Traton News

TRATON NEWS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS

9999-12-31T23:58:00.000-08:00

REVISED: 2008 JUNE 09

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TRATON NEWS: WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

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REVISED 2009 MAY 04

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DIRECTORY OF ARTICLES BY TRATON NEWS

2012-05-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

TRATON ENTERTAINMENT: Always Ballroom - A Hidden Gem in Dayton, Ohio

2012-05-11T20:31:00.001-07:00

When you hears the words "the happiest place on earth," the first place that usually comes to mind is Disney (or some other comparable, well-known place located in a balmy climate). However, if you were told that such a place existed in Dayton, Ohio, then you would likely respond with "no, way; you're crazy."

Well, brace yourself, for such a place does exist in Dayton, Ohio. And, it is called Always Ballroom, a dance studio located on the corner of Shroyer and Wilmington, at 522 Wilmington Avenue. Situated just off the University of Dayton campus, the studio is housed in an unassuming building that sits just beside the L.A. Tan and across the street from a Domino's Pizza.

So, what makes this place such a gem, you ask? Well, on the particular evening that I was invited to Always Ballroom, some of the students, including a lady by the name of Doris Cole, were doing spotlight dances, which provided opportunities for the students to showcase what they had learned over the course of the previous weeks or months. While the performances themselves were quite well-executed, what was more impressive was the way that the staff structured the evening so that everyone in attendance could dance to their heart's content in between the spotlight dances.

Specifically, led by Keith Michael Denlinger on 2012 May 11, the evening began with a short lesson on the bolero, where the instructor patiently led the students on the basics of the dance, thereafter ratcheting it up to teach the nuances. After the lesson, the night followed with dancing to different music, including the salsa, foxtrot, tango, and a host of others.

While Denlinger's posture was immaculate and his sense of rhythm impeccable, what made the evening so enjoyable was the uncanny ability of Denlinger (and the rest of the staff) to get everyone on the dance floor (even someone like me, who has no sense of rhythm). And, to be able to accomplish all of this with a bit of flair, making it fun without exerting any pressure.

Looking around the studio as the evening progressed, it was clear that everyone was having a good time. And, the staff mingled with everyone in the studio, making sure that they had correct form, but more importantly making sure that they were comfortable on the dance floor.

It was quite an enjoyable evening.

So, the next time you hear the phrase "the happiest place on earth," you may wish to remember that there are small gems like Always Ballroom. And, while "happiest" may be a slight exaggeration, there is no doubt that this dance studio comes pretty close.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON NEWS: Sentencing from the Server Room

2012-05-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

With a catchy new title, a third-year law student at the University of Dayton School of Law, Steve Allhoff, has joined the blogosphere. Launching his new blog, titled Sentencing from the Server Room, young Mr. Allhoff aims to give his audience a view into a variety of technology-law-related issues from the perspective of what he calls "the Internet generation."

Mr. Allhoff takes his background in Computer Science and mixes with it his developing knowledge of the law, through which he carves out opinions from an often-missing angle on current issues facing the tech market, namely, the view of the (soon-to-be) young attorney.

Mr. Allhoff's opinions possess the simplicity and candor of someone untempered by tradition and experience and offer a uniquely refreshing and amusing perspective.

Of course, his use of limericks only increases the (nerd) audience appeal.

With that, we offer our tribute to this enterprising young lad (in the form of a limerick):

Mr. Allhoff now offers to speak,
Advancing a viewpoint unique,
On a topic where tech
And the law intersect
To provide an amusing critique.

With that, we shall leave Mr. Allhoff to entertain his readers with more posts to come.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON NEWS: Advertisement for Oreo Cookies and (Breast) Milk Goes Viral

2012-04-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

A recent photo-advertisement for Oreo cookies created a firestorm of controversy. Originally intended only for an advertising forum, the advertisement (originally titled "Basic Instinct") shows a breast-feeding baby holding an Oreo cookie.

The entities on both sides of the controversy are themselves no strangers to controversy. Most obviously, we have supporters of breast-feeding on one side, while we have their opponents on the other side.

Despite the controversial nature of the advertisement, one thing is certain. Namely, this is an advertisement that will not readily be forgotten. Pundits and commenters have already begun to note with reference to the allegedly-unintended release, which has already gone viral: "That's the way the cookie crumbles."

