My new role as the SVP of Marketing and Products at UBM TechInsights has trust me into an unassumingly hot area right now as companies of all sizes, geographies and increasingly industries look at managing and fortifying stakeholder value and risk management through their patent holdings. As such, I have been following a lot of the current news and synthesizing information from many sources.As my first blog in my new role, I thought I’d share some of the resources, I’ve found useful.

Some readings on first-to-file versus first-to-invent and patent reform.

• First to File , Wikipedia
• U.S. inventors on their markets for race to patent office, New Scientist
• Novelty and disclosure in patent law, Rand Journal
• The end of the first-to-invent rule: A concise history of its origin, IDEA – The Intellectual Property Law Review
• From first-to-invent to first-to-file, the Canadian experience, American Intellectual Property Law Association
• U.S. Senate approves patent reform, Reuters
  

Some additional (recent) articles and news:

Google purchases IBM inventions as patent arms race looms

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/29/google_purchases_ibm_inventions_as_patent_arms_race_looms.html

Patents, Innovation, Mobile Tech, and Why It’s All a Big Mess

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/07/19/patents-innovation-mobile-tech-and-why-its-all-a-big-mess/

Google’s Schmidt: Competitors are responding with lawsuits rather than innovation

http://www.androidapps.com/finance/articles/8804-googles-schmidt-competitors-are-responding-with-lawsuits-rather-than-innovation

Are the patent wars stifling innovation?

http://asia.cnet.com/are-the-patent-wars-stifling-innovation-62210120.htm

Patent Failure: Has the Sun Set on the Day of the Patent?

http://www.experts-exchange.com/blogs/EE-Tech-News/B_5412-Patent-Failure-Has-the-Sun-Set-on-the-Day-of-the-Patent.html

Is U.S. innovation experiencing death by patent?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/is-us-innovation-experiencing-death-by-patent/2011/07/26/gIQANnAubI_blog.html

How The Patent War, A Multibillion Dollar Waste, Could End With A Stroke Of A Pen

http://www.businessinsider.com/patent-war-2011-7

Smartphone Innovation Leads To Rise In Patent Disputes

http://www.financierworldwide.com/article.php?id=8389

When Patents Attack

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/07/26/138576167/when-patents-attack

This Is Where the Patent Trolls Live

http://gizmodo.com/5824912/who-is-really-snuffing-out-american-innovation

Penicillin: the antidote to patent wars

http://mobilebusinessbriefing.com/article/penicillin-the-antidote-to-patent-wars

Chinese Innovation Is a Paper Tiger

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576472034085730262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

China as an Innovation Center? Not So Fast

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/07/china-as-an-innovation-center-not-so-fast/

Look for more patent and IP information from me in the future.

There’s hunger in Africa,
and anger on assembly lines.
At the touch of a button
I’m miles away.

I want no connection, just information,
and I’m gone.
I feel so helpless,
so I turn my gaze to another place.

My global mind reaches out for the truth.
Why try holding back the wave?

You’ll only drown in the changes.
You’ve got to learn to let go.
Just let go and experience the flight.
Try to see from a different side..
If balance is the key
maybe we’ll see
a future understanding,
then we won’t feel so helpless,
an turn away and hide from the change.

My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
Time and rules are changing.
Attention span is quickening.
Welcome to the Information Age.

I feel so helpless,
so I turn my gaze to another place.
My global mind searches for something new.
My global mind zeros in on news.
My global mind reaches out for the truth.
My global mind zeros in on you.
It’s searching everywhere,
across the mountains,
across the oceans,
across every man made line.

No boundary gonna keep it from you.

Source: Queensryche, Promised Land

The Sony PRS-600 seemed like a perfect fit. I did not mind the lack of wifi, I liked the metal feel, and I was intrigued by the ability to buy books from Kobo, Sony and others and at the same time rent from the library as they offered more ePUBs.

