The Goodson Blogson

Yesterday, Google announced a new Patent Purchase Promotion plan on its Public Policy blog. For two weeks in May, Google will open an experimental web portal through which U.S. patent holders can submit proposals to sell their patents to the search giant this summer. (Patent holders will be granted a license to continue practicing their invention, although Google will assume legal ownership and may also license the patent to others.) Details of the Patent Purchase Program are available at http://www.google.com/patents/licensing/ . Google's stated motive for setting up this program (besides adding to its bulky patent portfolio, of course) is "to remove friction from the patent market." In particular, Deputy General Counsel Allen Lo cited the "bad things" that happen when non-practicing entities (NPEs), or " patent trolls ," obtain ownership of patents for the sole purpose of filing profitable patent infringement lawsuits against others. TV host Joh...

Today, the Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch as the next U.S. Attorney General, by a vote of 56 to 43. This afternoon's vote followed a five-month delay since her nomination by the President, the third-longest gap between nomination and confirmation in Attorney General history . Lynch's confirmation had been stalled in the Senate by a group of legislators who expressed concern for her support of President Obama's executive action on immigration law . When Ms. Lynch assumes the role of U.S. Attorney General at her swearing-in ceremony next week, she will be the 83rd person to helm the U.S. Department of Justice, and the first African-American woman ever to hold the office. (The next Attorney General also has local roots for Duke Law readers, having been born in Greensboro and raised in Durham. North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr both stated in February that they would oppose her nomination , and voted no on her confirmation today.) To learn more about Atto...

The American Bar Association just announced that law students are now eligible for free membership to the ABA . Membership in the Law Student Division provides students with access to ABA publications, member discounts, and continuing legal education (CLE) materials. Students must be currently enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school. To join, visit www.americanbar.org/abalawstudents or call the ABA Service Center at 800-285-2221. In addition, Duke Law students might be interested in joining the North Carolina Bar Association , which also provides free registration for currently-enrolled law students. The NCBA membership provides students with free individual accounts to the Fastcase research service (currently also available in a shared IP format through the Goodson Law Library) as well as bar publications and additional membership discounts. To join the NCBA, visit http://www.ncbar.org/members/divisions/law-students . Planning your legal career in a different state? Visit the ...

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled , That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause the immediate destruction of all income-tax returns and any copies thereof, with all statements and records relative thereto , now in possession of the Treasury Department, by reason of "An Act to reduce taxation," and so forth, in effect August twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four. On this day in 1896, Congress approved House Joint Resolution No. 42 , providing for the immediate destruction of income tax returns and records that the Treasury had received. In his 1897 annual report , the Secretary of the Treasury confirmed that the office had delivered all income tax returns and other documents to a specially-appointed committee, which "totally destroyed the same by burning." As April 15 approaches (see our earlier post for help with locating free or low-cost filing assistance ), it...