Interestingly, the advertisement was intended, of all places, for South Korea.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Gunshots Fired into Crowded Bar Near the University of Dayton

2012-04-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation as an unlucky day, as two gunshots were fired into The Fieldhouse bar on Brown Street on 2012 April 13. The crowded bar had just finished its 5th round of trivia, and people were waiting for the karaoke to start. Just then, at around 1:00 am, two rapid-fire shots were launched into the front window adjacent to the front door.

There was about a minute of confusion as people were wondering why the window all of a sudden shattered, launching shards of glass that peppered the floor of the bar. Other than an immaculately-dressed professional couple, who were near the shattered window, almost everyone else had no idea what had happened. Slowly, word started to spread that the window had shattered due to gunshots, and the patrons migrated toward the bar area, moving away from the windows.

Police showed up between 1:10 am and 1:15 am. The bar closed out all tabs by 1:30 am, and everyone had largely evacuated the Fieldhouse by 1:45 am. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, other than minor scrapes and cuts due to the shattered glass.

Several law students (who had come to the Fieldhouse after a Moot Court banquet for the University of Dayton School of Law) were asked about the incident. And, some of them simply voiced that they were disappointed in the karaoke being canceled. Consequently, without missing a beat, many of the law students migrated to Flanagan's Pub, where the merriment continued and much of the prior events from the Fieldhouse quickly became a distant memory.

Some wondered whether the students' attitudes to the evening's events were simply a result of the surreal nature of what had just happened, or whether the indifference was a reflection of a ubiquitous callousness that permeates much of society.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON SCIENCE: CincyBIO 2012 to be Held on Tuesday, April 17

2012-03-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Touted as the "Bioscience Event for Innovators and Intellectual Property Professionals," CincyBIO 2012 will be held on Tuesday, 2012 April 17, at The Phoenix in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The symposium features renowned speakers and relevant topics, such as:

Prof. Sam S. Han (University of Dayton School of Law) ["The Battle Lines in Prometheus v. Mayo"]
Robin Rasor (Director of Licensing, University of Michigan) ["University Driven Economic Development and Tech Commercialization"]
Dr. Kevin Noonan, Esq. (McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert and Berghoff, LLP; Patent Docs Weblog) ["How Important are Patents in the Biosimilars World?"]
Panel Discussion moderated by Catherine Soldano (CincyTech) featuring Mike Hooven (Enable Injections), Joel Ivers (NanoDetection Technology, Inc.), Jim Burns (AssureRx), and Kevin Malloy (Blue Ash Therapeutics) ["Entrepreneurial Landscape of Cincinnati"]
John Lewis (Vice President, BioOhio)["Ohio’s Bioscience Industry 2012"]
Dr. Jane Love, Esq. (WilmerHale)["IP Due Diligence in Biotech and Pharma Transactions"]
Tom Irving, Esq. and Dr. Barbara Rudolph, Esq. (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, LLP)["What Does AIA Mean for the Biotech Industry?"]

Registration begins at 7:30 am (Eastern), and the program itself will run from 8:00 am through 4:45 pm, with lunch included for the registrants. Also, for attorneys, the program offers 6.0 hours Ohio Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits.

The cost to attend are:

$100 for Cincy IP Members
$125 Non-Member with CLE
$75 Non-Member without CLE
$25 Students

The Speakers’ Dinner will be at 6:00 pm (Eastern) on Monday, 2012 April 16, at The Cincinnatian Hotel. The price is $65 and space is limited!

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Sample Calculations

2012-02-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

In our prior article, we provided a simple way of calculating skewness (S) as a function of a mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD). We now apply that estimate to concrete examples.

As our first example, we presume the following hypothetical revenue values:

Q1 = $240,000
m = $300,000
M = $395,364
Q3 = $450,000

Insofar as:

Eq. 2
SD = 0.7413(Q3-Q1)

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD, where:
S = 3($395,364-$300,000)/0.7413($450,000-$240,000), resulting in:
S = 1.84

Having calculated S to be 1.84, we can now estimate the revenue values for the 95th percentile, the 99th percentile, or any other percentile, given the relationship between the standard deviation (SD), skewness (S), and the mean (M).

