Sunday, July 29, 2012

CBS "60 Minutes" on July 29, 2012


"It's only life. You do what you need to do." Austen and Muriel Metzger in Seminole County Florida appear again on "Hard Times Generation" by Scott Pelley, a recycled story. Jade Wiley was interviewed, and talked about Beth Davolos. 2/3 of the homeless families in Florida are living on the street. The longevity of homelessness continues to rise. Pelley sag down with the Coates family. Victoria and DeAngelo: security, lighting. WalMart, YMCA, hospital emergency room. Pelley commented: you do what you need to do. [There was no box to check for "living in car."] Orlando Rescue Mission. There is a ferocity that comes with being a parent on the street. Pelley noted the Metzgers are now in a home. Same for Coates and Wileys. 1 million was contributed to Beth Davolos' organization.

Second up was Morley Safer on Vincent Van Gogh, another recycled story. Steven Nafi and Greg Smith did a book, suggesting that Van Gogh did not commit suicide on July 27, 1890.

CBS Sunday Morning on 29 July 2012

Charles Osgood opened the show topics: summer vacation season and the cars we drive, to be reported by Lee Cowen, you are what you drive, the 15 most influential cars; luxury hotels that cater to celebrities, to be reported by Conor Knighton; smart and tough Judge Judith Scheindlin, to be reported by Rita Braver; toasters, to be reported by Bill Geist; pigeons of Venice; the Vogels and their art collection, as reported by Mike Wallace, and more.

Headlines: Aurora, CO, remembering and mourning the victims of recent shooting spree that killed 12 and injured 58, gunman Holmes to appear in court again tomorrow; Mitt Romney is in Israel; Syria attacking Aleppo; Germany insists Greece abide by prior financial agreements; at Olympics yesterday, Lochte won gold, Phelps placed fourth in the 400 I.M.

Cars that made America: like pets with wheels, illuminating history; Paul Ingrassia, his book, "Engines of Change," lists what he says are America's 15 most influential cars, most of which have a home at The Henry Ford, a museum in Dearborn, MI. The Model-T tops his list, putting America on wheels; the Toyota Prius, giving impression or lack thereof on environment; the GTO, defining American muscle; the LaSalle, stylish and comfortable; the 1953 Corvette, flashy, proud, starring in Route 66; the 1959 Cadillac, adding size to speed, particularly the size of tail fins, indicating America's upward mobility; the VW Beetle, Kraft Der Freude Lagen, or "The Strength through Joy car" Hitler's vision of practical and functional, and the choice of hippies; the Ford Mustang, made popular on television by actors Steve McQueen and Mary Tyler Moore, 'sporty' became affordable as baby boomers were coming of age, getting their driver's licenses, attending college, wanting something different from their parents; the Chrysler Minivan in place of the crowded station wagon, for soccer moms; the Chevy Corvair, which Time Magazine called one of the worst cars ever made, the second most influential car in American history after the Model T Ford, Ingrassia states: "The Model T put Americans on wheels. This car put America in the hands of lawyers!" Nader, then a young attorney, said the Corvair was "unsafe at any speed"; product liability lawsuits followed, government safety standards and regulations were created, effect of the Corvair reached the White House, influencing presidential politics, the hanging chads in Florida in 2000, Nader getting 95,000 votes there, Al Gore could have become POTUS. Florida that year," said Marlow. "Had Nader not been on the ballot, I think it's a solid argument that most of those 95,000 votes, or a good percentage of them, would have gone to Al Gore. Ingrassia includes the Ford F-150, and more -- but not the Camero, the T-Bird, or even the 1957 Chevrolet.

Almanac: when Charles married Diana, July 29, 1981 -- 31 years ago, in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Two sons, William and Henry (Harry), were divorced in 1996. Diana killed in 1997. Charles married Parker-Bowles in 2005; Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011. Diana revered still for her charity works and patronage. She would be 51 years old.

[Encore] As reported in 2008 by Mike Wallace for 60 Minutes, archived documentary: One of the country's most impressive collections of modern art by Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, displayed in their NYC apartment. They bought the art on Herbert's postal worker salary and covered household expenses on Dorothy's earnings as a librarian. Befriended many of the artists. Never sold any of the art, worth an untold fortune. Donated art to National Gallery of Art [From Minimalist to Conceptual Art] for a modest stipend to maintain themselves in retirement. Herbert died July 22, 2012. See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1227929/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_and_Dorothy_Vogel;
http://www.nga.gov/press/2008/vogel50x50_a.shtm.

[Encore] Seth Doane on Venice's pigeon problem. See IPBiz post of May 13, 2012.

[Encore] Gregory Brothers, AutoTune and green screen viral videos; 'Fed Intruder' by Antoine Dodson watched more than a million times on YouTube; Charlie Sheen, among others. See IPBiz post of January 8, 2012.

Passage: Sally Ride, first American female astronaut, accomplished physicist, died Monday of pancreatic cancer (age 61); Sherman Hemsley, actor best known for [All in the Family spin-off] The Jeffersons, died Tuesday (age 74); Chad Everett, actor best known for Medical Center (as Dr. Joe Gannon), died Tuesday of lung cancer (age 75).

[Encore] Bill Geist on toasters -- in the 1920's, sliced bread promoted popularity; Thomas Edison invented Edicraft toaster. Collector couple host an annual toaster convention. WebsiteL toastercollectors.org. See IPBiz post of November 20, 2011.

A celebrity luxury hotel: California's "Pink Palace" (The Beverly Hills Hotel), where Hollywood stars such as Jimmy Fallon frequently spend $1200 a night for a suite and the secluded bungalow where Marilyn Monroe stayed costs $5000 a night. Built one hundred years ago on land that was growing lima beans. Hard-working single-mother Margaret Anderson already owned/operated a hotel in Hollywood before building/operating The Beverly Hills Hotel. Built with bridle paths, black-tie dinners and lush gardens, the rich came, and they bought property around the hotel where their mansions were erected. Douglas Fairbanks. Bungalow-dwellers Cary Grant with Carole Lombard, honeymooning Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (the latter spent six of her eight honeymoons at the hotel), Howard Hughes stayed in one of the BHH bungalows for 30 years. The BHH was remodeled in the late 1940's under supervision of Paul Revere Williams, one of America's first prominent African-American architects; he updated the hotel's look with bold stripes, tropical wallpaper, sinuous curves, a distinctive logo and the renowned Polo Lounge. Hotel was featured in California Suite and Designing Women and aspiring starlets would strut poolside (this led Raquel Welch to One Million Years B.C. Anderson family sold hotel in 1928; its current owner, the Sultan of Brunei, reduced the number of suites and rooms from 250 to fewer than 200, creating larger bathrooms and closets.

[Encore] On July 27, 2012, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley -- Steve Hartman reported on Luther Masingill, a 90-year old radio broadcaster who has worked at the same station longer than any other broadcaster in history (WDEF, Chattanooga, TN), for 72 years. Reports national, local and community-interest news, including lost and found pets. The National Radio Hall of Fame has selected Luther for induction this year. See http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57481615/72-years-on-the-radio-from-wwii-to-wayward-pets/.

Opinion: Tavis Smiley on poverty, calling it the new slavery, threatens our democracy. Co-author of "The Rich and the Rest of Us, A Poverty Manifesto," published in April 2012.

Face the Nation: Bob Schieffer questions Mitt Romney -- has he given 'the okay' to Israel to bomb Iran?

Moment of Nature: just across the Bering Strait from Alaska to eastern Siberia where snowcaps linger into summer and loons call.

Next week, ports of call.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The day they banned "buckyballs"


IPBiz, from time to time, has discussed buckyballs, molecules made of carbon.

From news.yahoo:

Purveyors and purchasers of small, tiny, spherical magnets take note: You're dealing in forbidden goods. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a ban on the sale of Buckyballs, an "educational toy" consisting of a handful of small, tiny magnets.
The ban is the agency's first in the last 11 years, and apparently there's a solid reason behind it. If swallowed individually, Buckyballs could possibly reattach somewhere in your intestines, damaging tissue to the point where surgery would be required. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics report, there were 60 magnet ingestion cases over the last two years which resulted in 26 surgeries. At least 22 of these cases were connected with Buckyballs.

A number of retailers from Amazon.com to Urban Outfitters have agreed to stop selling the balls, but the creators of the product are digging their heels into the ground and turning the issue into an election year missive on the president. Buckyball creator Craig Zucker says he will "vigorously fight this action taken by President Obama's handpicked agency."

"As a small business owner I'm left wondering what to tell my employees and their families. How can this happen in America," grandstanded Zucker.
If you've purchased the balls in the past, the creators of Buckyballs have been directed by the government to provide refunds. Alternatively, you could just choose to keep and enjoy your Buckyballs while resisting the tempting urge to eat them — for America.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

WSJ opines on Apple v. Samsung

From the Wall Street Journal on Apple v. Samsung in ND California:

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh, who is overseeing the Apple-Samsung trial, could take guidance from federal appellate-court Judge Richard Posner. Last month, he ruled that Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit couldn't stop Apple from using technology protected by a standards-essential patent, saying court injunctions shouldn't apply in such cases.

One notes that Judge Posner, who is an appellate judge, was designated to district court in the above-mentioned case.

Rahn on biofuels

Note the piece by Richard Rahn titled Biofuels Not Worth the Trouble or Cost

An issue with the piece is that Rahn identifies issues with "ethanol from corn," but does not note that these issues do not apply to ethanol from cyanobacteria/algae:

First, the facts: Corn and soybeans are the biggest U.S. grain crops and are used in many of the foods that almost everyone consumes each day.

Congress subsidized and mandated the use of ethanol in motor fuel. Currently, about 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used in the production of ethanol. Corn prices rose as a result of the government creating an artificial, additional demand.

CAFC affirms ITC in Apple/Kodak case

See affirmance by CAFC in Apple v. ITC (intervenor Kodak).

