HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: berryh@huey.udel.edu (John Berryhill, Ph.D.)
Subject: Re: Patent info request
Organization: little scraps of paper, mostly
Distribution: misc
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 06:32:57 GMT





Oddly enough, patent agents are able to give opinions on patentability
and on infringement.  I recently pointed this out to
Irving Kayton of the PRI, and after initially disagreeing with me,
he eventually realized that I was correct.  In fact, there are
situations where a patent agent is *required* to do both.

Consider 37 CFR 111(c).  How can someone who cannot determine
patentability comply with the requirement to "clearly point out
the patentable novelty" in a reply under 37 CFR 111(a)?  A statement
of patentability must also be made in several other circumstances.

More importantly, consider MPEP 708.02(ii) which sets forth the
requirements for a Petition to Make Special on the ground of
infringement.  The applicant is required to show "(1) that there is
an infringing product actually on the market in use ... supplemented
by an affidavit or declaration of the applicant's attorney or *AGENT*
to show, (3) that a rigid comparison of the alleged infringing device,
product, or method with the claims of the application has been made,
(4) that, in his or her opinion, some of the claims are unquestionably
infringed...." (emphasis added)

A point worth emphasizing is that Bruce is 100% correct that an agent
cannot say boo about patent infringement.  However, an agent can, and
indeed is required as set forth above, to give an opinion about infringement
that would occur upon allowance of a claim in a pending application.
The reason is that, while a patent is a legal document, an application
is not.  Right upon until the day the patent issues, an agent can
and must be able to determine infringement.  However, from that day
forward, the agent suddenly can have no opinion in regard to the
claims that he or she wrote.

Be that as it may, the original question in this thread was directed
to obtaining a patent.  Patent agents may represent applicants in
all matters before the PTO.

Naturally, if you want to sue someone or if you are being sued, head
for the tassled loafers.
-- 
                                                John Berryhill, Ph.D.
From: pdc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Paul Crowley)
Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing
Subject: Re: Copyright/Arcade Games Thread
Date: 5 Nov 92 10:52:12 GMT
Reply-To: pdc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Paul Crowley)
Organization: Do they make a washing powder called Caliban Automatic?

In article <1992Nov3.162935.1@vaxa.strath.ac.uk> cigs13@vaxa.strath.ac.uk writes:
>I trust that you have no desire to contemplate perjury

This sounds more like morality than legal advice.  If perjury worked to
beat software patents, I'd advise it every time.

[he later goes on to point out it's also unwise pragmatically]
  __                                ____
\/ o\ Paul Crowley pdc@dcs.ed.ac.uk \  /
/\__/ "I'm the boy without a soul"   \/
From: jtucker@cstp.umkc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing
Subject: internet connection
Date: 9 Nov 92 17:35:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: cstp.1992Nov9.113507.1
Organization: UM - Kansas City, Computer Science




Does anyone know of any law firms that are connected to the internet?



Please respond to:

jtucker@vax2.cstp.umkc.edu


Thanks in advance,


Joseph...
From: twriter1@pencom.com
Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing
Subject: Selling products created from development tools
Date: 5 Nov 92 18:11:38 GMT
Reply-To: twriter1@pencom.com
Organization: Pencom Software

Here's the story.  Say you have a very powerful development tool.
Many people want to use the things you can make from this tool, but
don't have the time or desire to start from scratch. (It's very
complicated and there are no good books published yet on how to use it.)
There is a runtime version of this tool, so if you created stuff with
it you could sell the stuff to people who had just the runtime version.

I would like to find out if this is legal.  I presume I would have
to ask the company who makes the tool, but I have no idea who to 
talk to or what questions to ask them.

I can't just make something with this tool and sell it without
somehow acknowledging the company that makes the tool, can I?
The company is not at this time selling products developed with the
tool, just the tool itself.

Advice anyone?  Is there a different newsgroup I should be posting
this question to?