Back-calculating from Eq. 1, we have:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

Eq. 15
S = 3(M-m)/(Q/k)

Eq. 16
S Q = 3k(M-m)

Eq. 17
Q = 3k(M-m)/S

where Q is quantile difference (e.g., Q3-Q1), and k is the scaling constant that relates Q to SD.

Thus, in order to calculate the actual value of the revenue for a particular percentile, we simply add the mean (M) to the Q value, such that:

Eq. 18
% = M+Q

Reviewing the scaling constants for 95% and 99%, we have:

k(95) = 1.959964
k(99) = 2.575829

Thus:

Revenue(95%) = $700,482.34

and

Revenue(99%) = $796,357.42

Voila!

We hope that this lesson in statistical calculations has been helpful.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Quantiles, Part II

2012-02-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

Our previous post left off with calculating a quantile (or percentile) from a single-equation-two-unknown situation. We now continue that discussion with how we can provide a reasonable estimate from the unknowns, if we have available two additional pieces of information. Namely, the mean (M) and the standard deviation (SD).

First, we start with a presumption that skewness (S) can also be related to a mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD) by the following (simplified) equation:

Eq. 7
S = 3(M-m)/SD

Of course, this equation provides only a rough estimate, and may not be true in all circumstances. However, as Pearson proposed, it provides a reasonable estimate of the skewness.

Insofar as the standard deviation for normalized curves is related to the quantiles or percentiles by a well-defined rule, a simple look-up of that relationship can provide the needed information to estimate a quantile or percentile from the mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD).

So, arbitrarily defining standard deviation (SD) as a function:

Eq. 8
SD = f[Q]

or

Eq. 9
Q = g[SD]

Insofar as the f[] and g[] are inverse equations.

We see that the skewness (S) can now be defined in terms of f[Q] to be:

Eq. 10
S = 3(M-m)/f[Q]

From our previous post, skewness (S) was calculated to be:

Eq. 4
S = (U+L-2m)/(U-L)

Thus, if U and L can be calculated from Eq. 1, and be defined as:

Eq. 11
U = g[SD_U]

and

Eq. 12
L = g[SD_L]

The skewness equations can be re-written as:

Eq. 13
S = 3(M-m)/SD = (g[SD_U]+g[SD_L]-2m)/(g[SD_U]-g[SD_L])

This now provides an equation of skewness (S) in terms of the mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD), without any need for quantiles or percentiles. Alternatively, knowing that the relationship between quantiles or percentiles is defined in terms of the standard deviation (SD), we can re-write Eq. 13 as:

Eq. 14
S = 3(M-m)/f[Q] = (U+L-2m)/(U-L)

which now defines skewness (S) in terms of mean (M), median (m), and percentiles or quantiles.

With these estimates, our next post is dedicated to providing example calculations of quantiles or percentiles using these equations.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Quantiles, Part I

2012-02-05T03:00:00.001-08:00

In a prior post, we reported on statistical analysis and specifically how one calculates skewness (S) when one knows the median (m), the first quartile (Q1), and the third quartile (Q3). In this article, we move forward and provide a simple equation for calculating a particular quantile (%) in view of the median (m) and the skewness (S) of a distribution.

Previously, we provided a simplified equation for skewness (S) as being:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

where:

Eq. 2
SD = 0.7413(Q3-Q1)

because of a well-defined relationship between the standard deviation and the percentiles.

This, however, can be more generalized to calculate skewness (S) in view of particular quantile numbers. So, instead of the left and right quartiles — i.e., the 25th and 75th percentiles — one can just as plausibly use the 20th and 80th percentiles, the 10th and 90th percentiles, or more generally the 100p^th and 100(1 – p)^th percentiles F^-1(p) and F^-1(1 – p).

So, designating:

Eq. 3
F^-1(p) = L

and

Eq. 4
F^-1(1 – p) = U

the revised equation reduces to:

Eq. 5
S = 3(M-m)/(k(U-L))

where k represents the conversion value between the percentiles (or quantiles) and the standard deviation (SD).

Thus, one can see that the quartile (Q1, Q3) equation can be derived from the quantile equation, since:

Eq. 6
L = Q1

and

Eq. 7
U = Q3

thereby reducing the general equation to the quartile equation by simple substitution.