See Reuters/Chicago Tribune:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a brief ruling on Monday [July 23] upholding last July's decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission that Kodak did not infringe the Apple patents for making digital cameras and related software.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Gevo issues press release concerning '666 re-exam of US 8,101,808.

Kodak's '218 patent found invalid at ITC

The Mac Observer noted: The U.S. International trade Commission upheld a preliminary ruling on Monday that found Kodak’s patent claims to be invalid, but Kodak put on a brave face and said it would appeal that ruling with the U.S. Court of Appeals.[for the Federal Circuit]

See also For Kodak, New Risks In Auction Of Patents : the high-profile loss could make it harder for the company to raise the billions of dollars it is counting on to help it emerge from Chapter 11 as a viable company.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

CBS Sunday Morning on July 22, 2012

Charles Osgood introduced the stories for July 22, 2012. The list of towns and cities associated with unthinkable violence expanded. Bill Whittaker, Bob Orr, Barry Peterson all discuss. Lee Cowan does the cover story. Soap box derby. Anthony Mason on Peter Frampton. Richard Schlesinger on Dale Carnegie. Headlines. President Obama scheduled to travel to Aurora, Colorado. Authorities gained access to apartment of James Holmes. Aurora police chief Dan Oates [footnote: Daniel Oates is a lawyer, a graduate of New York Law School, and a former NYC policeman]. Jim Axelrod in Aurora. Oslo, Norway. Ruppert Murdoch steps down from various boards. The statue of Paterno at Beaver Stadium was removed with a forklift. Adam Scott leader at British Open. Weather. Rain in midwest and south. Comfortable day in northeast.

Lee Cowan in Aurora, CO with Sunday Morning cover story. The impossible came true. 12 dead, 58 wounded. James Holmes is not talking much. Bob Snider, trauma surgeon. Midnight premier of Dark Knight Rises. Joshua Nolan. Century 16. Renewed debate over gun control laws. Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Cowan: Nowhere is truly safe.

Almanac. July 22, 1930. Pedro Florez registered a trademark for yo-yo, which in tagalog language means come back. Duncan acquired the trademark rights. Grand Old Opry demo of yo-yo with Richard Nixon. John Weisenheimer, collector of yo-yos. Richard Schlesinger. A yo-yo with CBS logo featured at the end of the piece.

Mark Strassman on coca-cola. The bottle is an iconic design. Mean Joe Green. The contour bottle. Phil Mooney is Coke historian. 1886 in Atlanta. By 1910, just about all US covered by bottling plants. By 1915 lots of imitators. Chero cola, dixie cola, king cola. Deceive the public. So Coca Cola initiated a contest to identity a unique bottle. Root Glass in Terra Haute< Indiana. 6.5 ounce contour bottle shaped after coca pod. Introduced in 1916. Now 2 billion Coke drinks consumed every 24 hours. Bill and Cathy Combs in Baltimore collect Coke memorabilia. In 1990s changes in promotional work. Katie Bain notes now contour bottle appears in Coke products. Sometimes what's on the outside counts as much as what is on the inside.

Richard Schlesinger on Dale Carnegie, a recycled story. "How to win friends and influence people." Peter Handle is CEO of Carnegie empire. 8 million people have taken the course. Warren Buffet and John Boehner have taken the course. Common sense but not common practice. At a Dale Carnegie course, everyone speaks . $2000 for 8 sessions. Bernie Dix was sent here. I've learned how to pause before I react. I had rough edges. You don't close the door. Example: two people talking at the same time doesn't work. Carnegie started in 1912. Maryville, Mo. 1947 movie: Jiggs and Maggie in society. The man who is enthusiastic. The late Dorothy Carnegie shown in 1994 interview. Editor for Simon & Shuster convinced Carnegie to write book. Sold more than 30 million copies. Smile in an email. I'm having a great day. Courses are offered in more than 80 countries. "Richard, that's an interesting question." Pay someone to tell us to be nice to others. Parents have been giving that advice for generations, and for free.

Barbecuing and reading a book. Barbecuing story by Mo Rocca. In Miami, barbecue that will make you squeal. Roasted pig. De Rodriguez, high end Cuban barbecue. Jasmine rice, Caja China, the Chinese Box. Pig stays in box at a low temperature.
Jennifer Weiner, of the next best thing, on summer books. Chicklet themes. These Girls by Sara Pekkanen. Stacey Ballis, Off the Menu. Jillian Medoff, I couldn't love you more. michelle huneven, Blame. Leaonard Pitts, Jr. Freeman. These summer shelves offer something for every beachbag.

Rita Braver on soap box derby cars. Liam Donavan of Conshohocken, PA. Derby Downs; began in 1933. Jimmy Stewart narrates Winning Ways. Age 7-17. Derby expert Bob Troyer. Issue in 1973: cheating. In 1975, first girl winner. Girls make up 40% of the derby. Gabrille Bibble. Speeds average 30 miles an hour. Actor Corbin Bernson of LA Law. Helped out when Derby had financial troubles. "First Energy" corporation. "25 Hill" premieres tonight.

Bob Orr watching James Eagan Holmes developments from Washington. BulkAmmo.com. Smith & Wesson semiautomatic rifle. Kaitlin Fonzie, a neighbor of Holmes interviewed. Bill Whittaker in San Diego. Westview High School; UCal/Riverside. Tom Mai, neighbor. Camp Max Straus. Salk Institute. Michael Wellner, forensic psychologist. Increasingly isolated, alienated. The only norm he knows. In 2011, accepted to U Colorado Ph.D. program. Holmes now in Arapahoe Detention Center.

Anthony Mason on Peter Frampton (a recycled story). Frampton Comes Alive! Then, the biggest selling live album, ever. Plane carrying concert gear (and guitar) crashed. Lost my mojo. And how he got it back. Peter Frampton in Cincinnati. In 1976, Humble Pie. I don't think anybody is ready for the best selling album of all time. How do I travel this road. Ringo: I don't know, it's your career. Lost your cred with shirtless photo. Segeant Pepper's movie, a disaster in the 1970;s Frampton and David Bowie toured together. A musician's career lasts a lifetime. Fingerprints. Gibson, Les Paul. Frampton gets guitar back, and plays at Beacon Theater. Almost like: guitar saying you're worthy again.

Who Dunnit? by Steve Hartman. Flags stolen from cemetery in Hudson, NY. Vince Wallace announced reward. The culprits were not human. Woodchuck related theft. Channel inner caddyshack, rigging up flag with fishing line. [Recycled from July 13: Burrowing into a mystery: Who stole flags from veterans' graves in N.Y. town? ]

Barry Peterson has stories from victims in Aurora, CO. Alex was dead. Matt McQuinn jumped on top of his girlfriend, Samantha. Veronica, 6 years old, the youngest victim. A lifetime struggle to accept what they have lost.

Bob Schieffer. More from Colorado.

Next week on Sunday Morning. America's war on weeds.

Moment of nature. Spiriva HandiHaler. Rocky Mountain National Park. Moose at Cub Lake. Eating in the water. [Note Moraine Park Campground: The 2.3-mile Cub Lake Trail leads to a lily pad–covered pond. ]








Saturday, July 21, 2012

Chicago Tribune, Journatic, outsourcing and plagiarism

See the post Plagiarism and a resignation at Journatic

One gathers the Chicago Tribune outsourced some of its local reporting function to Journatic, who in turn seemed to copy text from local sources.

Somewhat like the Hartford Courant story, but with a middleman.

Oral argument on July 20 in Myriad case: analogy to coal extraction gets a workout


Discussion limited to the relevance of Mayo v. Prometheus to the claims before us.
Castanias gets 20 minutes.

Castanias. Non-naturally made human inventions. Mayo's theory was pre-emption. It's not a separate test. Lourie: Here, we are talking about an isolated material that comes from nature. Isn't this a small move? Castanias brings up Bryson's baseball bat imagery.

Remove a trunk of a tree, and say one has invented a trunk of tree? Instead of cutting a tree with an ax, used a laser. Chemical changes at bottom of trunk, but still a tree trunk.

Castanias. Isolated DNA. '282 patent, column 19. Go to column 24, line 9. These inventors decided (Figure 10A) where BRCA 1 gene begins. Where to start, where to end. Like baseball bat. Product of human ingenuity.

Claim 20 is closest of relevance to Mayo. Method of screening. How do you distinguish claim 20 from Mayo. Here, you start with a new manufacture.

Issue of what's in petition vs. GVR.[Bryson issue) We are not limited by what's in petition. Bryson notes the judgment was vacated. Bryson does not think task is restricted by "what's in petition."

Bryson says he is confused by the language of claim 20. "causing cancer" ? What is the method by which this claim actually works? The words "causing cancer" are floating in the claim.

Moore brings up the possibility of holding the isolated gene unpatentable. Is claim 20 still patentable.

Hansen is next. "Stunning breadth" of the claims. Court: breadth is a 112 issue.
Pre-emptive issue. Court: is pre-emption related to Mayo? Court: Mayo dealt with method claims. Isn't the holding with respect to method claims irrelevant to composition claims? Moore: I don't see any relevance of your pre-emption argument.

Hansen goes to claim 20. Lockheed-Martin v. Space Systems. Altered BRCA 1 gene, which has been shown to increase risk of cancer.

Issue of "significantly more." Here, all you do is put stuff together and "see what happens". Just check various growths. Administer man-made drug to human. Under Mayo, looking to see what happens is NOT patentable. Penicillin case. Is effect of penicillin on bacteria not patentable because it is a law of nature?

Next, US (Melissa Patterson ). Court: Is Mayo a tool like the magic microscope a tool? Patterson defends magic microscope. Moore hammers on magic microscope. Are changes made in isolation enough to make this patentable invention. Products of nature should be free to wall.
Taking DNA, converting to RNA, making protein is law of nature. Some of these claims preclude access to a product of nature. Inhibit ability to exploit product of nature. Can the public still use and exploit?

Court: is your view that of USPTO? Matter of different agencies taking different positions. Attorney General Bell and TVA. Here, this is position authorized by Solicitor General.

