Rethink(IP)

Rethink(IP) is a product of the collaboration of three intellectual property attorneys from three different firms. J. Matthew Buchanan, Stephen Nipper, and Douglas Sorocco originally met in the legal section of the blogosphere -- they each maintain an intellectual property blog of their own -- and quickly became friends over countless e-mail messages and chat sessions.

And then there was Techshow.

The trio met in person for the first time at last year's ABA Techshow. Over drinks and several late night conversations with leading thinkers from the blawgosphere and legal technology industry, they detected similarities in their approach to professional practice and knew they had to do something together.

Nipper is credited with the original pie-in-the sky idea: "Let's make the practice better." He uttered those words so simply and so matter-of-factly.

After 2 AM, with drinks in hand, the three bloggers created Rethink(ip) on a cocktail napkin in the hotel bar. They've been striving to "make the practice better" ever since.

The guiding principle of the collaboration is the need for a rethinking of the practice of intellectual property law. Each of the rethinkers believes that there is drastic room for improvement in the practice...and that the answer does not lie in an increase in billable hours.

Since its launch in April, the blog has included quick tips for improving day-to-day practice, thoughts on improving client relationships, and personal accounts relating to the general concept of "rethinking" a topic.

Their efforts to improve the practice have recently expanded to include new tools designed to improve the practice. As of last week, subscribers can get news from the Patent and Trademark Office delivered via RSS and e-mail -- a service the Office has shown no sign of providing.

The rethinkers see their mission to "make the practice better" as a long and winding road and plan to use the rethink(ip) blog to document the journey.

On Monday, September 5, the Carnival of the Capitalists for business bloggers is being hosted at Rethink(IP), so these rethinkers are encouraging all law bloggers who mean business to submit a post there, as well as to Blawg Review this week.

What's this you say? Lawyers hosting a business blog carnival? Sure, lawyers are capitalists too. For a couple of great examples, check out the Carnival of the Capitalists at ProfessorBainbridge.com and, more recently, at Law & Entrepreneurship News.

If you want to showcase one of your law blog posts on a subject of interest to business bloggers on Carnival of the Capitalists, just use this handy CotC Submission Page this week, or any week in fact. It's good for business.