Thanks in advance,
Tanya
twriter1@pencom.com
Xref: sparky misc.legal.computing:2252 misc.legal:19739 comp.sys.ibm.pc.games:21202
From: avik@icase.edu (Avik Banerjee)
Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing,misc.legal,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: Play Super Nintendo and Genesis games with Game Doctor?!!!
Date: 10 Nov 1992 17:18:12 GMT
Organization: ICASE/NASA Langley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: dolphin.icase.edu

does anyone know how this works exactly. i mean is it true that
you cant play this thing of a pc or is it just a storage device
for games which let you pull them off carts and put them on
ibm disks. if you can play them off pc's, do you need any special
hardware for the monitor or what? thanks.



            ___ __    _ ______  __
           /   || |  / /| || | / /
          / /| || | / / | || |/ /
         / / | || |/ /  | || |\ \
        /_/  |_||___/   |_||_| \_\
	    @icase.icase.edu
-----------------------------------------------
|"Only the insane have strength to prosper.   |
| Only those that prosper judge what is sane."|
-----------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.legal.computing,misc.int.property
From: cigs07@vaxa.strath.ac.uk
Subject: Computer Law
Organization: Strathclyde University VAX Cluster
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 13:43:38 GMT




********************************************************************************
                    LLM in Computers and Law
********************************************************************************

Due to the growing interest in the legal issues related to computing
Strathclyde University Law School is now offering a Postgraduate
Masters course in Computer Law


Areas to be studied include

Privacy and Data Protection
Criminal Aspects of Computer Use
Liability for Defective Software
Intellectual Property Rights

Candidates are welcomed both from a law or technical background.
Assessment is by examination and by submission of a dissertation.

For application forms and or more detailed information please write to Moira J
Simpson, Strathclyde University Law School,173 Cathedral St, Glasgow G4 0RQ
Scotland, United Kingdom

or send e-mail to cigs07@uk.ac.strath.vaxa 

*******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************* 
Xref: sparky misc.legal:19818 talk.politics.misc:59701 ca.politics:9523
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: misc.legal,talk.politics.misc,ca.politics
Subject: Self-Insured Health Insurance Plans Cancelling Someone
Date: 11 Nov 92 17:13:00 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA


Has anyone who has seen the decision of the appellate court that
ruled a company could change health plans and thus cut off an AIDS
patient's coverage, explain the legal reasoning used by the court?
I can see how a change of plan might affect illnesses that 
started AFTER the plan change, but isn't a health insurance policy
effectively a contract?  One party to a contract usually doesn't
have the right to change the terms of the contract without the
other party's consent.

This seems like a highly questionable decision.
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
Racism is "class struggle" applied to ethnicity.
From: bryan@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: hate crimes
Date: 10 Nov 92 11:58:31 CST
Distribution: misc
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

In article <1992Nov9.4141.27102@dosgate>, "nigel allen" <nigel.allen@canrem.com> writes:
> Here is a press release from the Anti-Defamation League.
> 
>  ADL Urges Supreme Court to Take Hate Crimes Cases
>  To: National Desk
>  Contact: Bonnie Mitelman, 212-490-2525, ext. 474; or
>           Steve M. Freeman, 212-490-2525, ext. 113,
>           both of the Anti-Defamation League
...
>    "When criminal actions are prompted by demonstrated bigotry," said
> Melvin Salberg, ADL national chairman, "we believe they should be
> punished with enhanced penalties.  ADL developed model hate crimes
> legislation based on this concept, which punishes criminal conduct,
> not hate speech.  More than half of the states now have legislation
> based on or similar to our model.

Does anyone have a copy of the ADL model that they'd be willing to
post or otherwise make availalbe?

...
>    According to Ruth Lansner, ADL National Legal Affairs Committee
> chair, if the court takes the cases, it could remedy three major,
> negative consequences of the RAV decision:
>    1) the potential derailment of hate crime legislation across the
> country -- because of misinterpretations of RAV and other decisions
> by the Supreme Courts of Wisconsin and Ohio, the people in these
> states have been deprived of an essential weapon in the fight against
> racial and ethnic violence;

This one just simply isn't true. If you want to fight racial and
ethnic violence, work to see to it that the cross-burners are punished
to the fullest extent of current law. I'd like to see a lot less time
spent on unconstitutional regulation of thought and a lot more time
spent prosecuting these acts as the crimes they are. Remember,
vandalism, tresspsssing, and (esp. in the case of cross-burning)
death threats are already against the law.