Patterson: We don't think this is a close case. Brings up tungsten and GE case. Break apart a proton. Isolate a quark. Not patent eligible. When the only changes made are incidental to extraction from environment. You need to remove it from natural environment. Coal extracted from a vein. Myriad does not point to a single way another researcher could extract.

Moore: what about settled expectations of other gene patent holders. There is a lot at stake.
US points to Bilski case, effectively invalidating thousands of patents.
Supreme Court: need to make general rules about section 101.
Pre-empt public's rights to investigate.

Primer/probe issue.

Coal issue. Lots of things can be done AFTER coal extracted.

A "certain 13". Uranium case from CCPA.

Castanias back. Goes to claim 20. "Gene causing cancer inserted into host cell."
In Mayo, use of old drug in a new way can be patented in a method claim. The insertion of the BRCA1 gene is very much like Chakrabarty.
As to composition, Chakrabarty already drew line. Invention of starting and stop points. Inventive judgment.
Is coal extracted from the ground patentable subject matter.
This is different because inventors pick the starting/stop points.
Protein replacement therapy.
Magic microscope. I hope this is invention. By now, it's obvious.
Our invention is what it allows doctors to do.
Human ingenuity is involved in deciding where to clip it.
Robinson treatise of 1890. What skilled artisan would do.
Kidney extraction example. Where to cut the kidney? Then claim isolated kidney as an invention because I determined "where" to cut it.
You are claiming the kidney.
Dr. Watson had his genome sequenced. Had mutation on BRCA1 gene.
Moore: deciding where to cut. this is your whole case?

Matter of obviousness in Mayo. Supreme Court used word "obvious."

Simply put, Chakrabarty drew the line. Nothing in Mayo changed this.

See also U.S. appeals court reconsiders Myriad gene patent ruling
on Association of Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, No. 2010-1406.

**In passing, the Castanias reference to Watson was interesting, given that Watson opposes the Myriad position. See DNA Structure Co-Discoverer James Watson Weighs In on Ongoing Gene Patent Case . Watson filed an amicus brief which includes the text: “Amusingly, after I gave my first presentation of our DNA structure in June 1953, Leó Szilárd, the Hungarian physicist and inventor of the nuclear chain reaction, asked whether I would patent the structure. That, of course, was out of the question.”


Oral arguments before the CAFC

"When the position of one party is so clearly correct"

See the citation to Joshua v. United States, 17 F.3d 378, 380 (CAFC 1994) within the case Rogue Riverkeeper v. Bean.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

CBS Sunday Morning on July 15, 2012

Lee Cowan, not Charles Osgood, introduced the stories for July 15, 2012. "Sunday at the Shore." Gold Coast of Long Island. Charlie Rose started with a conversation with President Obama. Tracy Smith on tree houses. Third, Anthony Mason on the Beach Boys, a recycled story. Fourth, Mo Rocca on barbecues. Maurice DuBois did the headlines for July 15. Obama attacking Romney on outsourcing. FDA problem. Syria civilians killed. Hillary Clinton in Egypt. Bastille Day celebrated in France on July 14. Weather hot and humid.

Sands Point, Long Island, shown, but the first story was Charlie Rose with the Obamas. Obama on the White House: "This is rental housing." Obama: "This is going to be my last campaign." Obama: first stages of empty nest syndrome. Rose: where would you go? Obama: mentions India. Michelle: Mount Rushmore; French Quarter of New Orleans. Interview in Blue Room on affairs of state with both Barack and Michelle. Rose: you said you trust her completely but she is a mystery. Barack: I am happily surprised. I rely on her more than back then (1996). Rose: did this place change you. Michelle is 48. Michelle: this place magnifies the good and bad parts of you. Michelle: I'm impressed with his steadiness. Rose: what will be the accomplishment in the next four years. Obama: what's undone. How do we build an economy with a stable middle class. Which vision, mine or Mr. Romney's is more likely to deliver for those folks. Rose: he will say, let's look at your record. Let's look at your management of the economy. Obama: if I were in his shoes, I would be making the same argument. Rose: what happened to "hope and change"? Obama: what has frustrated me most in the past four years? I have not been able to change the atmosphere in Washington. Rose: you had confidence that you would be able to bridge the gap. Obama: politics trumps problem-solving.

Tracy Smith on tree houses. In a grove outside Seattle, Jack Jacob is cutting limbs to set up a tree house. Eric Seeley had a tree house at age 9. Ally Chung. A crow's nest with a trap door. Heidi Danelchick: a chalet in the trees. Bainbridge Island is in view. Suspended in the air held by two living things. Jacobs says, if done right, trees like tree houses. Temple of the Blue Moon. Peter Nelson runs Trillium, a tree house bed and breakfast. Tree houses legitimate form of architecture. Roderick Romero: nature is the architect. Did tree house for Sting in Italy. Pavorotti. Julianne Moore and Val Kilmer. Community Garden in East Village, NYC. Perspective we all want is as a child.

Lee Cowan playing with a ball. John Fox of Harvard bouncing a basketball. Son asked why do we play ball anyway. Fox wrote a book: "The Ball." Now a documentary called "Bounce." Clip from "The Natural." Clip of Cowan as an infant. Basketball Hall of Fame. John Goliva. The ball affects our brain. Intellectual benefit to playing. Cognitive and social skills are improved by playing. Dolphins prefer ball over anything else. Pharoahs. Mayans used rubber balls. Leather ball; pigskins. Orkney Islands. Football banned by English kings in the 14th century. Baseballs with sturgeon eyeball centers in midwest US. Clip of Babe Ruth. Bob Cousy. Houdini of the Hardwood. Picture of Obama with basketball. Sometimes things are just as simple as they seem, and just as timeless.

Michelle Miller on kayaking. Invention of the Eskimos. Kayak means man's or hunter's boat. Today's "extreme kayaking." Wet and wild. Eric Stiller, Manhattan Kayak Company. Paddle boarding. Use body in stroke for paddle boarding. The Hudson River poses its own problems. Tim Desmond is a kayaker. Back in 1970s, Hudson River was polluting. Amy Lynn, paddleboarder. Frea Hofmeister circumnavigated Australia. All your power comes from your core.

Mo Rocca on barbecues. Robert Moss. Book on Barbecue. Cooking method originated with Caribbean indians. Long trenches dug into the ground. Stump speech. Jack Walton of Oklahoma in 1923. Bear was NOT barbecued. Piedmont, North Carolina. Northern Alabama. Texas has four different styles. Kansas City. Kentucky. The matter of sauce. Vinegar Sauce. White barbecue sauce in Big Bob Gibson's barbecue in northern Alabama. The Most Divine Swine Scotts in Hemingway, SC sauce applied with a mop. Color, texture and appearance.

Pulse: 31% barbecue MORE than once a week in summer.

Faith Salie, on fishing. Mostly men fish. Tight lines. Why do dudes like fishing? Man vs. nature. Democratic activity. don't need to be tall or short. An excuse not to do much. Mono-tasking. Extended periods of boredom. Like dating. Meaningful bonding time. Baloney sandwiches in a bayou. Intimate time sharing. Metaphor for life. It's not fish they are after. Have fun and tight lines. One in eight Americans fish.

Serena Alschuler on croquet. NYC's Central Park. John Osborne. All England Croquet Club in 1868. Four wooden balls through series of wickets, and then hit stake. Jack Osborne, father, founded US Croquet Association in 1977. USCA. Champaign sport. Popular among retirees. Town of Annapolis. Rivalry with St. Johns. In 2011, St. Johns wore fake Navy outfits. Largest croquet attended event is the Navy vs. St. Johns game. Lots of drinking. Croquet became an Olympic sport in 1900 but was discontinued for lack of interest.

Anthony Mason: Summer Song on the Beach Boys. California Surf Rock. No American band has more top 40 hits. This summer they are on the road for the 50th anniversary of the group. Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and Mike Love had been touring with their own bands. First reunited in February at the Grammys. David Marks and Bruce Johnston. Grammy nomination in 1966, but Good Vibrations lost to Monday, Monday of the Mamas and the Poppas. Hawthorne, CA: Carl and Dennis and Brian. Four Freshmen Harmonies over Chuck Berry. Only Dennis actually surfed. Surfin Safari was released in 1962. Murray Wilson was the manager. Brian Wilson was the fragile heart of the Beach Boys. Brian: I was so afraid of my dad. I was scared of failing. In 1964, Brian Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown. The Wilsons took drugs. Rubber Soul inspired them. "God only knows." Beach Boys: Smile after Sergeant Pepper. Lyrics too obtuse? Without Brian, a nostalgia act. How does a 70 year old guy sound that good. The Beach Boys are trying to catch one more wave. You can let the past screw with your head for a life time, or you can say all we have is right now.

David Turricama on wine, in Paris. Enrico Bernardo. Paris: il Vino restaurant.
Collection of ten rose wines. The bouquet is most important. Monks in Provence made rose. Became popular after rail road was built. Mateus rose from Portugal. Cheap because not aged. What goes best with rose. fish, vegetables. Fillet of turbot. Puree of carrot, fennel and cucumber. 26% of wine is consumed with no food at all.

Bill Geist. Shore Thing. Sanibel Island. [This is a recycled story.] Competitive shellers at the Shell-e-bration. 400 species of colorful specimens. True tulip. Alphabet cone. Dottie Debayshur. Leroy Nightsell. Captain Joey Bernsed. Fighting Conch. High-low tide. Matt Aeson collects oyster shells of the oysters he has eaten.

Cowan on birthday of Woodie Guthrie. Born in Okemah, a small town in Oklahoma on July 14, 1912. "Going Down the Road." Populist bent. "Union Man." "This Land is Your Land." Died of Huntington's Disease in 1967.

Bob Shieffer. How low can the presidential campaign go.

Next week on Sunday Morning. "Driven" on cars.

Moment of nature. Pradaxa. Sunrise over Cape Cod. Birds on beach. Water over sand patterns.

Show ends with clip of Lee Cowan, unlike a typical Sunday Morning.










