I love my life.  I get to work on fascinating things with really smart people.  And every day is different.  Plus I’m married to an awesome woman (but that’s a different post.) I spent the afternoon at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology.  I’m on an advisory board for a new study on "Entrepreneurial […]

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I hate software patents. My partner, Jason Mendelson, began fighting me on this back in 2000 when we began working together, but a scant eight years later, he’s joined me in the crusade.  In fact, he’ll be arguing this position on March 4th at […]

I’m an abolitionist.  I believe software patents should be abolished.  I’ve started pounding the drum about this and am delighted to hear as many positive responses to my plea as I have.  While a few people argue with me about the validity of software patents, most nod their heads up and down in agreement with […]

Philip Greenspun has an excellent essay up on the web titled Internet Software Patents.  He sets the tone by suggesting that "the natural progression of an industry is innovation, consolidation, then litigation."  Philip better be careful of he’s going to be spending a lot of time in East Marshall, Texas. His decomposition of U.S. Patent […]

I got the following note from a friend at a big software company that was founded in the mid-1990’s. Having worked at the big companies it has always amazed me the energy that goes into creating the stack of patents.  We have lawyers who we sit down with to go over new products and releases […]

The Feld Job board is about to kick into high gear.  Look for a handful of posts in January.  The Silicon Flatirons program at CU Law School is looking for two research fellows.  The first one is described on their web site.  They are looking for an aspiring entrepreneur or VC who would work with […]

It appears that Vonage had something in its patent portfolio that Nortel didn’t like.  Several weeks ago Nortel sued Vonage for patent infringement.  They just settled for a limited cross license to three patents.  Good for Vonage for standing up to Nortel. 

I’ve periodically engaged in the debate about who actually owns your email.  The assertion that email sent from your corporate email address is owned by the company is a difficult one for me to deal with, especially since email has become a ubiquitous means for communication.  As a result I find the entire thing tiresome […]

I sponsor a roundtable series titled The Silicon Flatirons Roundtable on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Public Policy.  It is hosted four times a year by The Silicon Flatirons Program at CU Boulder and is modeled after the Union Square Ventures Sessions.   We pick a topic and then get 30 or so smart and diverse thinkers in […]