No Patent Pending, Just Heat

By David Byrd

Last week we were dining at a new restaurant when my wife said she wanted to order the pull-pork sliders. I reminded her we had pulled pork at home and promised to make a more interesting version within days. Instead she ordered a crab cake and took me at my word. My pulled-pork sliders took her on a culinary journey. The first was traditional pulled pork seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder topped with a basic coleslaw. The second was seasoned with the same ingredients and the addition of vinegar and a bit of mustard topped with a sweeter coleslaw finished with celery seed. The final slider was seasoned with Chinese five spice, salt and grated ginger. Hoisin sauce was added to the coleslaw. So, instead of three sliders exactly the same, she enjoyed flavors from Texas, the Carolinas and Asia. You may assume she liked it very much. Saturday, I made grilled jalapenos stuffed with shrimp and wrapped in prosciutto instead of the customary bacon. I made two types, one with the addition of cheddar cheese and the other cream cheese. I served it with a green chili salsa and salad. Sunday was over the top with chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken and fried chicken, all the result of watching Chicken Fried Steak” throw downs with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. The only healthy addition was a salad made of grilled romaine lettuce, zucchini and yellow squash topped with diced tomato and Caesar dressing. Everything was good this weekend but the recipe of the week is Grilled Shrimp Stuffed Jalapenos. Enjoy!

The America Invents Act

The House has finally begun to make progress on the Patent Reform Act. I first mentioned that the Senate passed patent reform legislation in March (see FIFO Meets First-to-File) that aligns the U.S. patent system with the rest of the world, in this case changing from the first-to-invent system to a first-inventor-to-file system. The first-inventor-to-file system, the international standard, would grant patents to the inventor that files for a patent regardless of whether the filer was the first to actually invent. While this may seem like a bad thing, it really isnt. Only a small percentage of first filers are not the inventor. However, under the old system, proving who the first inventor was allowed for too many disputes that ended up in court. Under the old system it was possible to challenge nearly every filing.

The House Judiciary Committee passed the America Invents Act by a vote of 32-3, the first significant overhaul of the U.S. patent system in more than 60 years. If the full House passes the legislation the change is expected to receive widespread support.

Imagine that, the House is doing the peoples work.

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for

Broadvox,

and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.