Saturday, July 14, 2012

Heather Zichal on Navy biofuels program: es bueno [?]


Biofuels Digest quotes from Heather Zichal :

Heather Zichal, the White House deputy assistant for energy and climate change, calls that “shortsightism,” and says Congress “needs to get beyond the myopia that is stunting investment in and handcuffing Defense Department use of biofuels. The Defense Department isn’t making these investments in renewable energy and renewable fuels because it sounds good,” she says. “They’re doing it because it makes sense from an operational and national security perspective.

Politico had mentioned Zichal before in the context of Solyndra:

Internal emails released from the White House over the past several months show that Zichal played a recurring role in the Solyndra saga. Her messages have also been some of the most colorful from inside the administration, including an email sent to colleagues last August describing Solyndra's impending bankruptcy filing as a "*#~@ show."

Separately, the New York Times had noted:

In one e-mail, dated Oct. 27, 2010, Heather R. Zichal, the deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change, told Carol M. Browner, the White House’s chief staff member on climate change: “Solyndra is going to announce that they are laying off 200 of their 1,200 workers. No es bueno.

That announcement was postponed until the day after the midterm elections of Nov. 2, 2010, apparently at the urging of the Department of Energy.


Zichal has a New Jersey background, as a Rutgers grad and as a former worker for Democrat Rush Holt. From wikipedia:

While at Rutgers she had interned at the state chapter of the Sierra Club and was part of a panel interviewing candidates for U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey's 12th congressional district.[5] The support of her and other environmentalists helped Democrat Rush D. Holt, Jr. stage an upset victory over Republican incumbent Michael J. Pappas.[5] Impressed by her sharpness, Holt hired Zichal, and she went to Washington, D.C., where she served as a legislative director for him.[5][1] She held the same position for Representative Frank Pallone from 2001 to 2002.[1] She then was a legislative assistant and later director for U.S. Senator John Kerry from 2002 to 2008,[6][1] She also worked as an assistant for the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.[7] In these positions she worked on legislation to address climate change, reduce the country's dependence on oil for energy, and to protect American natural resources.[8] She also served as a top advisor on energy and environmental issues to the 2004 Kerry presidential campaign and the 2008 Obama presidential campaign[1][2][5] (having first met Obama when he was lost in one of the Senate buildings and asked her for directions).[9]

UPDATE. 4 August 2012.

from Rahm Emanuel refers Solyndra questions to WH lawyer

A House report on the Solyndra bankruptcy showed that Emanuel was a driving figure behind President Obama’s appearance at the Solyndra factory — he was “super hot” to do the event, according to White House aide Ron Klain — because he believed that “[j]obs and high tech and Recovery Act is a winning combination.”

The report also indicates that Emanuel’s interest played a role in the White House supporting the loan guarantee, based in part on a 2009 email that Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Policy, wrote to another White House staffer.

“In addition, Ms. Zichal stated that ‘folks in the financing community’ had also raised concerns about the Solyndra loan guarantee, ‘[b]ut if Rahm wants it, we’ll make it happen,’” the report says of the email.

Re-exam 95/001,857 of Butamax US 7,851,188

The cases spinning off from the Butamax patent 7,851,188 are complicated:

12/018,216 filed on 01-23-2008 which is Patented claims the benefit of 11/586,315
12/939,284 filed on 11-04-2010 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
12/966,333 filed on 12-13-2010 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
12/939,315 filed on 11-04-2010 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
95/001,718 filed on 08-18-2011 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
13/205,351 filed on 08-08-2011 which is Patented claims the benefit of 11/586,315
95/001,735 filed on 09-01-2011 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
13/539,125 filed on - which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
95/001,857 filed on 12-19-2011 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315
95/001,998 filed on 06-21-2012 which is Pending claims the benefit of 11/586,315


The patent issued on December 14, 2010. IPBiz covered some of the re-exam matters in a post titled Gevo's inter partes re-exam request as to US 7,851,188

As to 95/001,857, filed on 19 December 2011, there was a "third party requester's comments" filed by one Fraser D. Brown of Cooley on July 5, 2012 of length 54 pages.
The first sentence of the Introduction (page 9) states: "Butamax's response is filled with factual and legal mistakes." The third sentence includes the text "showing once again that the patentee is unable to prepare consistent submissions to the Patent Office that reflect even a basic understanding of yeast biology." Within the third paragraph of the introduction, one has "a representation that is careless and lacking candor." At issue at this point is whether or not yeast have a native [intrinsic] isobutanol pathway meeting the elements (a) - (e) of the the claim.

At page 10, Gevo/Cooley argue that the crux of the Butamax argument is that yeast do not NATURALLY produce isobutanol by the biosynthetic pathway recited in the claims of the '188 patent. The 1965 Yoshizawa reference is identified as showing the pathway from pyruvate to isobutanol.

Various experimental papers are cited to show the existence of the natural pathway. For example, work by Oshita on C-13 labelled molecules, is cited on page 15.

As to secondary considerations, page 21 contains the text: "Butamax fails to understand the law, however." Gevo/Cooley cite to Muniauction v. Thomson, 532 F.3d 1318, and assert no nexus between claim elements and the advantage. Claim 1 has no element directed to isobutanol yield. At page 22, Gevo/Cooley get into economic issues. At page 23: "Butamax does not disclose any microorganism, much less any yeast strain, capable of supporting commercially viable isobutanol production." Also at page 23, an MIT MS thesis by one Sheldon-Coulson is cited, alluding to unmet production promises by Butamax for the years 2010-2011. Liao's work on isobutanol from cyanobacteria is discussed on page 25. Provisional applications of James Liao are cited on page 26. Also at page 26, one has "isobutanol is isobutanol." In re Kahn on motivation is cited at page 28. Issues of overexpression are addressed on page 33. Page 34 begins the discussion of the new claims of Butamax, 38-65. Page 40 discusses NADH dependent ADH. Written description issues are discussed at pages 44-45. In re Wertheim is cited. Isobutanol toxicity is discussed at page 45. Codon optimization is discussed on page 51.

The Gevo/Cooley document is responsive to a paper filed for Butamax by Peter Jackman of Sterne Kessler on June 6, 2012.

Plagiarism by Michigan School Superintendent

Zeeland, Michigan School Superintendent Dave Barry plagiarized from a blog, and ended up resigning his post, but with a cushion of one year's pay. Text from Barry suggests that the plagiarism charge (which seemingly was accurate) was pretextual, a vehicle to remove Barry because of other things. One is reminded of the story of Glen Poshard, President of Southern Illinois University, who plagiarized in his Ph.D. thesis, from Southern Illinois University.

Details of the Barry matter can be found in School district will pay Dave Barry’s salary through June 2013, documents show from the Holland Sentinel.

AND

After admitting plagiarism, documents show former Zeeland Superintendent Dave Barry will be paid $160,000, sheds light on reasons for exit

One commenter observed: The contract says "The board may terminate his contract for any or no reason by paying one year's [salary] and benefits."

Friday, July 13, 2012

Kilpatrick Townsend dodges a bullet

From within Wi-Lan v. LG

Because the district court did not apply the proper analysis to the privilege question, we vacate its production order and remand. We also vacate the contempt sanctions; on remand the district court may revisit whether Kilpatrick Townsend’s failure to comply was contempt.

At issue:

This appeal requires us to assess the consequences of Wi-LAN’s disclosure of the Townsend letter to its rival LG. We have no difficulty concluding that this disclosure implicated Wi-LAN’s attorney-client privilege. Though Kilpatrick Townsend suggests that the Townsend letter was always intended to be disclosed, and so was never really confidential (and so never really privileged), the available evidence demonstrates otherwise. The Town- send letter is marked “CONFIDENTIAL” on every page. It is addressed from an attorney to his client and contains detailed legal opinions. Kilpatrick Townsend has not offered evidence (as opposed to attorney argument) to justify departing from the obvious conclusion that the letter was at least initially confidential. We therefore agree with the district court that Wi-LAN’s disclosure of the letter waived both that confidentiality and Wi-LAN’s attorney-client privilege, at least as to the letter itself.
The question presented by this appeal thus concerns not whether Wi-LAN waived its privilege, but how far the waiver extended. Kilpatrick Townsend argues that under a fairness balancing test the scope of waiver should be narrow, essentially limited to the Townsend letter itself and reaching no other communication between Wi-LAN and Kilpatrick Townsend. LG, on the other hand, be- lieves the waiver should be broad, exposing to discovery a wide swath of attorney-client communications, both pre- and post-dating the Townsend letter, relating to the subject matter addressed therein. Kilpatrick Townsend does not argue here, as it did below, that Federal Rule of Evidence 502 should govern the scope of waiver here, on the theory that disclosures “in the context of” a federal proceeding qualify for the benefit of the rule.
It is well-established that when a client discloses to another person the content of a privileged attorney com- munication, the resulting privilege waiver may extend beyond the communication itself to other related matter. Weil v. Inv./Indicators, Research & Mgmt., Inc., 647 F.2d 18, 24–25 (9th Cir. 1981). LG suggests that this is both the beginning and the end of the inquiry. It says Wi-LAN waived privilege as to the Townsend letter, so it ipso facto waived privilege as to all other communications on the same subject matter. Kilpatrick Townsend, on the other hand, argues that basic considerations of fairness pre- clude a broad waiver in this case. It claims that LG is unable to articulate any prejudice it would suffer by assertion of privilege to matters beyond the four corners of the letter, and so there is no equitable reason to extend the waiver beyond the letter. Kilpatrick Townsend argues that by rejecting its attempt to incorporate such a fairness inquiry into assessing the scope of waiver, the district court legally erred.


The CAFC further noted:

As between the two directions put forward by the parties—one requiring fairness balancing for extrajudicial discloses, the other barring it—we conclude that the Ninth Circuit’s cases support the former far better than the latter. The Ninth Circuit has repeatedly endorsed fairness balancing in a variety of circumstances; more to the point it has never set forth, either expressly or inherently, any rule barring fairness’s application to extrajudi- cial disclosures. Nor do the Ninth Circuit’s cases suggest any policy reason why the fairness protections available for express disclosures in litigation should be unavailable to those who waive privilege pre-litigation. Such a rule, which LG promotes in this appeal, seems to us bad policy, and we decline to adopt it on the Ninth Circuit’s behalf.