So I repeat my request for the ADL model.

>    2) the perception that the nation's anti-discrimination laws may
> be unconstitutional -- like hate crimes laws, anti-discrimination
> laws are concerned with the intentional selection of a victim because
> of race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and some may
> believe RAV renders these questionable, too;

Does this perception exist in reality, or is this a straw man? "Some
may believe" isn't very convincing. 

...

-Bryan

Die gedakken sint frei.
From: edwardk@cup.portal.com (edward chungfan kwok)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: Harvard (Was: Re: Clinton Nominees for the Supreme Court)
Date: Mon,  9 Nov 92 16:45:12 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Nov7.151906.15645@midway.uchicago.edu>
  <1992Nov7.210918.15798@panix.com>
  <1992Nov8.170846.23699@midway.uchicago.edu>
  <1992Nov9.031203.22492@panix.com>


>This is not first hand, but what we lawyers call "hearsay."  :)

I bet it falls under some exception to the hearsay rule, I heard him say it
myself.  hmmm.....
Newsgroups: misc.legal,alt.politics.elections,talk.politics.misc
From: akbloom@aplcenmp.apl.jhu.edu (Keith Bloom)
Subject: Re: Clinton Nominees for the Supreme Court
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 03:57:51 GMT

heidi@wales.net.com (Heidi Wolf) writes:

>1) Justices who might retire in the near future:  Blackmun; White;
>   [drat, can't remember the 3rd person; he's in his 70s].

Justice John Paul Stevens is 72.  He was appointed by Gerald Ford.
Some vague memory tells me that he was Dean of the University of
Chicago Law School before that, but I'm not certain.

>2) Justices who might have chosen to retire if Bush had won:  
>   Rehnquist (has stated that he would like to teach); O'Connor.
 
Rehnquist is 68, but will probably stay on the Court as long as
possible rather than allow a Democratic President to name his
successor.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is 62.  There are occasional rumors that
her health is questionable.  She was a Reagan appointee, but I have no
idea whether she would be inclined to hold onto her seat for political
reasons.

The other Justices are in their fifties or, in Thomas' case, in his
forties.  It's doubtful that any would retire during the Clinton
administration, even if he serves two terms.


Keith
Newsgroups: misc.legal
From: tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman)
Subject: Actual lawyers on this group?
Date: 13 Nov 92 22:02:24 MST
Organization: University of Utah, CompSci Dept

  I am considering practicing law, and would like to hear actual unfiltered
comments from lawyers in the ditches.  Do you like your job?  Why/not?
I have interviewed a few lawyers (and distant relatives who are lawyers or 
judges) and gotten some idea of what the actual job is like, along with
a few horror stories thrown in.  However, if I am going to devote 3 years
of school and many years of life to something, I'd like to know as much
as I can!   Is law (patent law in particular) interesting or dredgework?
I will keep confidential all comments sent via e-mail, but I am sure others
would be interested in hearing if you posted on the net.

  Thanks a lot!
From: asbjo@wg.estec.esa.nl (Asbjorn Riedel)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Network Marketing
Keywords: Marketing methods, pyramids
Date: 5 Nov 92 15:25:03 GMT
Organization: WG/Estec, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Can anybody give me some information about Network Marketing.
Is it legal ?  Which companies are using it ? Has it been used
for a long time ? Does it work ? etc..

Thank you in advance

Asbjorn Riedel
asbjo@wg.estec.esa.nl
From: SIMCOEE@QUCDN.QueensU.CA
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: The Socratic Method
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:10:09 GMT
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston

I am a 2L from a Canadian law school.  I am writing an article for the
law school newspaper about the use of the socratic method.

It used to be employed in my school - but has fallen into disfavour
over the past decade.  I understand that it is still used at U.S. law schools.
I would appreciate receiving any information, humorous stories, etc.
about this mthod of teaching law.

Thanks!

Elliott Simcoe
From: eck@panix.com (Mark Eckenwiler)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: why so much to imprison someone?
Summary: Our friend, the Federal Correctional Institute
Date: 7 Nov 92 19:36:09 GMT
Organization: Superseding Information, Inc.