Since I purchased the Sony Touch Edition, I have been met with many disappointments. If it where just one or two I wouldn’t have written this bog, but its an on-going thing over nearly a year that I think others should consider before buying a Sony eReader.

Note: I have had the reader for 10 months and read over 20 books on it, so this is not a early view or opinion – I have enjoyed the form factor immensely and am a converted eReader person. and have recommended the form factor to others. In short here are some of the comments after long-term use that I have to share:

1. The battery is lousy, it lasts barely a week.
2. The battery is so bad I have had it replaced (under warranty) once already – Sony did a quick turn around, but still the original battery died 6-months in.
3. The selection at the Sony store is crap – thank God for Kobo; I have bought 80% of the books there based on better pricing and better selection. So if you do use the Sony and haven’t checked out www.kobobooks.com you are often paying too much for your reading.
4. The Sony Reader Library software is crap. Seriously its ugly, it connects to a store that lack titles (50% of popular titles are US only and I am in Canada. Yet Amazon and Kobo offer these here and usually at a better price. I have kept hoping Sony would address this, but has they haven’t I question their commitment to being more than a hardware provider.
5. The software that was packaged with the eReader is weak. I gave up on the expandable memory b/c it promised more things like music and pictures, but if you put more than 1GB of music on the card the reader takes forever for the eReader to reboot.
6. The handwriting feature is terrible. I thought when I bought it I would be able to take passable notes and not have to carry a pen and pad b/c the eReader from Sony had a stylus, but I tried for several months to make this work for me at no avail.
7. The sync database (software) get corrupted once every couple months. The software starts reloading all the books over and over causing sync (in the best case) to cease to function.
8. Note taking and comments on the eReader don’t show up on the software – this is really annoying if you are reading books for your profession and make notes and highlights, but then when your eReader is “in the shop” and you cannot access any of these.
9. Library rental function is a load of sh*t, libraries offer mostly the Free Classics that you can get from Google, Kobo, Sony, Amazon and others. Absolutely no benefit here currently.
10. The O/S is very disappointing. I have over 70 books and the way they are organized is by author, title, or date. There is no search. Some times the author is last name first and some times its first and then last name – same author. So digging for a book in the library is a real pain.

Don’t get me wrong. I love eReader form factors. I have just found myself (after 10 months) thinking I would NEVER recommend or choosing to buy a Sony version again. Sorry Sony I’ll keep using your product until it becomes too unpleasant not to, but don’t expect a repeat customer based on my current experience.

And future customers should think twice before choosing Sony products based on my experience.

As a parent of two young girls (who are dual citizens), one of which has just started school, I look at the opportunities they have here to become world-class citizens. Over the years my thoughts have been more around the ‘family values’ of maternity leave (parents should have ample time to be a part of their kid’s first year) and healthcare (not having to worry about deductibles, insurance policy fine print, high costs of pharmaceuticals, “whether that is just an ear ache or not”, etc.) benefits we have here. But over the past few months, I have really been entranced by the changes going on directly and indirectly in US education.

I am not a total outsider when it comes to education, my mother-in-law was a teacher for 20+ years, my aunt is a teacher, my sister-in-law works for Emory University, and my sister works at Harvard, and my own Mother was also involved in education for over a decade. As for myself, I am a college grad who is employed as a market analyst and consultant in the hi-tech industry – so life long learning is important to me.

With all of this said, I cannot express my concern enough about the changes going on in the U.S. with regards to the neutering of the education system! This is all happening at the same time that employers are trying to recover from a significant economic downturn and are clamouring for workers that have 21st Century skills and a strong education background. This isn’t a new phenomena, a quick search took me to this article from the LA Times in 2008, “Shortage of skilled workers looms in US” and has continued in recent articles like, “Ageing workforce creates skills shortage…” Yet I watch as teachers and the education system is vilified as underperforming and overpaid babysitters.

