Google is pushing the envelope
I seem to write a lot about Google, but I think they are really
pushing the delivery mechanisms, law and consumer expectations. Perhaps letting employees do whatever they want for a certain number of hours is a good way to develop features that are truly innovative.
Open Innovation is a good book describing different models of organizational management of innovation. A case study of Google's management would be a good focus. Who will write that book?
Purina uses podcasts to teach (oh, and get you to buy products)
A major company, Purina, is now using "podcasts" -- pet tricks, fun ring tones,
to build brand loyalty. Creative marketing, I say. As long as they do not get attached to other podcasts, I can't see consumers being mad about it. I am curious how many will "opt in" -- but educational content is always interesting to folks, so perhaps it will do well. Stay tuned.
Big gene thinker
Craig Venter does it again, announcing he will try to come up with a "
human made species" -- put together a whole genome and create a new being. He believes, with his team, that it will have many new applications. Or it could not work at all. I expect to see the anit-press come in tomorrow. But you must agree, it raises many new issues!
Blackberry patent debate continues
Patent claims continue to be
invalidated by the USPTO -- perhaps hurting NTP. Research in Motion is hoping that this will help them, but commentators seem unsure. This debate has been going on for *years* so who knows what, if anything, will help either side. Has the patent dispute hurt adoption of the "crack" berries? If a party ever decisively wins, will there be a market impact? I think the parties ought to consider that.
A Google contract released
To quell debate, one university
releases its contract with Google. A good document to examine for future consideration.
Will Google stop?
The Association of American Publishers has asked Google to stop scanning books still under copyright -- for 6 months -- while the project and copyright is assessed. This comes on the tail of the AAUP conference, although the letter was evidently sent a few weeks ago. The Google publishing saga continues. They certainly are getting a great deal of press!
NIH helps early stage drug trials
In a new move for public-private partnerships, the NIH has dedicated $13 million to run some clinical trials on experimental drugs. But they also took earlier steps, to try to jumpstart drug development. From the Wall Street Journal article today on the issue:
The hard-core scientists wanted an exhaustive battery with newer tests, while drug-company officials said it wasn't feasible to make people in clinical trials complete hours of tests. In the end, the panel whittled it down to a 63-minute battery of 36 tests for use in clinical trials.
Next the NIH tackled one of the biggest obstacles to drug development: choosing which of the more than 100 tests now available should be used in clinical trials to measure memory, attention and other brain functions. At the time, individual drug companies used wildly divergent tests, and competing university researchers often invented and patented their own testing methods, and licensed them for sale.
I've worked with a number of university faculty who have created tests which measure such activity -- I'm curious now what the fate of these new tests are. Hopefully there is still room for innovative new tests in the new system.
There have been many proposals regarding how to manage early stage clinical trials for small niche drugs. This system, in close connection with specific partners, is one I had not heard discussed. Let's hope it all turns out well.
EU votes to not restrict software patents
Companies big in software are rejoicing as an EU subcommittee voted for new legislation regarding patents which includes the ability to get "software patents." The little "guys" are sad, believing that it will be more difficult for them to compete. Although this was a subcommittee vote, the EU is expected to follow as a whole. The legislation is seen as not allowing the "one-click" patent, but allowing other software patents.
The question now is, what is the EU as a whole, and will this vote matter in a year?
One Google contract is out
One school has released the details of its Google contract. Who will follow? And what will the reaction be?
Sun beats UC
Sun became the
largest contributor to the open source community, according to their own releases. OpenSolaris is licensed under Sun's own licenses.
“We’re the second largest contributor of open source software to the community [behind the University of California] and [on Tuesday] we’ll step up and be the largest contributor of open source software,” Goguen stated.
When does the ecosystem work?
You'll have to have a subscription, but there is an
interesting article in the Wall Street Journal on Microsoft's strategy in music services and music players. It constrats Microsoft's successful strategy in operating sytems and music services to their approach with game systems (Xbox). The exec in charge of the Xbox has now been put in charge of Microsoft's music strategy. Seems MS now believes that music and gaming are more similar -- or at least deserve a similar market strategy. Trying to follow the iPod strategy.
I'm laughing because I refuse to buy an iPod because it is such a closed system. But this is an example different markets and products require different strategies. Amazing. Will other developers learn that one solution doesn't fit all?
Supreme Court rules drug patents don't bar research
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
in favor of a safe harbor today, stating that drug development is a long & difficult process, and companies seeking to make generic drugs can legally use their competitor's patents to develop a generic drug.
Pirated MS program value set at $1
In a settlement with Indonesia, Microsoft has evidently agreed that they will receive
$1 per copy of their pirated software which turns up in an audit. Interesting -- how will this value impact other piracy cases, or distribution of MS software?
Coming soon: San Francisco 3D map
A little local pleasure:
a 3D map soon, courtesy of Google. Yes, yes, you other poorer cities will get yours soon. But San Francisco is first!
Google uses a Creative Commons license . . and helps people use Google better
Google
introduced a sitemap feature, licensed under a Creative Commons license. We'll see if others follow their lead.
DMCA loses one
The Supreme Court said that
they will not hear the Lexmark case, which means that Lexmark's attempts to use the DMCA to block competitors from creating compatible ink cartridges has (may?) come to an end. Stay tuned. More to come on the DMCA, I'm sure.
Will 50 more years = better artists?
Britain is considering
extending copyright for pop music (just pop music?) 40-50 years (to put it more in line with US law) because longer terms will help music producers generate more money. Because, of course, this extra money will automatically go to discovering new artists. Hmm. Why not just run a bunch of
British Idols?
Let WIPO know your thoughts
WIPO
hosts an online discussion about many IP issues. I wonder what it all might amount to.
Germany does it now, too
Germany is now starting
their own Google book digitization project. In fact, German publishers were encouraged not to participate in Google's project. . and the card are finally on the table. I wonder what will happen with the copycat projects in the legal area, once Google responds. Will Google & the others band together to fight for the fair use doctrine?
Google hires people to help open source
Get a summer job where Google
pays for you to do your own project -- provided it is open source. Spreading goodwill, getting access to students, seeing work product. Google is thinking of creative ways to hire and find good full-time employees . . . oh, I mean contribute to the public good.
Persuade people by having a mimicing avatar
Ok, it's not IP related, but dang interesting. We've known that if you mimic the style and behavior of someone (subtly) you are more likable. Now it's true -- or they have proved it's true -- with avatars,
too.
