Selected Papers
Patent Law, Computers, and the Virtual Home Office
By Barbara J. Clark
I am a patent attorney from Ames, Iowa who works for a Minneapolis patent law firm. Without the use of computers and current technology, this job arrangement would not be possible. I am not a computer wizard or a World Wide Web addict, but I have taught myself enough to get by. And, I keep learning in order to keep up.
I earned my B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University, and subsequently worked at Caterpillar Tractor Co. in the mid to late 1970's. This was during the era of keypunch machines and keypunch cards. In those days, computers less powerful than today filled entire rooms, and after handing your keypunch cards to a computer operator, you waited and watched a monitor to know when your output was ready for pick up. One mistake, and you started the whole process over.
From 1980-1985 I was involved in starting a family and attending law school. I paid little attention to technological developments in the computer field. In fact, I didn’t even know any better than to continue using my trusty manual Hermes 3000 typewriter all the way through law school. When we purchased our first home computer in 1986, a Kaypro™ PC, I thought we had truly arrived. Imagine, 20 MB of hard disk space right in your own home! I used a word processing program called "Pcwrite©" and did a lot of work from home during my association with a small general practice firm. I even once tried backing up a document to a 5 1/4" floppy for the main office to load and edit on their "Wang" computer. The computers were incompatible, however, and whatever I typed at home had to be retyped by the secretaries.
During the early 1990's, I was home full-time with my four kids and again lost track of changes in the computer industry. Somewhere around mid-1993, however, I began to pay more attention to news reports and articles referring to windows, mouses (mice?), and other improvements including ever-bigger, better and faster computers. I convinced my husband that it was time to upgrade. Since he was considered the computer guru of the family at that time, he researched the industry and selected a 486 SX 33 computer from Gateway 2000 having 4 MB of RAM and a 220 MB hard drive. We purchased an HP 500C printer from Hewlett Packard™ and also installed a Soundblaster 16™ multimedia kit from Creative Labs, Inc. I did little with the computer for months (except for learning to move the mouse!) as I was very busy studying for the April 1994 Patent Bar Exam. Once the exam was over and the night owl in me wanted to stay awake, I began to check this computer out.
I started by trying out pre-loaded utility programs such as the ones which defragment the hard drive, improve memory, etc. I learned some this way, but soon realized that the manuals which came with the computer were difficult for the computer novice to fully understand. I checked a few books out of the library, and also started subscribing to computer magazines such as "Family PC" and "Home Office Computing."
Shortly thereafter, I decided that installation of a fax/modem was the next step needed, and I purchased a ZoomJ 14,400 bps internal fax/modem from Zoom Telephonics, Inc. (at Wal-mart!). After three days of attempting to install it, however, my husband packaged it up and said we should return it and start over with a different one. I didn’t like that idea much, and decided to give it a go myself. This is truly the beginning of my immersion into the inner workings of the computer. I eventually had all of the software loaded, the com ports straight, the IRQ’s adjusted, and so forth. I also discovered, after a few failed attempts, that plugging in the phone line is helpful as well. Thereafter, we enjoyed connecting to the local city and university libraries as well as trying out several different commercial on-line services. I was an early user of the Internet through Iowa State University before the "Web" was the method of choice, and traveled to Tasmania and beyond via Gopher, ftp, telnet, Veronica and others.
During this time I was doing some patent work for a Des Moines chemical company, and began to make use of my computer’s new faxing capability. I was also in contact with the Minneapolis law firm of Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner (SLW) with whom I am now associated. I was trying to convince them that a long-distance arrangement with a novice patent attorney was very workable. I knew it was a stretch, but by then I had become thoroughly convinced that this technology was the key to developing my new career in the patent field, while still maintaining the lifestyle our family enjoys which includes my being "available" for the kids, especially before and after school.