Eq. 8
S = 3(M-m)/0.7413(Q3-Q1)

Intuitively, it may seem that with knowledge of S, M, m, and SD, one can calculate any percentile or quantile of L and U.

A detailed explanation of this calculation is provided in the next article by my colleague Morley Moore.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Skewness

2012-02-05T02:00:00.001-08:00

Various organizations gather information for purposes of statistical analysis. Oftentimes, reporting the raw numbers results in an unmanageable (and often difficult-to-decipher) mess. Consequently, instead of reporting all of the raw numbers, these organizations report the data size (n), quartiles (Q1, Q3), medians (m), means (M), etc. Sometimes, to the misfortune of the inquisitive reader, these reporting organizations only report some of the statistical information (e.g., Q1, Q3, m), thereby leaving the reader to calculate other statistical information. Additionally, while the data-gathering organizations frequently presume that the data is normally distributed, this is often not true, and the distribution exhibits some type of skew.

Through this article, we provide a simple way of calculating some of the useful information associated with a statistical distribution when only a limited amount of information is provided. Specifically, this article explains a simple way to calculate:

(a) skewness (S),

when one knows the:

(a) median (m);
(b) mean (M);
(c) first quartile (Q1, which is 25%); and
(d) third quartile (Q3, which is 75%).

The simplified equation for skewness (S) is:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

where:

Eq. 2
SD = 0.7413(Q3-Q1)

In our next article, my colleague Ingrid Ingram will discuss the calculations of particular quantiles in view of other known statistical information.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Dissatisfied Home Buyer Questions Why Traton Homes Attempted to Sell Property that Traton Homes Did Not Own

2011-10-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Given the difficult housing market in the United States, it seems obvious that integrity and customer service would be the main focus of companies that wish to retain customers. Traton Homes seems to be taking a different approach, according to an email message sent to Traton Homes by Paul Mullings, a dissatisfied home buyer.

In that email message, Mr. Mullings "question[s] the integrity and business practices of Traton Homes[,]" given the broken promises and questionable business practices by Traton Homes. Specifically, Mr. Mullings accuses Traton Homes of "attempt[ing] to sell [the Mullings] property that they [Traton Homes] never owned." This, despite holding onto tens-of-thousands of dollars of the Mullings' money.

In exasperation, Mr. Mullings notes: "We incurred significant cost satisfying our part of the purchase agreement, including loan approval and associated expenses, visits to the design center to chose finishes, interest rate lock-in, storage costs of our belongings due to an undetermined closing date . . . just to name a few."

As a result of Traton Homes' unsatisfactory business practice, Mr. Mullings will likely walk away from this transaction. And, Traton Homes will have alienated another potential customer, an imprudent decision given the state of the housing market.

When others have been asked, it appears that Mr. Mullings' experience with Traton Homes is not an isolated incident. Rather, others have questioned Traton Homes' business practices and the integrity of the company.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

Mr. Mullings' email message to the real-estate agent for Traton Homes recites, in relevant part:

From: PAUL MULLINGS
To: stevenplee@comcast.net
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 9:40 PM

Steve, at this point we are not interested in lot 4 at Holmes and frankly, I am at the point where I question the integrity and business practices of Traton Homes. We have patiently waited for a "signature" for nearly three weeks, and still no signature. We gave Traton a $7500 cash downpayment two months ago, followed by an additional $12,000 in cash for upgrades. All we have to show for the nearly $20,000 earnest money that we put forth is a purchase agreement that has not been initiated on your end. I doubt I will ever understand why Traton attempted to sell us property that they never owned. That said, we will give Traton until COB friday, April 22, to obtain the elusive signatures. If we do not come to closure by then, then we fully expect to be made whole immediately. We incurred significant cost satisfying our part of the purchase agreement, including loan approval and associated expenses, visits to the design center to chose finishes, interest rate lock-in, storage costs of our belongings due to an undetermined closing date . . . just to name a few. I am certain that you will agree that we have been patient and understanding, however, we have reached our limit . . . . I do not blame you for this unfortunate situation. We are in a position to purchase a home now, and the delays that we have experienced are no longer acceptable.