In his Op-Ed for the NY Times, Paul Krugman wrote a “Leaving Children Behind” looked that impact of spending cuts by federals government on education, students and teaches. And in a recent TED Talk, Microsoft founder Bill Gates discussed the impact on State budgets on Education. In my opinion this is a potential ‘one-two’ punch that combines cuts from federal and state for education and will have a significant impact on the long-term education of US children, the workforce, and the economic prosperity of the nation as a whole.

The following was taken from the McKinsey&Co. report. “The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools”, while its from 2006, the report was published in 2009 and should really concern parents who are expecting improvements in education and thus their children’s future in America.

These current changes are not reflected in a recent study where the US rankings have fallen to average when compared to 70 other countries. Yet they will undoubtedly accelerate this decline in the rankings. And I can only assume that the on-going changes that I have mentioned above will continue as states look to bust more teacher collective bargaining agreements and teacher unions. This study by McKinsey & Company supports this train of thought.

While I won’t say that the schools in Canada are the best in the world, I do feel after looking at the short sightedness in the U.S. at the federal and state level, I cannot help but be concerned about how ready the next generation of Americans will be in terms of leadership, scientific, and economic skills. Of course if you are rich in the U.S. you can continue to send your kids to private schools. And companies can always petition the government for more HIB Visas to get the best ad brightest Indian, Chinese or Canadian minds to manage the average under skilled American worker.

And for the rest of America – well I am sure their kid will be the next Michael Jordan and education really doesn’t matter anyhow.

I mean its great that Steven Elop is getting his ex-boss to pony up over a $1BN in “development” fees and incentives to Nokia, but why the convoluted strategy. Worried about the EU being too worried about another European IT leader going to the US? Is this insurance against a full on (possibly inevitable) Microsoft take over of Nokia? Ah well….

Here is the email from Nokia:

Dear XXXX,

Nokia is partnering with Yahoo! to power and enhance your Ovi Mail experience. In the coming weeks you can enjoy an easier and faster Ovi Mail website, the integration of instant messaging into the mail web experience, and the ability to import your friends’ email addresses from other email services you might already use.

You’re all set to enjoy these service enhancements very soon.

Important to know

Once the transition starts, you will immediately begin receiving new emails into your updated Ovi Mail account, but you may not see your old emails for several days until the transition has finished. Don’t worry because your emails are safe and are being moved to Yahoo!. You will see them in your inbox again once the transfer is complete. We will confirm the completion of the transfer in a separate email.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience that this might cause, but we assure you that this is a temporary situation that will be resolved as soon as the move to Yahoo! is complete.

Thank you for joining us in using the updated Ovi Mail service. We look forward to bringing you further enhancements in the coming weeks!

Sincerely,

Nokia

As all companies do, I was issued a laptop computer as part of my job. I put it on my desk fired up a cranky old version of Windows (XP), put the laptop lock in place, and left it there. I use it once a day to sort my emails into folders, and access the few intercompany resources I cannot connect to from the web.

Instead, I use my personal laptop. I prefer it, much like the way I prefer my phone. It fits me, it allows me to get my job done, and its has what I need in terms of software, horsepower and tools needed to help my customers.

Here are the reasons I will not use my perfectly good work device.

1. My official work computer, and its locked software environment, lacks the context I need to my job effectively.
2. The laptops work policies prevent me from supporting and troubleshooting problems or tools I need when on the road.
3. The lack of ability to collaborate with my customers – dropbox, skype, Adobe ROME and more apps that are not supported by my IT dept. so not allowed on the “official” laptop.
4. I hate old software, seriously Windows XP? Office 2003? and other crapware the company ‘approves’?
5. Battery, form factor, etc. give me my 9-cell battery, backlit screen (so I can read outside), access to movies for the many flights, and i7 processor so I spend less time waiting and more time doing…

Sorry IT department, I’ll stick with my own kit. But thanks for the paperweight.

