ESP Wiki is looking for moderators and active contributors!

Who should see Patent Absurdity in 2010

THIS PAGE IS NO LONGER USED. IT WAS WRITTEN IN MAY 2010 AND IS NOT UP TO DATE.

Newcomers: we're making a list of names and address of 200 people we should post a copy of Patent Absurdity to.

Remember, we're looking for their work address, please don't post anyone's home address here.

Contents

Names

Patent Office

David Kappos

  • Info: the newly appointed Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO


Bernard Knight

Corporate policy

Microsoft

Steve Ballmer
  • info: CEO, Microsoft Corporation
Brad Smith
  • info: Microsoft General Counsel and Senior Vice President
Bill Hilf
  • info: Microsoft's "open source" person

Novell

Bruce Lowry

IBM

Steve Mills
  • info: Senior VP of IBM Software Group

Time Warner

James Chiddix

Apple

Current CEO
  • As of January 2014 it's Tim Cook

Salesforce.com

Marc Benioff
  • info: CEO of Salesforce (recently sued by MS for swpats)

Other

Dr. Gary Michelson
  • info: "billionaire inventor" (very pro-patent but anti-troll) [1]
Jim Greenwood
  • info: not sure if he's relevant to the IT sector) former Congressman and current President & CEO of BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) a lobby for biotech companies.

Academia

Professor John Duffy

  • info: of George Washington University Law School

Doug Lichtman

Robert P. Merges

Eugene Volokh

Orin S. Kerr

  • info: about) teaches at George Washington University Law School? He specializes in criminal law, but he knows a lot of folks... clerked previously for a Supreme Court justice

Randy Barnett

  • info: teaches and is a specialist in Constitutional law, like the media.

Prof. Eric Goldman

  • info: contact) Associate Professor of Law at Santa Clara U. School of Law, where he directs the High Tech Law Institute. (blogger)

Susan Crawford

  • info: "an Obama influence. Also, she has a very long list of other lawyers on her blog. "

Om Malik

Journalists

BBC

Jeremy Paxman
  • info: Newsnight, BBC Broadcasting Centre, Wood Lane, London?
Pallab Ghosh
  • info: covered a genes patent story in 2010[2]

Glen Beck

  • info: a groklaw contributor says he's he is seeking out waste... and software patents are a huge waste

Hannity(?)

Bill Oreilly

Stephen Colbert

  • info of the Colbert Report

Jon Stewart

  • info: of the Daily Show ("He does love to explore absurditie")

Rachael Maddow

  • info: The Rachael Maddow Show on MSNBC ("always includes geek related stuff")

Louis Foreman

The New Yorker

Jeffrey Toobin

The Atlantic

Andrew Sullivan

Mike Drummond

(see next line - is that it?)

Amy Goodman

  • of Democracy Now

Glenn Greenwald

  • of Salon.com

Legal bloggers

(Plenty of other legal bloggers are in the Academia section)

Joe Mullin
Tony Mauro
  • info: of BLT and Law.com.
Lyle Denniston
  • info: of SCOTUSblog.
Gene Quinn
  • info: of IPwatchdog. He is a pro-software patent patent lawyer but has engaged in the discussion with anti-swpat people.

Reuters

Diane Bartz

Trade groups and standards orgs

IEEE-USA

Richard H. Stern
  • info: is author of the Micro Law column of IEEE Micro. See his webpage.
Keith D. Grzelak
  • info: is chair of the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee which wrote their pro-swpat Bilski brief.

DARPA

Dr. Regina Dugan

Judges

IMPORTANT NOTE: Is it ok to lobby judges outside of the usual amicus brief method??

