[KLUG Advocacy] Happy 200, USPTO!

[Andrew Thompson]

American Heritage of Invention and Technology magazine celebrates the
patent office's 200th anniversary with a whirlwind tour through time
featuring many of the high points of American invention:

http://www.americanheritage.com/it/2003/03/hofreport.shtml

Writer Jim Quinn lauds the growing pace of patent approvals (the six
millionth, granted on December 10, 1999, covers that revolutionary data
transfer technology, HotSync), and looks breathlessly forward to the
seven millionth, which he expects to be awarded somewhere around the
middle of this decade. Sadly, he neglects to mention such modern marvels
as Michael Jackson's fancy footwear
(http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US05255452__), or that revolutionary
new playground pasttime, swinging sideways
(http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US06368227__), whose patents will
doubtless go far toward that next million. He's a little vague on how
this overworked, understaffed and underfunded agency manages to keep the
pace, too. Hrmmmm, maybe a hot tip for you investors out there: rubber
stamps are looking BIG!

(Bitter? ME??? *grin*)

-- 
Andrew Thompson <apthmpsn@imagerie.com>
The Imagerie