AND

Even in this appeal, where we agree with Kilpatrick Townsend that the district court committed legal error in its application of privilege doctrine, that is not the same as excusing failure to comply with a judicial order. In some cases one who disputes a subpoena’s lawful scope has no alternative but to invite a contempt citation in order to obtain appellate review. Here, however, Kilpatrick Townsend had options that it did not pursue. Nevertheless, it is not for this court to determine whether and to what extent Kilpatrick Townsend should pay a penalty for its failure to either properly move the district court for certification of an interlocutory appeal or to seek mandamus review from this court when faced with an unlawful production order.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

"A threat of tyranny to the Constitutionally assured rights of a natural born citizen of the United States"

Flir v. Gambaro is worth a read for the text:

Mr. Gambaro responded four days later:

The Defendant Pro Se does not consider the statement of the Court to be a ‘final warning’ but more accurately a threat of tyranny to the Constitutionally assured rights of a natural born citizen of the United States. The Defendant Pro Se is outraged that these measures were even considered to the point of including them in an order. DO NOT THREATEN ME AGAIN IN WRITING. I do not take kindly to threats in any form.
Gambaro Ltr. to J. Brown (Mar. 29, 2011). Mr. Gambaro characterized the Order as “an act of Judicial Terrorism” and stated that he would never agree to the Aiken Con- struction because it was “FRAUD pure and simple.” Id.


YouTube is mentioned:

Two days later, he filed a progress report with a YouTube video that was purportedly evidence as to why the Aiken Construction was invalid. The district court issued two orders on August 1, 2011, warning Mr. Gambaro of the possible consequences of his violations and directing him to show cause why the district court should not impose a bond as security against future violations. Ten days later, Mr. Gambaro filed an unauthorized motion to bar the Aiken Rulings from the case, and the district court issued a supplemental order to show cause why the district court should not find Mr. Gambaro to be in violation of its prior orders.

The outcome:

We hold that the district court possessed the power to impose that sanction and did not abuse its discretion in doing so. See Televideo Sys., Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 916 (9th Cir. 1987) (recogniz- ing that district courts may enter default judgment to sanction abusive litigation practices and observing that such power is “necessary to enable the judiciary to function”).

Bywaters v. US on lodestar

In a case denying re-hearing in a case involving lodestar calculations, Judge Dyk and Judge Plager both have additional comments.

In his footnote 1, Judge Plager observes:

This could also be considered a grant of the petition for the limited purpose of clarifying the opinion.

Judge Plager concluded:

Here, there is no indication that the winning attor- neys were anything but competent; indeed, the evidence is that they were chosen for their particular competence in this type of case. The trial judge expressly determined that under the circumstances of this case both the hours claimed and the attorneys’ rate were reasonable, a deter- mination that by definition incorporates this factor of “amount involved and results obtained.” The case was complex and involved many small property claims con- solidated into one case. The panel’s addition to the opin- ion confirms my view that no remand is called for and, while I agree with what is said here as I understand it, I continue to dissent from the original panel opinion order- ing a remand, as well as from the overturning of the trial court’s reasoned determination regarding the relevant market for pricing the attorneys’ services.

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CAFC interprets 35 USC 120 as to 35 USC 135(b)(2) in an interference




The issue in Loughlin v. Ling concerned an interference:

On May 13, 2004, Loughlin filed Application No. 10/845,624 (the “’624 application”). The ’624 application was published on November 18, 2004, as Publication No. 2004/0226324. On October 14, 2008, the ’624 application issued as the ’426 patent.

On February 5, 2007, Ling filed the ’404 application, which was granted priority benefit under § 120 from Application No. 10/759,413 (the “’413 application”), filed January 16, 2004. On February 21, 2007, Ling, seeking to provoke an interference, copied claims from Loughlin’s pending ’624 application.


Loughlin wasn't happy about the late filing of the '404 by Ling, but Ling prevailed:

We now turn to the merits of Loughlin’s appeal. We agree with Ling that the Board correctly interpreted § 135(b)(2) in view of the plain language of that statute and the benefit provision of § 120. The first sentence of § 120 permits an application to claim the benefit of an earlier filing date, such that the application is treated as having been effectively filed on the earlier date. The statute provides in relevant part:

An application for patent for an invention dis- closed in the manner provided by section 112(a) . . . in an application previously filed in the United States . . . shall have the same effect, as to such invention, as though filed on the date of the prior application . . . .

35 U.S.C. § 120 (emphases added). Provided the criteria in § 120 are met, applications “shall,” without exception, receive the benefit of the earlier filing date. The statute does not limit its effect to only certain provisions under the patent laws. As our predecessor court explained, “[n]othing in § 120 limits its application to any specific grounds for rejection . . . .” In re Hogan, 559 F.2d 595, 604 (CCPA 1977).


Loughlin was unhappy that Ling waited to file the continuing application:

Loughlin argues that § 135(b)(2) is a “staleness” provision requiring a party who wishes to provoke an interference to do so in a timely manner, so that Ling, who waited more than two years after Loughlin’s application was published to file his application, should not benefit from § 120. We recognize the force of Loughlin’s point about timeliness, but it cannot prevail in light of § 120’s granting of priority benefit to any application meeting its requirements, which includes Ling’s application.

The CAFC reached back to an 1897 case:

Loughlin offers no convincing reason why the priority benefit under § 120 should not apply to “an application filed” under § 135(b)(2). At most, Loughlin asserts that the Board erred by construing § 135(b)(2) and § 120 in pari materia. As the Supreme Court has explained, however, “[a] party seeking a right under the patent statutes may avail himself of all their provisions, and the courts may not deny him the benefit of a single one.” United States v. Am. Bell Tel. Co., 167 U.S. 224, 247 (1897). In this case, as Ling’s ’404 application was entitled under § 120 to the benefit of the ’413 application for the subject matter of claim 31, it was “an application” for purposes of § 135(b)(2) as well. Ling was therefore entitled to avail himself of § 120 in overcoming the bar set forth in § 135(b)(2).

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

CAFC and Wyoming Supreme Court on IP assignment agreements


An issue in Preston v. Marathon Oil was whether "continued employment" was sufficient consideration to support an IP assignment agreement signed after employment began.

The CAFC noted

After oral argument, we certified the question to the Wyoming Supreme Court and on May 10, 2012, the Wyo- ming Supreme Court explained that additional considera- tion beyond continued employment is not necessary to support an intellectual property assignment agreement. Preston, 277 P.3d at 82. Describing its ruling in Hopper, the Wyoming Supreme Court stated that “public policy favored separate consideration and continued at-will employment was not sufficient consideration to support [a non-compete] agreement . . . based, in part, on the sanc- tity of the right to earn a living.” Id. at 86. The court acknowledged, however, “that there is a fundamental difference between non-competition agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements.” Id. at 87. The court therefore determined that:

[T]he stability of the business community is best served by ruling, consistent with our at-will em- ployment jurisprudence, that no additional con- sideration is required to support an employee’s post-employment execution of an agreement to as- sign intellectual property to his employer. If the employee does not agree to that modification of the terms of his employment, he can terminate the relationship without any penalties.
Id. at 88.

From this ruling, it is clear that the April Employee Agreement is valid and enforceable with only continued employment as consideration and that the district court was correct to predict that the Wyoming state courts would so hold.


Of conception:

the level of conception must be sufficient to satisfy our case law—i.e., the idea must be “definite and permanent enough that one skilled in the art could understand the invention. . . .” Univ. of Pittsburgh v. Hedrick, 573 F.3d 1290, 1298 (Fed. Cir. 2009).

The word "absurd" arose:

Based on the district court’s findings of fact, we agree that Preston could not demonstrate invention prior to employment at Marathon. And we find this to be so even under Preston’s broad reading of the term “conceive.” Simply, Preston’s uncorroborated, “little more than a vague idea” does not meet even this standard. If we were to accept Preston’s argument that “conceive” can include having “little more than a vague idea” and that an employee need offer no proof of exactly what that idea was, Paragraph 1 of the April Employee Agreement would be rendered meaningless. This produces an absurd result that is contrary to the principles of contract interpretation under Wyoming law. Schaffer v. Standard Timber Co., 331 P.2d 611, 616 (Wyo. 1958) (contract will not be pre- sumed to have imposed an absurd condition).

The DDB case was cited:

Because the as- signment clause in the April Employee Agreement states that the employee agrees to “hereby assign” all “Intellectual Property,” it is an express assignment of rights in future inventions that automatically assigned rights to Marathon without the need for any additional act. See DDB Techs., L.L.C. v. MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 517 F.3d 1284, 1290 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (if the contract expressly grants rights in future inventions, no further act is re- quired once an invention comes into being, and the trans- fer of title occurs by operation of law). Accordingly, we find that Marathon owns the rights to the ’385 patent and ’764 patent.

Sunday, July 08, 2012

"60 Minutes" on 8 July 2012: recycled stories

First up, a story on Jack Abramoff by Lesley Stahl.

Second, redshirting children so they will be among the oldest in their class. Morley Safer.

Third, chess champion Magnus Carlsen by Bob Simon.

All three stories are recycled from previous episodes.

Which way Myriad?




Are patent claims to isolated genes now in the position of the Cape Cod kayaker, as patent lawyers in wet suits look on?

From Yale's "Information Society Project" on the "vacate and remand" in the Myriad case:

While the Prometheus case deals with patent processes that contain a law of nature, versus Myriad’s isolation of a gene sequence from nature, the Court’s evident concern with maintaining the proper balance of the patent system, by encouraging diagnostic research and ensuring that information derived from nature is not monopolized to prevent valuable discoveries, is certain to play an important role in the ultimate conclusion of the Myriad case.