Judge Randall Rader

Adam Eltoukhy

  • law clerk of Randall Radar

Joss Nichols

  • law clerk of Randall Radar

Roozbeh Gorgin

  • intern of Randall Radar

Jennifer Volk

  • intern of Randall Radar

Politics

Senate Judiciary Committee

The membership is[4]:

Democrats:

Patrick J. Leahy, Chair
Herb Kohl
Dianne Feinstein
Russ Feingold
Arlen Specter
Chuck Schumer
Dick Durbin
Benjamin L. Cardin
Sheldon Whitehouse
Amy Klobuchar
Ted Kaufman
Al Franken
Jeff Sessions
Orrin G. Hatch
Chuck Grassley
Jon Kyl
Lindsey Graham
John Cornyn
Tom Coburn

Senate subcommittee: Communications, Technology, and the Internet

In the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation there's a subcommittee that looks relevant: Communications, Technology, and the Internet

http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=CommunicationsTechnologyandtheInternet

John F. Kerry - Chairman
Daniel K. Inouye
Byron L. Dorgan
Bill Nelson
Maria Cantwell
Frank R. Lautenberg
Mark Pryor
Claire McCaskill
Amy Klobuchar
Tom Udall
Mark Warner
Mark Begich
John Ensign - Ranking Member
Olympia J. Snowe
Jim DeMint
John Thune
Roger F. Wicker
George S. LeMieux
Johnny Isakson
David Vitter
Sam Brownback
Mike Johanns

Senate committee on small business and entrepreneurship

(For these people to see the relevance, a cover letter might be necessary.)

Chair - Mary L. Landrieu (LA)
John F. Kerry (MA)
Carl Levin (MI)
Tom Harkin (IA)
Joseph I. Lieberman (CT)
Maria Cantwell (WA)
Evan Bayh (IN)
Mark L. Pryor (AR)
Ben L. Cardin (MD)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Kay Hagan (NC)
Ranking Member - Olympia J. Snowe (ME)
Christopher S. Bond (MO)
David Vitter (LA)
John Thune (SD)
Michael B. Enzi (WY)
Johnny Isakson (GA)
Roger Wicker (MS)
James Risch (ID)

President Obama's Administration

Elena Kagan, US solicitor General and nominee to the Supreme Court (Kagan also wrote the Government's brief in Bilski)

Question: Her name is on it along with about dozen others, but did she write it? Actually, that whole list of people is probably worthwhile.

Elena Kagan
  • Solicitor General, Counsel of Record
Cameron F. Kerry
  • General Counsel
Malcolm L. Stewart
  • Deputy Solicitor General
Quentin A. Palfrey
  • Associate General Counsel
Tony West
  • Assistant Attorney General
Joan Bernott Maginnis
  • Assistant General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230
Ginger D. Anders
  • Assistant to the Solicitor General
Scott R. Mcintosh
  • Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530-0001, (202) 514-2217
Mark R. Freeman
  • Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530-0001, (202) 514-2217
Raymond T. Chen
  • Solicitor and Deputy General Counsel
Thomas W. Krause
  • Associate Solicitor, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, VA 22313
Scott C. Weidenfeller
  • Associate Solicitor, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Alexandria, VA 22313

Department of Commerce

Gary Locke
  • info: Groklaw comment: "He's at the top of the Commerce food chain and a good guy. Others under him, such as the head of the PTO, have to listen to Gary."

House committee on the judiciary

Patent matters are dealt with by the whole committee, not a subcommittee.

Conyers Jr.
Berman
Boucher
Nadler
Scott
Watt
Lofgren
Jackson Lee
Waters
Delahunt
Cohen
Johnson
Pierluisi
Quigley
Chu
Deutch
Gutierrez
Baldwin
Gonzalez
Weiner
Schiff
Sánchez
Maffei
Polis
Smith
Sensenbrenner Jr.
Coble
Gallegly
Goodlatte
Lungren
Issa
Forbes
King
Franks
Gohmert
Jordan
Poe
Chaffetz
Rooney
Harper

House: Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

  • Subcommittee page
  • 35 members
  • Jurisdiction: they just have one sentence "Interstate and foreign telecommunications including, but not limited to all telecommunication and information transmission by broadcast, radio, wire, microwave, satellite, or other mode."[5]
Edward J. Markey, MA
Bart Gordon, TN
Bobby L. Rush, IL
Anna G. Eshoo, CA
Bart Stupak, MI
Diana DeGette, CO
Mike Doyle, PA
Jay Inslee, WA
Anthony D. Weiner, NY, Vice Chair
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Charlie Melancon, LA
Baron P. Hill, IN
Doris O. Matsui, CA
Donna M. Christensen, VI
Kathy Castor, FL
Christopher S. Murphy, CT
Zachary T. Space, OH
Jerry McNerney, CA
Peter Welch, VT
John D. Dingell, MI
Henry A. Waxman, CA (ex officio)
Cliff Stearns, FL, Ranking Member
Fred Upton, MI
John Shimkus, IL
John B. Shadegg, AZ
Roy Blunt, MO
Steve Buyer, IN
George Radanovich, CA
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Lee Terry, NE
Mike Rogers, MI
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Parker Griffith, AL1
Robert E. Latta, OH2
Joe Barton, TX (ex officio)

Joint Economic Committee

For the economy, there's a joint committee of 10 House members and 10 Senate members.