In <1dfarfINN8ej@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu sez:

>That's UNICOR. It has an interesting history. It was established after
>Elenoir {boy, I sure can't spell today...} Roosevelt toured Lewisburg
>FCI and wondered why the inmates had so little to occupy their time.
>
>UNICOR actually competes very little on the open market, mainly cuz
>there are too many complaints if they do. Its big job is manufacture of
>99% of the furniture used in USG offices, followed by USG printing
>work.

I went on a tour of Danbury FCI last fall, and had a chance to see the
UNICOR facility there.  At Danbury, most of the UNICOR work is in
fabricating cables and connectors for electrical/electronic devices.


>I think if the innmate chooses not to work at a UNICOR job, he or she
>gets a facilty one, such as pushing a broom or pulling weeds. Since the
>UNICOR jobs pay something like 10x the facilty ones, they are typically
>sought-after. Note that no one gets rich at either; top buck is a few
>dollars a day

You have to behave well over a period of time to be considered for a
UNICOR spot.  What David says about wages is absolutely true: the
UNICOR workers make in the vicinity of $2-3/hr, while the broom
pushers (and there are tons of them at Danbury) make 11-15 *cents*/hr.

Off the subject, but a good story all the same: the authorities showed
us a selection of items confiscated from the inmates.  My favorite
invention, notwithstanding the impressive variety of shivs and shanks,
was a secret storage container made out of an "unopened" soda can.
The artisan had cut off the top, put in a layer of putty, and
installed a small mayonnaise-type jar.  The top of the jar was glued
to the underside of the can top, which screwed down snugly onto the
can.  So long as the owner didn't put in things that would rattle,
this handy item would withstand even a "pick up and shake" inspection
by a guard, since the putty gave it just about the right heft.

FWIW, I also toured the adjacent minimum security women's facility,
which seemed pretty tame by comparison.


-- 
	      Spring . . . too long . . . Gongula . . .

	Mark Eckenwiler    eck@panix.com    ...!cmcl2!panix!eck
Newsgroups: misc.legal,soc.culture.hongkong
From: hpang@engin.umich.edu (Ho Sun Pang)
Subject: Re: Neighbor's loud stereo
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 19:22:25 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <1992Nov13.215847.26522@berlioz.nsc.com> wdl@berlioz.nsc.com (Bill Llewellyn) writes:
>
>We have a circumstance with a neighbor who plays their stereo very loudly. 
>
>[losta lines deleted]
>
>=================================================================
>Regards, Bill          | How is it possible
>wdl@berlioz.nsc.com    | to make a vacuum cleaner? 
>National Semiconductor | (The contents of this article do not
>Santa Clara, Ca        | necessarily reflect the views of NSC.)
>=================================================================
>


My 2 cents:  Go to K-mart and buy 2-3 14-inch fans (check the blue-light 
specials out!).  Then go to the nearest Chinatown and get 100+ pounds of
Chinese mosquito fragrance sticks (10 pound of those is still cheaper than
talking to a lawyer for 15 minutes).  Burn these things and blow the smoke
to that neighbor until he turn the volume down.

For better results, making a live recording at a Chinese funeral home, where
ear-blasting Chinese cornets and annoying monk screaming may be found.
Then play the recording at a snapping volume when you burn these mosquito 
sticks.

Rule of Thumb:  A court order would only piss that guy off and thus may lead
to further possible problems.  Never sue slobs - they've nothing to lose and
thus may beat you up, or invite you to eat lead.

*****

I've heard rumors that most Bounty Hunters at Singapore would only cost you
U.S. $1000 a life, anyone got the yellow page?


- Louis

P.S.  Seriously, I've similar problem once.  The only thing I could do was
      tolerate.
From: lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: why so much to imprison someone?
Date: 5 Nov 92 13:15:41 GMT
Organization: "Well, a head on top, an arm on each side, two legs...."