Also, a copy of the letter from Mr. Mullings' real-estate agent to Traton Homes shows:
coldwell_mullings

TRATON HEADLINE: Cobb County Foreclosure Forecast Appears Bleak for September

2011-09-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb County appears to be in for trouble with foreclosures and a drop in new housing permits. By the numbers, there are 1,256 foreclosures scheduled for September, which is a 16 percent increase from August.

New construction also shows no sign of quick recovery, though the numbers in Cobb for this year show much more new construction going up than in the past two years. While Traton Homes continues to build, some question the quality of those homes, especially since new homes are being built to be "affordable."

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HEADLINE: Remembering an Honorable Man and an Incredible Mentor - Christopher H. Sotak

2011-05-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

On 2011 May 28, the world lost an incredible man, who had positively touched the lives of many. Prof. Christopher H. Sotak, former head of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, passed away after a long struggle with cancer.

Speaking of Prof. Sotak, one of his former students, Prof. Sam Han, stated:

Chris was one of the most honorable people that I knew. He always placed his students' best interests before his own. In fact, he was the reason that I decided to go into teaching. I can only hope to treat my students as well as he treated me. I shall always remember Chris as a good teacher, a good scientist, a good mentor, and a good friend. The world was richer for his presence, and the world loses an incredible man with Chris' passing away.

Similar sentiments were expressed by another former student:

Aside from my parents, Chris has been the most influential person in helping to shape my life and scientific career. Chris was the best advisor to me, but most importantly, he was a friend. He was there when I needed guidance, and reminded me of my own dad. Chris was, and will always remain, one of my favorite people!

It seems fitting to end this post with the Biblical blessing from Numbers 6:24-26:

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Home Buyers Dissatisfied with Traton Homes' Failure to Resolve Title Issues

2011-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

A recent letter to Traton Homes reveals how Mr. and Mrs. Mullings have been given the "run-around" by Traton Homes.

TRATON Title Problem Letter Lee Mullings Reeves

Apparently, in numerous conversations with Joshua Hilscher (Vice President for Traton Homes) the company had repeatedly postponed the closing of 4598 Wigley Estates Drive, Marietta, GA 30066. Traton Homes apparently had stated that there was an issue with the title. However, according to the letter, the closing attorney's search revealed no issues with the title.

From the tone of the letter, it seems as if Traton Homes continues to accumulate dissatisfied customers.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HOMES: Ridiculous Warranty Issue Plagues Traton Homes Customer

2011-03-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

When a customer buys a half-million-dollar house, he hopes that there will be no issues to sour his experience. Unfortunately for Jay Hutchison, his half-million-dollar purchase experience from Traton Homes was not as perfect as he hoped.

A recent email message from Mr. Hutchison highlights some shoddy workmanship relating to his purchase, which he repeatedly calls his "house" rather than his "home." While Mr. Hutchison's letter is not all negative, he emphasizes that the warranty issue "negatively altered [his] perception of the whole experience." In specifying his issue, Mr. Hutchison wrote:

The fact that we paid Traton nearly a half million dollars for our house, and got no warranty on the $11,000+ deck, and specifically the $1000 stairs, when everything else in the house is warrantied, is ridiculous. I was very offended at being made to swallow that bitter pill as the paying customer . . . .

Continuing to voice his dissatisfaction, Mr. Hutchison wrote:

A lot [of] the decking was installed upside down, (which I noticed the first time I walked onto it), the screen porch was designed to have silver screens screwed straight onto very barky and twisted 4x4's, the railings were poorly attached with only 2.5" nails, and the railings and stairs weren't reinforced enough to be "sturdy." But alas, no warranty or recourse.

Going so far as to say that the resulting house "goes against the spirit of workmanship and confidence that Traton promotes[,]" and that this was "was far below the quality that Traton strives for, or holds itself to[,]" Mr. Hutchison recounts how he was forced to take matters into his own hands, pry out the upside-down-installed deck boards, and spend several days installing 4x4 posts and 2x4 supports.

Despite his efforts, it still appears that the whole lower flight is wobbly, thereby requiring "more deck work." As of the date of his email message, he had already put over a full work-week into the decking and railings.

In his penultimate note of exasperation, Mr. Hutchison notes that he is "not sure how this is acceptable that these issues are my problem[.]"