<Addition March 2011 on BYOD and IT Security>

Reflecting on this blog post and a recent meeting I had with Paul Muller VP Strategic Marketing @ HP, I realize that my choice is far from unique.

With the increase trend by companies and professionals with regards to the cosumerization of IT there is a growing acceptance (or invasion) of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Often this device is the personal mobile phone – commonly an Apple iPhone or a Droid phone versus or in addition to the companies standard issue Blackberry or Nokia.

These devices are quickly being joined by tablets and laptops brought in by users (like me) and connected to company networks via ‘gray’ wifi zones. These may not be directly connected to core network, but are connected to web-based services. Increasingly with the adoption of Apple’s iPad companies are using third party stores to validate applications but then deliver data directly for use by employees. This will undoubtedly continue to give IT departments fits until Apple (and others) start offering some type of enterprise store that enterprises can use to bring in-house and begin serving up many of the custom apps they have developed.

Nonetheless, people like me will be an increasing demographic that the IT department will have to deal with. For the IT departments seeking insight into securing their environment with the growing number of BYODs out there, I encourage them to look at a recent presentation given at a session I attended.

You can access the presentation on BYOC trends and how IT departments can address new treats surrounding cyber security here.

The key to proper password management is not to give the user a super-complicated password.

It’s to make sure the resource (e.g. web-site) doesn’t *allow* brute force attempts. After 10 incorrect tries or so, most secure remote systems will start to require (increasingly difficult) captcha to continue attempting passwords, or will lock the user out completely for a length of time. These systems, in my opinion, are *far more effective* than trying to force users to use some cryptic mess as their password. Worse, all the emphasis on the strength of a single key gives a false sense of security– the best password in the world is useless if the site storing it does so in plaintext, is easily SQL injectable, or doesn’t securely encrypt the authentication attempts.

For an OS password, or really any situation where the password is being used locally rather than remotely, yeah maybe I can see this. [referring to the web article in password length] But if someone really has access to my entire computer, my password is only going to be so effective at stopping a determined hacker from getting at my data…

Either way, one of the better tricks at coming up with an effective password is useless on far too many sites because of a maximum length limit. (why does this make sense? Shouldn’t you be storing a hash (or better *two or three* different hashes to reduce collision) instead of the password itself, whose encryption could eventually be reversed?)

My standard method, when it works, is to use the first letter of the domain name of the site, followed by my password (which is nonsense words, all lowercase and easy to type, but pretty long, 28 characters) followed by the last name of the domain. This has the benefit of being semi-unique for each site I’m at, using a method that only I would know to construct the password in the first place, and being nearly impossible to guess.

The use of non-dictionary words makes a dictionary attack out, and the sheer length of the darn thing makes up for its lack of bizarre punctuation that I can’t type on my phone. It’s easy to remember, easy to type, and hard to guess or brute force.

POV: I think this is a great idea and offers some great tips. Too many people use simple passwords still. Personally, I have a series of ‘odd’ combinations that I use. I do this in addition to boot level security, complex Windows password, FireFox’s Master Password Vault, etc. Given how much of my data is out there, the more layers of security that I can apply the better in my opinion.

It’s encouraging SAP will continue with its model of acquiring market leaders, yet rather than ‘shoehorning’ them into their corporate culture it will continue to cultivate the innovation and expertise those organizations developed as a independent units. Its my opinion that given rampant consolidation, shifting market trends, and dynamic customer requirements this model allows broader flexibility for SAP and its functioning sub-brands in developing and delivering relevant enterprise solutions.

In today’s briefing by SAP’s executive team, Bill McDermott, Jim Snabe, John Chen and Vishal Sikka, they unveiled their strategy across three lines of business:

• enterprise mobility,
• business analytics, and
• enterprise information management.

