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February 18, 2005

Powerful New Research Tool for Legislation

If you're anything like me, you wonder what our Senators and Representatives are up to in DC. However, sifting through the piles of information to find a topic that you care about can be time consuming and frustrating. Thomas offers search capabilities, but they're not very user friendly. Enter GovTrack. (Thanks to Carey at Pierce Law IP News Blog for the post GovTrack.us -- Like THOMAS, on crack, and with RSS!).

This thing is AMAZING! I entered the term "patent" in the search box and found 4 hits of legislation in this session dealing with patents. They were typical bills, with the exception of one, "H.R. 607: To extend the patent numbered RE 38,014 (BIEBERSTEIN) for a period of 2 years." (pdf) So, you may wonder what greatness is contained within this patent. You may be thinking it is something spectacular, something very valuable to the government. Maybe something to help combat terrorists. But, it the title of this patent, assigned to Mag, is "Miniature Flashlight." I'm not kidding. This is an invention worthy of legislation? Just another example of your tax dollars at work.

Whatever legistative topic interests you, I highly recommend GovTrack. You may be surprised at what's really going on in DC.

Posted by Melody Wirz at 09:31 AM.
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