Others that have experienced first-hand how Traton Homes treats its customers have noted that Mr. Hutchison's experience resonates with them, insofar as the quality that Traton Homes touts is jarringly at odds with what the Marietta-based company delivered. A quick glimpse of the negative press that Traton Homes received in the past shows that Mr. Hutchison is not the only one with complaints.

Given that the economy does not look favorably on home builders, these types of issues should be rare occurrences, rather than commonplace experiences.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: CincyBIO 2011 to Bring Together Innovators and Intellectual Property Professionals

2011-03-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association (CincyIP) and Proctor & Gamble (P&G) sponsor CincyBIO 2011, what they call "the bioscience event" for innovators and intellectual property (IP) professionals. This year the event is held on Tuesday, 2011 March 8, at the Phoenix Cincinnati.

Bringing together bioscience professionals with varied backgrounds, the event provides opportunities for innovators to connect with IP professionals, and also allows IP attorneys to receive continuing legal education (CLE) credits. The line-up looks promising, with Sam Han (University of Dayton) kicking off the event and Tom Irving (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, and Dunner) closing the event. The specific schedule is:

8:00-8:15am – Introductions

• Lindsey L. Jaeger, Esq., S.S.B.B., Patent Attorney, Wolfe, LPA and President of CincyIP
• Kelly McDow, Associate General Counsel – Legal Division, The Procter & Gamble Company and Chair of CincyBIO Steering Committee

8:15-9:00am – Man v. Nature: Patentability of Second-Generation Biological Organisms

• Sam S. Han, Esq., Ph.D. (University of Dayton)

9:00-9:45am – Making Sensible Patent Investments

• Bob MacWright, Esq., Ph.D. (Executive Director of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Office of Technology Development)

10:00-10:45am – USPTO’s Green Technology Initiative

• Esther Kepplinger (Chief Patent Counselor at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and former Deputy Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO)

10:45-11:45am – Biosimilars Legislation and the Biosimilar Approval Pathway

• Kevin Noonan, Esq., Ph.D. (McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, LLP and Patent Docs Weblog)

11:45 to 12:45 – Lunch sponsored by Frost Brown Todd, LLC
12:45 – 2:15pm – IP Considerations for Medical Devices from Start-ups to Fortune 500 Companies

• Panel Discussion moderated by Mary Beth Privitera (M.Design, University of Cincinnati) featuring Dan Kincaid (BIOSTART), Joseph E. Topmiller (Zimmer, Inc.), and Sam Privitera

2:30-3:30pm – FDA Regulation for Medical Devices

• Elsa Abruzzo (President of ARAC)

3:30-4:15pm – How Statements to the FDA Can Create Some Real Challenges in Patent Prosecution and Enforcement

• Tom Irving, Esq. (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP)

Many have indicated that they look forward to the event.

More information and registration information can be found at Cincy-IP's website.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON ARTS: The Value of Music

2011-02-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

The reporters of Traton News were recently informed of a talk that was given to entering freshmen by Karl Paulnack, who is the pianist and director of music division at Boston Conservatory. Director Paulnack speaks of the value of music. The following excerpt captures his thoughts on music and its role in society.

One of my parents' deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly value me as a musician, that I wouldn't be appreciated. I had very good grades in high school, I was good in science and math, and they imagined that as a doctor or a research chemist or an engineer, I might be more appreciated than I would be as a musician. I still remember my mother's remark when I announced my decision to apply to music school-she said, "you're WASTING your SAT scores." On some level, I think, my parents were not sure themselves what the value of music was, what its purpose was. And they LOVED music, they listened to classical music all the time. They just weren't really clear about its function. So let me talk about that a little bit, because we live in a society that puts music in the "arts and entertainment" section of the newspaper, and serious music, the kind your kids are about to engage in, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, in fact it's the opposite of entertainment. Let me talk a little bit about music, and how it works.

The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works.

One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp.

He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

Given what we have since learned about life in the concentration camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture-why would anyone bother with music? And yet-from the camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn't just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, "I am alive, and my life has meaning."

On September 12, 2001 I was a resident of Manhattan. That morning I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship to the world. I sat down at the piano that morning at 10 AM to practice as was my daily routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the cover on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys and took my hands off the keys. And I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn't this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent, pointless. Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost.

