U.S. a short while ago.  We sat him down for a friendly chat in Minneapolis and drilled him on law practice in Leeds (home of great lawyers and site of a famous Who concert - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Leeds).  Robert talked about UK vs. US vs. Euro. Community trademark practice and the ridiculously speedy trademark examination process in the UK (did he say same day examination? - hear it yourself).  And he discussed the recent drop in European Community trademark filing fees.  Yes - correct.  A governmental agency actually reduced fees (because they were so efficient they were making money!).  We (in the US TM practice) could learn from a few of these practices. 

Keep an eye here for a bonus 1-minute video of Robert Cumming on Why You Should File a Trademark in the UK.

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Guest:  Bill Slawski, SEO by the Sea (CEO)

We like SEO (search engine optimization) on BP/G Radio because it raises a number of IP issues – trademarks as key words, corporate and personal “brand,” false advertising and internet search engine patents (see previous discussion with Peter Quale). To keep the conversation going, we called up Bill Slawski, a nationally-recognized SEO consultant/blogger and principal at SEO by the Sea – see: http://www.seobythesea.com/ (this is a great blog).

Bill is a lawyer and former Delaware court administrator who helped move trial court records onto the web. In digging deep on internet search for the court system, he developed a facility with SEO and a fascination with the patented technology that drives search engine function. Search engine patents are often a roadmap of where the technology is going – not just where it has been. And Bill is one of the few SEO (or other) commentators who digs in on search engine patents and finds useful business information. We chatted with Bill about SEO and search engine IP, learning some of the secrets of the giants (Google, Yahoo, MS). While we had Bill on the phone, we also talked public access to court records (always a thorny issue).

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