In <1992Nov5.040320.13895@midway.uchicago.edu> thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Mmmm... Purple) writes:
>In article <14250014@hpmwmat.sr.hp.com> mikep@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Mike Powell) writes:
>>
>>	Serve the full term in less time.... At .25 the current cost.
>>
>>	Make prisons half their normal size (or double occupancy) to
>>	get twice the utility of the facility.  Remove most or all
>>	of the bennies... no tv, phone, rec. center, weight room, etc.
>>	Half the current time out of the cell, half the space to move
>>	around in...  cut all services in half...

>Do you have a breakdown to show that this is 75% of the cost?
>There's food, guard services (the cost of which will need to increase
>when you cut off any letting off of steam by the inmates), heating (or
>is that just a luxury also?).

While it's debatable (so far none of us have brought any *facts* to the 
table) that this is a significant cost issue, it *is* a significant 
punishment issue.  The question of inmates "burning off steam" is 
not insignificant, but the current situation, government postgraduate
academies of crime, bodybuilding, and abbreviated mores (not a typo)
is a miserable alternative.  Whenever situations get as bad as the
current prison scene, radical solutions become interesting: anyone
for Coventry?

>For that matter, have you *seen* the current cells [overcrowding,
>c.o. safety, riots].

Some of this is a result of the U.S. having the second highest per
capita incarceration rate on the planet; some would argue that this
is feeding on itself: going to prison is a normal and acceptable cost 
of doing business to many.

>Alas, there's the nasty interference of the Eighth Amendment getting
>in the way of both of our plans...

An old (but again not unreasonable) argument.  The classic counter is
that "if punishment *isn't* cruel and unusual, it makes no impression",
with the usual example of swatting a dog once-a-day for no reason leaves
you with no training method and a neurotic dog.  There's also fertile
ground for argument about original intent: debtor's prison and indenture
we common practice and considered reasonable and proper by many, branding
criminals was still done, but on its way out (possibly the sort of thing
the framers had in mind?)

>I suspect the people who think inmates' lives are too cushy have never
>had any experience with a prison at all from the inside or the outside.

I suspect that people who can't see a major problem haven't either.  This
is not the forum for a punishment vs. rehabilitation argument, but I would
say it's clear that *neither* is occurring today.

(BTW, the Japanese prison system is worth an examination.  Yes, there are
certainly cultural and societal differences, but still, it's interesting.)
-- 
Laird P. Broadfield     lairdb@crash.cts.com    ...{ucsd, nosc}!crash!lairdb
Hi!  I'm a shareware signature!  Send $5 if you use me, send $10 for manual!
From: emetzger@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Freedom of Choice Act
Date: 5 Nov 92 14:47:53 GMT
Organization: Oxford University VAX 6620

In response to the query on the constitutionality of the
Freedom of Choice Act, the proposed law which would set limits on
the extent to which a state may intrude on a woman's decision
to have an abortion--

I believe this law would have no effect whatsoever in reserving
a sphere of autonomy to the woman. There is no question of
deferrment to Congress by the Court: the Court decides, when
called upon to do so, what powers the state has in respect to
abortion. Congress cannot simply ignore these state powers and
declare that the state has fewer powers than the Court has permitted.
The issue is really quite the same as that posed by the limitations
on a woman's actions. In each and every abortion decision, the Court
allots certain powers both to the state and to the woman under the
aegis of the Constitution. Mere legislation (e.g., the FOCA) can
never trump the Constitution.

Ernie Metzger
Newsgroups: misc.legal
From: ddaye@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (David C Daye)
Subject: Supreme Ct. Insurance non-ruling
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:40:19 GMT

Yesterday the Supreme Ct. refused to hear a case in which an employer had
changed health insurance plans after an employee had begun submitting
claims for treatment of AIDS.  The effect on the employee, as I under-
stand it, was to reduce his coverage from $1,000,000 to $5,000 for his
disease (lifetime max).

My wife, a former insurance claims adjuster, contends that since the former
insurance co. had been paid for coverage, and since a claim had been filed
under that policy, the former co. should have been liable for treating
the disease. 

She's convinced that the courts have effectively allowed insurance co.s
to renig on services they've promised and contracted to provide,
any time they deem it costly to do so.  If so, this has implications
far beyond the AIDS population.

Does anyone wish to comment on what we're missing in all this? 


David Daye
Newsgroups: misc.legal