According to its background page, "Its main purpose is to make a continuing study of matters relating to the US economy." - so it might be worth searching first to see if they get involved in patent cases.

Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Chair
Congressman Maurice Hinchey
Congressman Baron Hill
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez
Congressman Elijah Cummings
Congressman Vic Snyder
Congressman Kevin Brady, Ranking Republican
Congressman Ron Paul
Congressman Michael Burgess
Congressman John Campbell
Senator Charles Schumer, Vice Chairman
Senator Jeff Bingaman
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Robert Casey
Senator Jim Webb
Senator Mark Warner
Senator Sam Brownback, Ranking Senate Republican
Senator Jim DeMint
Senator James E. Risch
Senator Robert Bennett
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES
  • BIG VISUAL MARKER SO I NOTICE WHEN I GO PAST HERE WHILE ORGANISING THE NAMES

Data from which Ciaran is still extracting names

The following is data that could be useful, but the info provided isn't detailed enough to suggest a person to whom we could send the video. Further precisions very welcome.

Politics

In the US Congress, the relevant committee is the "Senate Judiciary Committee". There used to be a "Patents" subcommittee (in 1950) but that doesn't seem to exist any more. The The Patent Reform Act (USA) is discussed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, so if legislation is proposed after Bilski, it's very likely to come to that committee, making it the most important of the committees listed on this page.

Individual names

  • Harry Teague

U.S. Representative for the 2nd District of New Mexico 200 E. Broadway Suite 200 Hobbs, NM 88240 (explanation of why)

  • Ben Ray Lujan (is on the House Committee on Science and Technology)

U.S. Representative for the 3rd District of New Mexico 811 St. Michael's Dr. Suite 104 Santa Fe, NM 87505 (explanation of why)

  • Tom Udall (on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation)

House Energy and Commerce Committee

(Not 100% sure if this committee is relevant. If we've too many names, maybe this can be cut)

  • Henry A. Waxman, D-CA, Chairman
  • Joe Barton, R-TX Ranking member

Probably not getting done

Patent Office

Corporate policy

Academia

  • One source: who submitted Bilski v. Kappos amicus briefs?
  • Might be good to target academic types that defended an "all patents are good" line - they might have only been thinking in terms of pharma and manufacturing, their implied support of software patents might have just been due to the need to simplify their message
  • This blog aggregates posts by various legal professors, often on patent issues: http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/intellectual_property/

Journalists

We need names for these

Who in each house might cover the Bilski decision?

  • Wall Street Journal
  • Financial Times
  • Associated Press
  • CBS (especially the people in charge of finding stories for "60 Minutes")
  • NBC (for Dateline)
  • ABC (for "20/20" and potentially "Nightline" or "The View").
  • ZDNet
  • Wall Street Journal
  • New York Times
  • Washington Post
  • Chicago Sun
  • Los Angeles Times

Trade groups and standards orgs

  • ACM
    • need someone's name
  • APS?
  • AMS?
  • SIAM?

Possible sources of other names

Is this person relevant?

Please add information about how these people are connected specifically to patent policy or software policy.

  • Craig Venter. (suggested on Groklaw with comment: While I applaud his work the idea that copying can somehow be patentable is quite frightening.)
  • Sandra Day O'Connor (suggested on Groklaw with comment: much respected jurist)
  • Diane Rehm (suggested on Groklaw with comment: acclaimed journalist with a large audience, unafraid to ask questions. Tries to present a balanced picture of issues.)
  • Oprah Winfrey - groklaw commenter says she "<might> give positive publicity" - does she ever talk about patent policy??
  • David Letterman (I'm sceptical)