Patent Office Wants To Open Up Shop In Silicon Valley... But Doesn't Want The Press To Know
from the why-not? dept
Well, this is odd. Cathy Gellis points us to the news that US Patent and Trademark Office director David Kappos was out in Silicon Valley recently and convened an event that involved inventors, executives, intellectual property lawyers and politicians -- all discussing the idea of having the USPTO open a satellite office in Silicon Valley. You know who was missing from the meeting? The press. Apparently journalists were explicitly barred from attending, which reasonably upset some attendees.“Why would you exclude the press from this?” said Neil Smith, an IP partner at Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley, who attended the event. “He didn’t say anything untoward or particularly controversial. I didn’t hear anything they would want to keep away from the press.”It really does seem kind of strange. Why would they be so afraid of the press being there? Personally, I think it would be a very good thing for the USPTO to open up an office here, as they might spend a bit more time with Silicon Valley folks who are intimately familiar with the problems of the patent system.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: david kappos, press, silicon valley, uspto
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
They are afraid of you Mike.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I know I am not playing the game right!
&^% ((*&^% world. All they are going to do is lie and lean toward one side or the other. Are they really so arrogant to believe that something cannot be achieved with out their presence.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Maybe 'cause the press is not always helpful?
And it sounds like the attendees were not in any way prohibited from talking about it.
HM
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patent problems
Such as the fact that it exists?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The reason is patently obvious! Heheheheh! He said patently!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]