29 September 2008

Blawg Review #179 is the greatest thing since Blawg Review #178

Blawg Review celebrates inventiveness on a regular basis, not just by covering the best intellectual property-related legal blogging but also by showcasing the creativity of its hosts. Blawg Review #179, hosted by the proprietors of the Securing Innovation blog, manages to achieve both in high style.

This week's Blawg Review commemorates el Día del Inventor, the Argentine holiday which recognizes the invention of the ball point pen by Buenos Aires native Laszlo Biro. His invention has become so ubiquitous the world over that in many Commonwealth nations, users refer to all ball point pens as "Biros". Equally ubiquitous it seems are "Bic" pens, a further development on Biro's original invention made by Marcel Bich. Even in an increasingly paperless society, there's a sound basis to claim that the the ball point pen is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread, incidentally, was invented by Iowan Otto Frederick Rohwedder, who apparently has no national holiday in his honor. Perhaps that's because he was unable to pinpoint which development his invention was the greatest since.

At any rate, this is a day to recognize the spirit of invention and Blawg Review #179 delivers. Highlights include early reviews of the upcoming inventor-in-jeopardy movie Flash of Genius from an IP attorney's perspective, transferring wealth to patent trolls in the midst of a financial crisis bailout with an as-yet-untrademarked name, and the launch of a new blog devoted to furniture law.

Andis Kaulins will host next week's Blawg Review at his LawPundit blog.

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