Key components of today’s announcement included:

1. A roadmap for their mobile enterprise platform, due to go live by Summer 2011 and supporting all mobile O/S, market leading devices, and integration with SAP Business Suite and SAP Business ByDesign.
2. An industry portfolio for enterprise information management focusing on broad database support for SAP business applications.
3. An update to their business analytics and business intelligence road map outlined at this year’s SAPphire conference.
4. And, an outline of their advances and proposed solutions in in-memory computing and database technologies.

So why is this all relevant?

In a market that is becoming increasingly mobile and as devices (phones, laptops, slate computers, etc.) are making near quantum leaps in processing power and sophistication the value of enterprise technology is at the highest where it is nearest to the end user. Combine this with on-going globalization of manufacturing, distribution, financial, and retail networks and the ever increasing socialization of customer and market data and SAP is attempting to leap frog its competitors in this space, namely IBM, Oracle and Microsoft.

The integration of SAP and Business Objects + Sybase starts to realize the opportunity in the long-tail of decision making. As outlined in Chris Anderson’s Long Tail theory, and applied to the enterprise, few but high value and broad impact decisions are made at the CxO office but many micro-decisions are then made on the shop floor, customer service engagement, etc. The challenge has been to turn these executive strategies into a profitable business acted on by everyone equally. Today’s announcements are about leveraging the SAP’s solutions in conjunction with Sybase in-memory and mobile information management so that business information can readily be cascaded to end-points across the organization in an increasingly effective manner.

SAP promises to continue to build upon the individual ecosystems of SAP, BOBJ, and Sybase to drive innovation within each company’s ecosystems to create a multiplier effect that will allow SAP to become the premier provider of enterprise information management and delivery. This bolsters their combined ability to address core system differentiation as well as advanced line-of-business solutions and services.

I have become fascinated with the chancing world of education and technology. Recently I received my BusinessWeek in the mail and it had this very interesting article. I recommend having a read about how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is shaping and influencing Education in the United States.

There are many interesting comments in the on-line debate that follow the article, but fundamentally I think that the real issue is that an education system is in place to develop the society of the future.

If we look at the current pedagogy developed in the 19th & early 20th Century the focus was to develop centralized programs to equitably educate for the needs of the industrial revolution, in the mid-20th it was to boost for science and space (incl. military needs) for the cold war and ‘space race’. Our society is current focused on adjusting for the information age, green age (energy) and global economics, but the North American education models haven’t yet come to grips with the pedagogical shift needed to combine technology, 21st Century learning (excellent book – Disrupting Class) and global commerce.

To change the education system we cannot look at how we are changing performance for the economy we are in, but rather how are we educating the future contributors of society to have a basis on the ‘3Rs’, but apply that to critical analysis, decision making, working on groups (net new science discover), and collaborating with others globally bring about change locally. Net net we are and continue to educate the ‘future’ with a system designed with the industrial revolution not the information age in mind.

Rather than ‘paying for the grade’ I feel teachers must move from the ‘Sage on Stage’ to the ‘Guide on the Side’ and test and measurements should reflect how effectively schools do in producing and collaborating on ideas and projects that have demonstrable impact.

Mr. Ballmer entered to the chant of “oh Cloud, oh cloud…” and began by shouting about how Microsoft has been discussing “Oh Cloud” for 4 years. The kick off WPC 2010 is exciting b/c it is in a year that is a clear indicator that business and enterprise customers are clearly adopting cloud strategies, products and services. Ballmer goes on to say that there is no question that Microsoft is embracing the cloud opportunity with all the nearly 10,000 partners present and promised its commitment to a financial and partner-centric approach to next generation computing.

In his speech Mr. Ballmer outlined the following evolving vision and strategy at Microsoft:

1) The Partner transition to the cloud.

MS started FY in centre of gloom of financial crisis. Bt thru hard work of partners around the globe we’ve seen and been rewarded with success. Our success is built on the relationship we have with our partners.

• Win7 94% customer sat
• Office 40 M seats.
• Online services thousands of new enterprise customers are migrating to SharePoint and Exchange On-Line (BPOS)
• 670K trail downloads of SQL 2008 R2.
• Azure from 0 to hero, over 10,000 paying customer building applications to Azure.