One judge at the CAFC had found that the claims to the isolated BRCA DNA to be patent-eligible based on the isolated DNA having “markedly different characteristics” from chromosomal DNA. Claims to a method of screening DNA for BRCA mutations were patent ineligible and claims to a method of drug screening were patent eligible.

The patentability of isolated DNA was not at issue in Prometheus.

Could the folks patenting isolated genes be facing a "Great White" moment?

Photo from The terrifying moment a kayaker spots the dorsal fin of an approaching 14ft great white SHARK

Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology sues Apple for technology related to Siri

Zhizhen has sued Apple in Shanghai. Thus, this is about "what happens in China."

See Apple Sued for Siri Patent Infringement

-- 'Oops, sorry we bothered you with the patent stuff.' We're going to go home now. --

Yahoo and Facebook have settled their patent case.

See Yahoo, Facebook Settle Patent Dispute

"Face the Nation" on July 8, 2012

Bob Schieffer started with Jan Crawford, with new details about CJ Roberts and the vote on ObamaCare.

Conservatives feel a sense of betrayal about Roberts switching of the vote. Roberts initially sided with the conservatives. Kennedy was relentless until the end to get Roberts to change his vote back to the conservatives.

School busing issues, etc. in initial Roberts term got liberals upset.

Need to go back 70 years for such bitterness on court.

Issue: How the court would be perceived by the public.

CBS Sunday Morning on July 8, 2012

Charles Osgood introduced the stories for Sunday, July 8, 2012. The cover story "Life Goes On," is done by Barry Petersen. Second up, by Mark Strassman on War Refugees [recycled from October 23, 2011]. Third, Bob Schieffer on Brad Paisley [recycled from Dec. 11, 2011]. Fourth, "Just for Kicks" by Bill Geist on Miles City, Montana. Seth Doane, Mo Rocca, Steve Hartman. Headlines: yesterday was a scorcher for half the nation. Elaine Quijana noted triple digit temperatures. Deaths mostly among the elderly. Flooding in Black Sea region of southern Russia. Hillary Clinton speaking in Japan on problems in Syria. Syrian government is doing military exercies. Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Ernest Hemingway. Barney Frank marries partner; ceremony officiated by Guv Deval. Forecast: big heat becomes history later today. Sun and clouds to the east over next week. [It appears, once again, that many of the stories are recycles.]

Barry Petersen asks what's the secret to living longer life? How do bees think? Life span is quite changeable. Dr. Ellsworth Wearum is 93 years old. Becky Beck. Herb Weil works out at a gym. Gary Fraser studies 7th Day Adventists versus non-Adventists. Being a vegetarian, careful about body weight, eating nuts, don't smoke, and be careful with physical activity. Genetics. Neer Barsely at Alfred Einstein Medical Center on Askenazi Jews. Genes protect. How and why we age. in 2010, 72,000 centenarians in US. In 2050, projected to be 4.2 million. Gordon Lithgow, on Institute for Aging in Marin County. "Disease of aging." Bees have same. Drew Amden at Arizona State studies bees. How quickly does bee respond to scent. Restoring a youthful brain. Lifespan of bee is about 30 days. As bees age, they become foragers. Brain deteriorates. If returned to hive, their brains snap back. Bee deals poorly with loneliness. A social intervention can trigger proteins which heal the brain. Socialization alleviates stress. Watch out for stress.

Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, Calif.
Dr. Gordon Lithgow
Adventist Health Study, Loma Linda University School of Public Health
Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College
Amdam Lab, Arizona State University

Almanac. UFOs USA. July 8, 1947. Walter Haught of Roswell, NM issued a press release. Next day, General Ramey said it was a weather balloon. "The Roswell Report." Clip from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Cover Up Cafe.

Dressed for Success. Seth Doane on a Sunday Morning Success Story. Woolrich Company started in 1830; there were only 24 states in the US in 1830. Woolrich clothes used in Byrd Antarctic Expeditions 1939, ' 40, '41. [Note according to Wikipedia: Byrd undertook four more expeditions to Antarctica from 1933–35, 1939–40, 1946–47 and 1955–56. ] Rank Insignia on Marine Corps Dress Uniform. Sandy Watkins has 43 years at Woolrich. Woolrich now has fewer than 500 employees. During the Depression, Village of Woolrich. Nick Braden and Josh Rich. Corona Scheinfeld: update of Arctic parka. Pennsylvania Tuxedo. [Sheep grazed on White House lawn during presidency of Woodrow Wilson.] For a link: Woolrich: Part of the fabric of U.S. history

"Coming Home" by Mark Strassman. Luma Mufleh was born in Jordan in 1975. Clarkston, GA. [This story is a recycle from October 23, 2011. See
CBS Sunday Morning on October 23, 2011
.

Mo Rocca on "Cabin Fever." In 1840, Hard Cider and Log Cabin Candidate. Mo Rocca with Lincoln Logs. Students from Dartmouth College building a log cabin. Greg Sokol. Cross-haulers. Draw shaving. Scribing. Compass and level. Chain saw chaps. Titcomb Cabin, completed June 2012. [The original story was presented in Feb. 2012. See
CBS Sunday Morning on February 19, 2012.


Sunday Passage. Andy Griffith died on Tuesday in Roanoke Island. Born in 1926; grew up in Mt. Airy. Football. Deacon Andy Griffith. In 1955, No Time for Sergeants. A Face in the Crowd. "Andy Taylor" Rita Braver in 2003. Went off the air in 1968. Got Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Steve Hartman on Fire Station One in Lansing, Michigan. Tony Tumminello. In 1953 at age 13, Tony first visited the fire station. From CBS Evening News on July 6, 2012.

Bob Schieffer on "a summer song" with Brad Paisley. There's a responsibility to making the thing worthwhile. Up to the minute social satire. Pot shots at reality tv in Celebrity. Barroom browser alcohol. "check you for ticks." Video on waiting on a woman with (the late) Andy Griffith. "how can I do this and not get caught?" Wheeling, West Virginia. Singer Carrie Underwood, duet Remind Me. Meal with Schieffer in Nashville: salad with strawberries. Actress Kimberly Williams. Video: I'm going to miss her. "Welcome to the Future." The man with a dream. 2009 performance at the White House. Why isn't that country music's job? [This is an updated version of a story from December 11, 2011.]

Pulse. Associate with summer? 80% said outdoor activities.

Bucking Horse sale in Miles City, Montana. Just for kicks, done by Bill Geist. Auction done since 1950. Rob Fraser. Dave Struller from Golden, Colorado. Horses from $350 to $4000.

Kevin Bleier on the Constitution. James Madison. Benjamin Franklin: I expect no better. Ginsburg: wouldn't use US Constitution as a model. Suggestion: Congress stay in session over the summer without air conditioning. Earn those fireworks.

Preview of Face the Nation. Jan Crawford (UChicago Law, 1993), new details on Supreme Court decision.

Next week. Sunday at the Shore.

Moment of nature Spiriva Handihaler. Redwood National Park in California. Roosevelt Elk.

[Note even the moment of nature is a recycle:
The Roosevelt Elk of Redwood Natl. Park
October 3, 2010
This Sunday Morning nature piece visits Redwood National Park in California that is home for Roosevelt elk, named for President Theodore Roosevelt.]

As to comment below, not sure the Woolrich story was a recycle.


Friday, July 06, 2012

Split decision in GE/Mitsubishi appeal at CAFC in turbine case

The summary of GE v. ITC states:

The ruling that Mitsubishi’s turbines do not violate section 337 because they do not infringe the ’221 patent is affirmed. The ruling that the domestic industry requirement is not met as to the ’221 patent is vacated as moot. The ruling that there is no domestic industry corresponding to the ’985 patent is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings with respect to the ’985 patent.

As to the '221 patent, the CAFC invoked Ohm's Law:

The Commission held that the ’221 claims are directed to a predetermined value of current or a proxy for current. The inclusion of a proxy for current comports with Linear Technology Corp. v. International Trade Commission, 566 F.3d 1049, 1060 (Fed. Cir. 2009), which held that “monitor- ing the current to the load” could be indirectly measured by voltage, for “once voltage is known, one skilled in the art would recognize that Ohm’s Law4 easily allows current to be calculated, therefore monitoring current indirectly by moni- toring voltage.” The Commission’s construction of “prede- termined value” as a value of current or a proxy for current “stays true to the claim language and most naturally aligns with the patent’s description of the invention.” Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en banc) (quoting Renishaw PLC v. Marposs Societá per Azioni, 158 F.3d 1243, 1250 (Fed. Cir. 1998)). This claim construction is affirmed.

NTP v Rim came up:

A similar argument was rejected in NTP, Inc. v. Re- search in Motion, Ltd., 418 F.3d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2005), where some of the claims recited a receiver “connected to” or “coupled to” a processor or that the receiver “transfers” information to the processor.

Linear Technology also came up:

We conclude that claim 15 requires that the circuit is coupled with the input of the inverter and the converter controller, whereby the current is shunted from the inverter and the rotor; this requirement does not limit the placement of the shunting circuitry to a location entirely external to the inverter. As in Linear Technology, “there is nothing in the claim language or specification that supports narrowly construing the terms to require a specific structural re- quirement or entirely distinct [circuits]. Rather, the [cir- cuits] must only perform their stated functions.” 566 F.3d at 1055.6

With footnote 6:

Mitsubishi submitted a letter in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 28(j), arguing that General Electric stated a position before the PTO during the ongoing reexamination of the ’985 patent that contradicts its arguments here. General Electric responds that its argument distinguishing a certain reference does not conflict with its position here. On the information before us, the reexamination arguments do not affect our conclusion.

