elnblog: Electronic Lab Notebooks

History of US Patents

For patent geeks, an interesting overview of how US Patent Law developed to the present day starting from the beginning:

In 1787, with the passage of the Constitution, Congress was empowered to “promote the process of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries.” (Article 1 § 8)

Minnesota Considers Mandatory Use Of ODF | April 7, 2006

I’ve been hoping for the day that companies start enforcing such requirements as part of their purchasing process - if the US States are moving, hopefully it can’t be long. Interestingly, at some point it will become irresponsible not to have such a requirement - not a moment too soon.

InformationWeek | Open Source | Minnesota Considers Mandatory Use Of ODF | April 7, 2006:

“A bill ‘requiring state agencies to use open data formats’ has been introduced in the Minnesota state legislature….. The legislation proposes the use of open data formats throughout the agencies of the state government’s executive branch… Specifically, the bill states:

• ‘The development of this information architecture must include the establishment of standards and guidelines to be followed by state agencies…
• ‘The standards and guidelines much emphasize uniformity that is cost-effective for the enterprise, that encourages information interchange, open systems environments, and portability of information whenever practicable…
• ‘The office (OET) shall assist state agencies to avoid the purchase or creation of data processing devices or systems that do not comply with open standards for the accessing, storing, or transferring of data…’

(Via Bob Sutor.)