Social Media Driven Referrals

What is the number one source of incoming work and your business and/or law firm? I’d guess with 99% certainty, your answer will include something along the lines of word-of-mouth recommendations and/or personal referrals. In an age where 850 million+ people use Facebook, and over 75% of the population uses the Internet on a regular basis, how does social media influence these referrals and recommendations? The answer may surprise you. 

Let’s pretend you are looking for a mechanic to work on your car. You remember that your friend spoke highly of his mechanic, Joe Smith, and gave you his card. After rummaging through your kitchen drawer, you find Joe’s card as well as Peter Ward’s flyer you received via mail. Peter’s flyer looks pretty awesome so you decide to do some further research on the Internet. When you type in Joe Smith’s name you find zero results; no website, no YELP review, nothing. Even though your friend spoke highly of him, you’re left wondering why he’s absent. On the other hand, when you search for Peter Ward, you’re met with a nicely designed website, client testimonials, links to more positive reviews on Yelp, and a professional video inviting you to learn more about Peter. Overall, what would your thoughts be? Who would you contact?

Understandably, law firms are definitely not car mechanics, I get that. But the situation carries on to every relationship you have. Whether it’s a golf game while on a conference, or an afternoon lunch, we receive personal referrals on a regular basis. 

Did you know 70% of corporate counsel and legal staff turn to online lawyer profiles such as LinkedIn to identify, evaluate and validate credentials of outside counsel? If your name came up, would he or she be able to find something credible? Or would your competition have an advantage? Also, according to Green Target, in-house counsel are largely ‘invisible users’ of social media, preferring to listen and consume. This makes their true level of engagement hard to measure. 

What does this all mean to you? Glad you asked. It means you need to have complete, optimized and up-to-date profiles on LinkedIn, Marindale Hubbel and whatever other social networks you chose to use. You need to make sure your friends, co-workers, school mates, and family know about your networks and what type of work you do. You need to communicate that you want referrals, and are open to giving referrals as well.

By: Samantha Collier

Facebook Patents the News Feed

Just in case you were thinking of patenting a Facebook-ish newsfeed, you’re out of luck.  Facebook has been granted another patent related to the always popular News Feed.  Better luck next time! The title of the patent is, “Communicating a newsfeed of media content based on a member’s interactions in a social networking environment.”U.S. Patent No. 8,171,128 credits Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, as one of the inventors. 

Here’s a breakdown of what some of the patent covers:

• Facebook keeps a database of all personal profiles
• This database saves information such as the relationships between users 
• The system creates “news stories” based on the actions of each user. 
• The system watches for actions taken in response to various “news stories” whether an interaction with another user, like clicking a like button, and then feeds this story back into the pool available for news feeds. 

Facebook is working hard to lock down the functionality of their beloved News Feed.  For those of you not among the 850 million+ Facebook users, the News Feed allows users to see status messages, videos, shared articles, albums, among other actions, and is displayed prominently on the home page of each Facebook profile.  It was first launched in 2006 and has become an integral feature within Facebook. 

Why would Facebook want to patent the News Feed? In a nutshell, it allows Facebook to protect and enforce its Intellectual Property against competitors such as Google’s latest social network Google+, Twitter and/or Myspace.  

Nobody knows what Facebook will do when it comes to enforcing their patent rights.  Should they try and make their News Feed a Facebook-Only feature, the future of many other social networks is in question.

By: Samantha Collier

Computer Implemented Inventions - the Steampunk Test

Computer implemented inventions are often the subject of increased scrutiny at the Patent Office. Debates about software patents and business method patents contribute to this state of affairs, as does the very fact that computers themselves are flexible data processing machinery. To wit, since computers can perform so many functions so easily, is it obvious to implement a particular one of these functions? 

An oft-cited guiding principle concerning computer implemented inventions comes from the 1981 case between Schlumberger Canada Ltd. and the Commissioner of Patents, and states that the presence of a computer cannot effect the "transforming into patentable subject-matter [of] what would, otherwise, be clearly not patentable.” However, and conversely, merely using a computer to implement an invention should not count against the merits of the invention. 

As some readers will know, Steampunk is a science fiction genre in which steam power, intricate systems of gears, sets of ornate control levers, dials and generally shiny brass gadgets are used in place of modern electronics, computers and other machines. This imaginative genre not only entertains and sparks the imagination, but also allows one to re-frame questions about patentable subject-matter, novelty and obviousness, which so concerns us when pursuing patent protection. 

Specifically, the next time you are considering the patentability of a computer-implemented invention or developing claims for one, try the following conceptual exercise. First, re-envision the invention in its “steampunk” form. Replace power supplies with a coal-powered steam engine, computer programs with intricate systems of mechanisms and gears, and user interfaces with knobs, dials and levers. Cut away all the mental and legal clutter that surrounds computer technology, peek inside the machine, and consider its overall function in a Sepia-toned world. Re-frame patentability questions. For example, you might ask “Are there any particular new and inventive functions provided in the internal workings (gears) of the steampunk version of the invention?” or “Assuming that all of its basic building blocks (e.g. steam engines, gear systems, etc.) were known, would the steampunk version of the invention be patentable as a new combination of known building blocks?” You might also want to try writing a patent claim that covers both the original and the steampunk version of the invention. 

Stepping back from an invention and revving up your imagination can be a great way to generate ideas, expand inventive concepts, and avoid some of the subject-matter pitfalls surrounding computer implemented inventions. Just don’t expect the Patent Office to grant you a patent for your steampunk version without a working model.

By Michael Maskery