I was eventually hired, and am now referred to as the "virtual" branch office. The firm has added two phone lines to my home, purchased a separate HP OfficeJet Printer/Fax/Copier from Hewlett Packard™, and supplied me with a pager. I log on to the Minneapolis system every day using the Norton pcAnywhereJ software program from Symantec™ to check E-mail or to access their database. I work on documents here at home and attach them to E-mail messages so they are on the Minneapolis system for editing and submission to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Occasionally I make the drive up to Minneapolis to make use of the old-fashioned method of "in person" communication. Otherwise, I have the flexibility to come and go as I please (with pager in hand) during the day, and often bring a daughter home for lunch on certain days, or spend the lunch hour networking with other attorneys or prospective clients. I meet with business clients at their place of business, and/or communicate with them via fax, phone or E-mail. I also have access to Lexis™-Nexis™ which contains a thorough database of U.S. patents and much more. The firm has an informative Web site which includes hypertext links to several other related Web sites. As the firm is now routinely scanning in documents received from the PTO, I have recently been equipped with a Visioneer PaperportTM VX scanner so I can easily access this same information and also scan my own documents when necessary. Although this method of operating as a remote virtual office has come to be my ordinary, everyday life, I do pause now and then to not only marvel at what this technology is allowing me to do, but to think about how incredibly fast all of these advances have taken place.
Things do not always go smoothly, however, which is why I continue to learn more about this computer every day. I have a spiral notebook into which I enter every problem and solution, every change to a setting, or any information which might be pertinent down the road. We have upgraded by installing a Colorado BackupJ tape back up unit, a new 1 GIG hard drive, additional RAM, some secondary cache and a new DX2 66 chip. In the past month, I finally took the plunge and installed Microsoft™ Windows™ 95 on our system. (The increase in speed of the printer driver alone makes this upgrade worth the effort)!
Unfortunately, I have also had to replace some of the hardware including the A-drive, the monitor and the CD-ROM drive. In fact, it was just prior to starting my new job with SLW that we decided to add the new 1 GIG hard drive. For unexplainable reasons, the computer locked up to the point that we couldn’t even get into the "setup" program to fix it. Thanks to technical help from Gateway 2000 and a new system board (under warranty) we were up and running in no time. Even the hard drive failed last year while we were on vacation, due apparently to humidity. (Fortunately, just a little tap on the hard drive was enough to revive it). I have also had numerous software disasters, including having our old Microsoft™ Windows™ for Workgroups 3.11 "crash," requiring reinstallation of the Windows™ directory.
One advantage with newer computers is that components such as the modem, CD-ROM, and other options are now standard and come pre-installed. Even so, there is always going to be something faster, bigger, and better which you might be inclined to try. Also, components do fail occasionally. How nice it is to simply install the new part yourself. (With our ever-growing supply of spare parts, my seventeen-year-old son, Jason, and I have thoughts of building our own computer soon!)
At this point, my husband now considers me the computer expert in the family. Although it is great to be able to "fix" problems with software or hardware, I consider Jason to be the true expert. He is naturally fearless, as most kids are with computers. That is what I have learned to be, and what you must be --fearless, or at least "cautiously" fearless. It is also important for you to develop at least a cursory understanding of how your computer operates so you have some idea of what to do when something goes wrong. Otherwise, you are totally dependent on others when your system is down. This can mean huge delays which virtually put you out-of-business, especially if you are a solo-practitioner and only have that one computer! You do not necessarily need to know the details of why something works, just that a particular "action" will work to fix the problem. If the first attempt fails, try something else, call a friend, call your computer company’s tech-support, read the manuals or check out a book from the library. Just don’t give up. If all else fails, acquaint yourself with a local computer person who can quickly repair your system on short notice. (We actually had to do that recently!) Learn what you need to know to get by. Then, when you have a few minutes of extra time, learn something new about the computer, about your word processing program, or about the Internet. Again, I highly recommend the use of some type of log into which you can note changes, problems and solutions, as well as tips you may pick up regarding a particular feature about some software or a great Web site. My log has proved to be an invaluable reference, particularly when problems reoccur.
I know that the system we have is fairly obsolete by today’s standards, but it is keeping me in business for now, and fully meets my current needs. On the other hand, since we are a one computer family/business, we do keep this computer busy. Many evenings we need to work out a schedule so that all of the computer-dependent homework can be completed before bedtime, after which I take over again. On second thought, another computer might be nice--maybe a laptop. I hear there is a bigger, better and faster one coming out soon!
Clark lives in Ames, Iowa, and is one of 30 registered patent attorneys with the firm of Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, P.A. This fast-growing Minneapolis-based firm was founded in December of 1993 and specializes in patent, copyright and trademark law. This article was originally published in the June 1997 issue of 'The Iowa Lawyer,' the monthly magazine for the ISBA, pages 16-19, in a section entitled "The Bottom Line."