The CAFC pointed to a serious flaw in the Mitsubishi legal argument:

Mitsubishi also argues that the General Electric tur- bines embody a modification of the circuitry system in the ’985 patent, and that this modification is separately patented in General Electric’s U.S. Patent No. 7,239,036. Mitsubishi states that if General Electric’s turbines practice the subject matter claimed in a separate patent, they cannot practice the invention of the ’985 patent. That is not correct, for a separately patented invention may indeed be within the scope of the claims of a dominating patent. See Hoechst Celanese Corp. v. BP Chems. Ltd., 78 F.3d 1575, 1582 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (“The fact of separate patentability presents no legal or evidentiary presumption of nonin- fringement . . . .”); Atlas Powder Co. v. E.I. du Pont De Nemours & Co., 750 F.2d 1569, 1580 (Fed. Cir. 1984) (an improvement in a step of a patented method, even if separately patentable, may not avoid infringement). The scope of the ’985 patent is determined on its own terms, independent of whether other aspects or modifications of the technology are separately patented. The domestic industry requirement is not negated if the technology as employed in the domestic industry has been modified from its form when the patent was obtained.

Can one say diode and triode?

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Is use of material from a press release plagiarism?

Kansas City Star Reporter Steve Penn was fired for reproducing material from press releases in his stories. One of the complaints pertained to text from a funeral parlor’s release.

See story on Poynter Fired KC Star reporter sues, says using press releases isn’t plagiarism

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Preliminary injunction against Lupin over metaformin vacated

In the case Sciele Pharma (now Shionogi Pharma ) v. Lupin , the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [CAFC] vacated a preliminary injunction against generic drug manufacturer Lupin:

Because the district court incorrectly concluded that Lupin failed to raise a substantial question of validity regarding the asserted claims of the ’866 patent, it abused its discretion by issuing a preliminary injunction enjoining Lupin from selling its generic product [related to metaformin]. Accordingly, we vacate the preliminary injunction and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

Lupin had made an obviousness argument against the claims in question, but relied on prior art that had been previously considered by the USPTO. The CAFC found that such references could lead to a finding of obviousness. The CAFC wrote:

While the ultimate burden of proof does not change, new evidence not considered by the PTO “may ‘carry more weight’ . . . than evidence previously considered by the PTO,” and may “‘go further toward sustaining the attacker’s unchanging burden.’” Id. at 2251 (quoting Am. Hoist & Derrick Co. v. Sowa & Sons, Inc., 725 F.2d 1350 (Fed. Cir. 1984)). “[I]f the PTO did not have all material facts before it, its considered judgment may lose significant force” and the burden to persuade the finder of fact by clear and con- vincing evidence may, therefore, “be easier to sustain.” Id. Instead, the fact that references were previously before the PTO goes to the weight the court or jury might assign to the proffered evidence. Id.

For example, it could be reasonable to give more weight to new arguments or references that were not explicitly considered by the PTO when determining whether a defen- dant met its burden of providing clear and convincing evidence of invalidity. Id. Conversely, it may be harder to meet the clear and convincing burden when the invalidity contention is based upon the same argument on the same reference that the PTO already considered. Importantly, whether a reference was before the PTO goes to the weight of the evidence, and the parties are of course free to, and generally do, make these arguments to the fact finder. But the presumption of validity and accompanying burden of proof, clear and convincing evidence, are not altered.


**One separate sub-theme in the case was the interplay of enablement and obviousness. Frequently, applicants who have not provided explicit data on enablement will argue that the "missing details" could be filled in with general knowledge available to the skilled artisan. Of course, if one makes such an argument to rebut an enablement rejection, one exposes oneself to an obviousness rejection. That happened in this case. The CAFC wrote:

The applicant’s arguments during prosecution further buttress our belief that Lupin has raised a substantial question of validity with respect to the ’866 patent. During prosecution the applicant indicated “that one skilled in the art would be able to manipulate the processes and formulations of the [prior art] by other methods to obtain the claimed pharmacokinetic parameters of the present inven-
tion by routine experimentation.” J.A. 2621. While Shionogi argued, and the district court seemed to accept, that this statement applies only to enablement, we are hard pressed to understand this distinction. Coupled with the motivation to lower the Tmax, as disclosed in Timmins, the applicant’s characterization of the predictability and skill in the art during prosecution provides further evidence that it would have been a routine and obvious design choice to make an extended release dosage form with a lower Tmax. After all, “[i]f a person of ordinary skill can implement a predictable variation, § 103 likely bars its patentability.” KSR, 550 U.S. at 417.


**As a footnote, in "In re '639 Litigation," patent claims to the drug nabumetone were invalidated based on art that was before the USPTO.

Overriding the veto of fracking in North Carolina

The North Carolina legislature had passed a bill which would allow, and regulate, fracking in the state of North Carolina. Democrat Governor Beverly Eaves "Bev" Perdue vetoed the bill.

There has been some discussion of "how" the veto by Perdue was overridden (leading to the result that fracking is allowed and regulated in North Carolina). It seems that Democrat Becky Carney (from Mecklenburg), who had opposed overriding the veto, mistakenly pressed the button to vote "for" the override. Her vote became the 72nd vote to override, exactly the minimum needed for the override (final vote 72-47 to override).

Governor Perdue has a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. In the governorship election, wikipedia notes Perdue received the endorsement of actor and director Andy Griffith, who filmed a campaign ad on her behalf. Wikipedia also notes: On October 22, 2010, Perdue revealed that her 2008 campaign was under State and Federal investigation. Less than a month after Perdue revealed her own investigation, her predecessor, Mike Easley, became the first North Carolina governor to admit to a felony.

As to fracking in television drama, note that "Person of Interest" built an episode a rather suspicious vote in the New York legislature. See IPBiz post
Fracking shows up on "Person of Interest"


Of North Carolina

Fracking Now Legal in North Carolina, Because Lawmaker Pressed the Wrong Button

What the frack? North Carolina lawmaker accidentally votes to legalize fracking

The fraud detection method of Uri Simonsohn

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

"Dr. Drew" accused of taking money from GSK re: Wellbutrin

A WSJ blog notes: two months before the program [plugging Wellbutrin] aired, Dr. Pinsky—who gained fame as "Dr. Drew" during years co-hosting a popular radio sex-advice show "Lovelines"—received the second of two payments from Glaxo totaling $275,000 for "services for Wellbutrin."

See Radio Host Received Glaxo Payments

Monday, July 02, 2012

US v. Alvarez: Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional

The plurality of the Supreme Court cited George Orwell's 1984:

Permitting the government to decree this speech to be a criminal offense, whether shouted from the rooftops or made in a barely audible whisper, would endorse govern- ment authority to compile a list of subjects about which false statements are punishable. That governmental power has no clear limiting principle. Our constitutional tradition stands against the idea that we need Oceania’s Ministry of Truth. See G. Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) (Centennial ed. 2003). Were this law to be sus- tained, there could be an endless list of subjects the Na- tional Government or the States could single out.

There was an allusion to the Civil War:

to William Carney who sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, legs, and arm, and yet carried the flag to ensure it did not touch the ground during the Union army’s assault on Fort Wagner in July 1863, id., at 44–45. [from wikipedia: Carney, of the 54th Massachusetts, was the 21st African-American to be awarded the Medal; the battle at Ft. Wagner was depicted in the movie "Glory."]

Within the court's decision:

The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society. The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the unin- formed, the enlightened; to the straight-out lie, the simple truth. See Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357, 377 (1927) (Brandeis, J., concurring) (“If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be ap- plied is more speech, not enforced silence”). The theory of our Constitution is “that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market,” Abrams v. United States, 250 U. S. 616, 630 (1919) (Holmes, J., dissenting).

The dissent invoked trademark law:

It is well recognized in trademark law that the prolifera- tion of cheap imitations of luxury goods blurs the “‘signal’ given out by the purchasers of the originals.” Landes & Posner, Trademark Law: An Economic Perspective, 30 J. Law & Econ. 265, 308 (1987). In much the same way, the proliferation of false claims about military awards blurs the signal given out by the actual awards by making them seem more common than they really are, and this diluting effect harms the military by hampering its efforts to foster morale and esprit de corps.

AND

Even where there is a wide scholarly consensus concerning a particular matter, the truth is served by allowing that consensus to be challenged without fear of reprisal. Today’s accepted wisdom sometimes turns out to be mis- taken. And in these contexts, “[e]ven a false statement may be deemed to make a valuable contribution to public debate, since it brings about ‘the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.’ ” Sullivan, supra, at 279, n. 19 (quoting J. Mill, On Liberty 15 (R. McCallum ed. 1947)).

H.R. 6047: the Phantom Fuel Reform Act.

See post Rep. Jeff Flake’s Commonsense Fix for Cellulosic Biofuel Folly

Within the post:

H.R. 6047 would maintain the existence of the cellulosic biofuel mandate while ensuring that it reflects actual industry production rather than unrealistic bureaucratic prediction.


***Something that was not a "phantom" attack was this grisly knockdown of 72 year old Livingston Barker. 72-Year-Old Punched, Robbed in Chinese Restaurant

Self-plagiarism by Jonah Lehrer

See What’s wrong with ‘plagiarizing’ your own work? by Edward Wasserman.

Obviously, Wasserman has not been reading IPBiz. Or the first (self) plagiarism flap at SIU.

GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion in fraud case

GlaxoSmithKline [GSK] has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and to pay $3 billion to settle a fraud case involving drugs Avandia, Paxil and Wellbutrin.

One of the issues was the distribution of a misleading medical journal article.

See GlaxoSmithKline settles fraud case for $3 billion .

The CBS Evening News on July 2 had quotes from Carmen Ortiz on the case. Between 1998-2003, GSK pushed Paxil for treating depression in children, although the FDA never approved Paxil for this use.

Pelley asked if the doctors taking bribes were being prosecuted. To date, no individual GSK employees have been charged.

Fraud by scientist at New Jersey's UMDNJ

The Scientist reports on data fraud by a scientist, Mona Thiruchelvam, formerly at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey (UMDNJ).

Articles in the journals Environmental Health Perspectives and Journal of Biological Chemistry were implicated. Both articles have been highly cited, with the paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry study having been cited 73 times. Just because something is highly cited does not mean it is correct!

See Parkinson’s Researcher Fabricated Data

Sunday, July 01, 2012

San Jose, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth to get patent office satellites

Following the office in Detroit, San Jose, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth are to get satellite patent offices.