Opportunities Ahead.

Opportunities for all of us in the Cloud.

Several themes that Ballmer and Microsoft are focused on, these are:

1. Cloud will create opportunities and responsibilities

• Windows Azure and Online Services will allows us to reach new markets and customers, streamline operations, improve agility, focus on business value, deliver reliable, secure and private innovations and solutions.
• With the MS Cloud tools we can remove barriers that partners face when selling a new sol’n. Rather they can sell the business value that IT can use to be more relevant to the business.
• Partners can better manage the experience and effectiveness of IT systems by managing, deploying, supporting, and creating applications and solutions in a dynamic manner. The cloud allows partners to effect change without disrupting the business

2. The Cloud learns and helps you learn, decide and take action

• Product Focus: Office, SQL, Bing
• The Cloud supports and facilitates natural language, stats/BI, and reasoning tools and helps bring enterprise to the cloud – working where, when and how people work.
• Dallas helps people publish data streams ia the cloud to allow business, customers and partners link their information to relevant stats and analytics.

3. New social and professional interactions

• Products: Office, Communications Server, Exchange, SharePoint, WindowsLive, Dynamics CRM Online
• Bringing social interactions into the enterprise e.g. facebook, twitter, etc. vi SharePoint, Office and Exchange 2010. Trying to improve the ability to collaborate (presence and secure ad-hoc websites) on the go and in real time with Microsoft tools and standards.

4. The Cloud drives Server Advances that drive the Cloud

• Products: Server 2008, Windows Server, Azure, SQL, SQL Azure
• Based on experiences with scaling Windows Live to millions of people in 100s of countries. the scale, complexity and management of these systems has influenced our architecture of SQL and Windows Azure to develop and propagate and infrastructure that our enterprise customers and partners can use to deliver a scalable, global, local solution.
• Now we are asking the Question, how do we bring Azure and SQL online into the enterprise. We want to deliver a full cloud infrastructure with a consistent develop, manage, and host solutions in the Microsoft cloud.
• SQL and Windows Azure are the cornerstones of Microsoft’s Cloud Strategy.

5. The Cloud wants Smarter Devices

• Products: KINECT, Explorer, Windows, WindowsPhone
• Build devices that can bring services down from the cloud and execute locally in a fast, rich manner.
• Integrate information and deliver that information in real time, where ever the user maybe and on what ever device that they may be using.
• The Cloud will be critical to the synchronization needed by enterprise to keep its records in check, meet governance requirements, and secure the privacy of its users.

Coming in 2010 and 2011  a big push on slates – interesting mix of brands (Foxconn a Chinese manufacturer) to the expected PC folks, but also Onkyo and other broad consumer brands Sony, Tosh, Panasonic, etc. Big press of MS Slates for Fall of 2010.

WindowsPhone 7: “in Barcelona it received really NICE reviews” the number of brands on the WindowsPhone 7 slide has really dropped DELL, HTC, SonyEriksson, Samsung are the standouts. But with Android rapidly growing with DELL, HTC and Samsung you have to question their commitment. Should Microsoft buy Nokia? or RIM?

Cloud pitch that Microsoft is all in. You want to help people be productive bet on Microsoft, Not Cisco, Apple, Google, etc. Microsoft’s Cloud “all in” strategy includes:

• New Form factors
• Windows PC/Netbook sales
• Business Productivity
• Enterprise IT and management:
• ISV Applications, Device Web and Enterprise
• Move to the Cloud

POV: It wasn’t SteveB’s most passionate speech, but I do feel he is nearly done mustering support and focus across Microsoft’s vast empire for the needed transition of the company from its very successful and profitable client/server business model to that of the cloud. The devil is in the details, but getting the partners, developers and ISVs on-board is mission number one and this WPC could be a turning point for Microsoft, its partners, and its customers.