See the article in the San Jose Mercury-News titled San Jose to get major, federal prize: a new U.S. Patent Office in the heart of Silicon Valley

Sundrop Fuels Inc. to adopt ExxonMobil technology of the 1970s

An SFGate post titled Biofuel maker to use ExxonMobil technology states that Sundrop Fuels Inc. of Longmont, Colorado will adopt ExxonMobil technology from the 1970's. The discussion is as follows:

The process mixes biomass with hydrogen generated by burning natural gas to make a synthetic gas, which then will be converted into methanol.

The end product, Sundrop Fuels says, is zero-sulfur, ultra-low benzene gasoline that can be used directly or blended with petroleum-based gasoline. The company says it can be delivered through existing fuel distribution infrastructure.

The methane-to-gasoline technology was developed in the 1970s and was successfully commercialized for a large-scale natural gas-to-gasoline plant during the 1980s in New Zealand, the company said.


As a first point, "burning" natural gas does not generate hydrogen. As a second point, the New Zealand plant used technology from Mobil, not Exxon, which companies were separate entities in the 1970's and in the 1980's.

Mobil commercialized a "methane to gasoline" plant in New Zealand in the 1980's. From an article by Richard Crabtree in Chemical Reviews in 1995:

Mobil commercialized a methane to gasoline process in New Zealand in 1986. The process starts with a reforming step to give H2/CO, followed by catalytic conversion to methanol and then conversion to gasoline range hydrocarbons on a zeolite catalyst.

Crabtree also noted:

Clearly, the syngas route is technically viable; the only issue at present is the economics of these processes. This is largely determined by the crude oil price which is probably currently too low ($18/ barrel) to make any of the natural. gas-based processes economically viable in other than special situations.

Separately, from a paper by Bose, Stiegal and Srivastava :

A 14,500 barrel-per-day natural gas-to-gasoline plant started operating in New Zealand in 1985 and was on stream producing 87 octane unleaded gasoline until recently. In this process, natural gas was first converted to methanol via synthesis gas, followed by conversion of methanol to gasoline using a novel catalyst developed by Mobil in the 1970s. A portion of Mobil's development efforts was funded by the Fossil Energy Program of the USDOE.

A discussion of methane conversion appears in a paper by Gray, Tomlinson, and Shen. Note also a post New Zealand Converts Methane to Gasoline which mentions Exxon's 3847567 to inventor Ted Kallina, about making methane from coal.

A story in BusinessWeek described the technology being licensed by Sundrop:

Sundrop Fuels will use a multi-phase process to convert sustainable forest waste into clean, affordable bio-based “green gasoline” for use in today's combustion engines. A gasification process will convert the forest waste combined with hydrogen from clean-burning natural gas into a synthesis gas, which will then be converted into methanol. The MTG [methanol-to-gasoline ] synthesis process works by feeding the methanol into a fixed-bed reactor system, turning it into hydrocarbons and water. The end product is zero-sulfur, ultra-low benzene gasoline that can be used directly or blended with petroleum-based gasoline, both compatible with the nation's existing fuel distribution infrastructure.

The Sundrop Fuels installation represents the first commercial production of biofuels using the MTG process. The MTG technology was originally developed in the 1970s and was successfully commercialized for a large-scale natural gas to gasoline plant during the 1980s in New Zealand.


It is the methanol-to-gasoline process which is being licensed.

CBS Sunday Morning on July 1, 2012

Charles Osgood introduced the stories for Sunday Morning for July 1, 2012. Celebration of the Fourth of July; Tracy Smith does the cover story on mosquitos. One million people per year die. Second, Mo Rocca on James A. Garfield. Third, Lee Cowan on Paramount Pictures. Fourth, Steve Hartman on "Shipping Out." Headlines: We're having a heat wave, especially on the eastern part of the country. Power outages. 13 deaths. Wildfires in Colorado. UN plan for Syria. In Egypt, new Pres took over. Voting in Mexico. Soyuz space capsule touches down. Alec Baldwin wed 28 year old yoga instructor. Big crocodile. As to weather, map showed 80s for east coast (dreamin'?)

The first story opened with a container of mosquitoes. "All the Buzz." Rockefeller Laboratory of Neurogenetics (head=Leslie ). Welts are body's reaction to saliva of mosquitos. Anopheles. Aedes Aegypti. Culex pipiens. Lindsey Biloni. People with higher levels of blood sugar are attractive to mosquitos. 700 cases of West Nile virus in US last year. Jorge Arias. Researcher and victim of West Nile. Kimberly King: eastern equine encephalitis ("triple E") virus. In 2010, just over 100 people died because of mosquito-related diseases. Lee County (Florida) Mosquito Control District is the largest in the country. Salt marsh mosquito is a strong flier.

Almanac. Silly putty. July 1, 1952. Trademark registered for "Silly Putty." James Gilbert Earnest Wright on "bouncing putty"; Life 1945. Peter Hudson marketed it as silly putty. A real solid liquid. Display at Smithsonian.
Wikipedia notes a dispute over the invention of Silly Putty:

Credit for the invention of Silly Putty is disputed[5] and has been attributed variously to Earl Warrick, of the then newly formed Dow Corning; Harvey Chin; and James Wright, a Scottish inventor working for General Electric in New Haven, Connecticut.[6] Throughout his life, Warrick insisted that he and his colleague, Rob Roy McGregor, received the patent for Silly Putty before Wright did; but Crayola's history of Silly Putty states that Wright first invented it in 1943. Both researchers independently discovered that reacting boric acid with silicone oil would produce a gooey, bouncy material with several unique properties.

Rita Braver on Joan Miro. Pictures filled with whimsey. Harry Cooper of the National Gallery for Art in Washington, DC. The Rut (1918) to The Farm (bought by Earnest Hemingway). Miro was born in Barcelona in 1893. The importance of shock.
Miro traveled between France and the Catalan countryside. Alex Susanna is director of institute in Barcelona. Fork piercing an apple. In 1937: The Reaper shown in Paris, along with Guernica (Picasso). A sort of ladder that unites earth with the sky. "The ladder of escape." In 1973 (at age 80) a series of burned canvasses. He died on Christmas Day, at age 90.

Nora Ephron story began with clips from Harry. Nancy Giles did an opinion piece on Ephron. "Love, Loss and What I Wore." Every four weeks a new cast was brought in. "Sleepless in Seattle." "Mixed Nuts." "You've Got Mail." Nancy thanked Nora for being a job creator.

Martha Teichner Sunday Journal on the Health Care Law. Hackensack Medical Center. Robert Garrett of Hackensack ramped up expansion plans. Under new law, reimbursements are being slashed. Consolidation is a way to deal with this cutback. Medicare covers 40% of Hackensack's patients. Cost containment is insignificant according to Robert Leschevsky. Medical cost per year is up: 8414 to 20,727 2001 to 2012. We can't afford this system anymore. Ann Kaufman Nolan of Hudson River Healthcare. The nation's 1200 community healthcare center. The Supreme Court gave states the right to turn down ACA. Clip of Mitt Romney: repeal ObamaCare.

Summer movie season by David Edelstein. Nobody needed another SpiderMan movie.
So-called reboot should be shunned. Merchandisable franchises. Then Edelstein says: I loved it. Andrew Garfield from the Social Networker. Garfield is high strung and simmering. Powers emerge in spasms. Emma Stone as Spidey's girlfriend. Second review: Magic Mike. How capitalism transforms sex into a soulless commodity. The stripper as master of the universe.

James Garfield, 131 years tomorrow Garfield shot at train station. Candace Millard, author. Presidency of a bleak mountain. Spoils system. July 2, 1881, Garfield scheduled to travel by train from DC to Massachusetts. Garfield hit twice. 12 different doctors probed Garfield. Dr. Jeffrey Resnick noted American doctors did not believe in Lister's theories. Robert Todd Lincoln was on the scene. Dr. D. Willard Bliss was summoned by Lincoln, and took charge. Garfield went from 210 to 130 pounds. Alexander Graham Bell summoned to find bullet. Garfield died on Sept. 19, 1881. President Garfield did not have to die. Use of antiseptics was accepted. Guiteau: it's the doctors who murdered Garfield.

Steve Hartman on Karen Grimord, who sends materials needed by wounded soldiers. Spends $40,000 per year on postage alone. Col. Luke Pittman comments on the value.
The clip on Grimord had appeared on the CBS Nightly News with Scott Pelley on June 29, 2012.

Lee Cowan on Paramount. Sunset Boulevard. Road to Utopia. Mary Pickford. Audrey Hepburn. Cary Grant. Brad Gray. 100th birthday party. Adolph Zukor, Queen Elizabeth in 1912. William S. Hart. Clara Bow. Andrea Callas, VP of archives. In 1929, Wings won the first academy award. Paramount went bankrupt.
Paramount did clever witty sophisticated films. Coming of television. Paramount brought in Alfred Hitchcock. Cecil B. DeMille. By mid-1960s, more problems. Then Robert Evans. Evans is now 82 years old. Evans did Love Story. Then Godfather. Evans has office 117 at Paramount. Mark Wanamaker. Mae West unit. The Virginia City set for Bonanza. Happy Days. Brady Bunch. Stage 18. Rear Window. Sunset Blvd.

Ben Tracy on Tiki Bars (a recycled story from 20 Nov. 2011). "The Book of Tiki." In 1934, Don the Beachcomber. In 1936, Victor Bergeron opened Trader Vic's. "South Pacific".
Zombie, Scorpion, Mai Tai. A lot of dark tasty rums and fruit juices.

Pulse: will this summer be hotter than usual? 51 (yes) 6 (no) 40 (same)

Bill Geist. Mentions that he has Parkinson's Disease. Bill says the Parkinson's is under control and his back is better.

Nora O'Donnell on "Face the Nation."

Next week: Bob Schieffer with Brad Paisley.

Moment of nature Pradaxa. Duke Farms in central New Jersey. Protected nature habitat.