And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano again. And then I observed how we got through the day.

At least in my neighborhood, we didn't shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We didn't play cards to pass the time, we didn't watch TV, we didn't shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York, that same day, was singing. People sang. People sang around fire houses, people sang "We Shall Overcome." Lots of people sang America the Beautiful. The first organized public event that I remember was the Brahms Requiem, later that week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic. The first organized public expression of grief, our first communal response to that historic event, was a concert. That was the beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and by music in particular, that very night.

From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music is not part of "arts and entertainment" as the newspaper section would have us believe. It's not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can't with our minds.

Some of you may know Samuel Barber's heart-wrenchingly beautiful piece Adagio for Strings. If you don't know it by that name, then some of you may know it as the background music which accompanied the Oliver Stone movie Platoon, a film about the Vietnam War. If you know that piece of music either way, you know it has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it can make you cry over sadness you didn't know you had. Music can slip beneath our conscious reality to get at what's really going on inside us the way a good therapist does.

I bet that you have never been to a wedding where there was absolutely no music. There might have been only a little music, there might have been some really bad music, but I bet you there was some music. And something very predictable happens at weddings- people get all pent up with all kinds of emotions, and then there's some musical moment where the action of the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the flute or something. And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn't good, predictably 30 or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a couple of moments after the music starts. Why? The Greeks. Music allows us to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange our insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can't talk about it. Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the dialogue but no music? What is it about the music swelling up at just the right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the music stripped out, it wouldn't happen that way. The Greeks: Music is the understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects.

What follows is part of the talk I will give to this year's freshman class when I welcome them a few days from now. The responsibility I will charge your sons and daughters with is this:

"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.

You're not here to become an entertainer, and you don't have to sell yourself. The truth is you don't have anything to sell; being a musician isn't about dispensing a product, like selling used Chevies. I'm not an entertainer; I'm a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You're here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.

Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do. As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON SPORTS: Samuel Sevian - Youngest Chess Master Ever

2011-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas, 2010, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) announced that Samuel Sevian broke the record for the youngest USCF master, ever. Sevian accomplished this feat only a week before his tenth (10th) birthday, beating the prior record by three (3) days.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HEADLINE: Icelandic Court Allows Exhumation of Chess Great Bobby Fischer in Paternity Suit

2011-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

In a paternity suit, Iceland's Supreme Court decided to allow the exhumation of Bobby Fischer's remains to determine whether he is the father of a nine-year-old girl, Jinky Young.

As reported earlier by Traton News, Fischer died in Iceland in January 2008 at the age of 64.

Lawyers for the girl stated that the exhumation of Fischer's remains was a "last resort."

Fischer is buried in southwestern Iceland, about 30 miles from Reykjavik. He had lived in the country since 2005.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON SCIENCE: Total Lunar Eclipse in December Skies

2010-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

A particularly special Christmas present comes to us from Mother Nature herself. On the nights of 2010 December 20 and 21, folks in North America will see a display that is not scheduled to occur again until 2014 April: a total eclipse of the moon. This is the only eclipse scheduled to occur in 2010, and will be visible to folks in four different continents.

The last total lunar eclipse occurred on 2008 February 20. As reported by space.com:

Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes through a point in its orbit in which the Earth is directly between it and the sun. When the moon enters the shadow of Earth, it creates a lunar eclipse. Unlike a solar eclipse, no precautions to protect the eyes are needed.

A total lunar eclipse is when the entire moon is completely inside the Earth's shadow. Since the sun's rays are bent by Earth's atmosphere so that some still reach the moon, the moon is still visible in an eclipse.

For the United States, this eclipse begins on 2010 December 21 at 12:29 am EST (9:29 pm PST on 2010 December 20) as the moon begins to enter Earth's penumbral shadow, lasting for 72 minutes. Changes in the moon's appearance will be noticeable at around the 45-minute mark.

As the reporters from space.com continue:

The entire total lunar eclipse will be visible from all of North and South America, the northern and western parts of Europe, and a small part of northeast Asia, including Korea and much of Japan.

Totality will also be visible in its entirety from the North Island of New Zealand and Hawaii. In all, an estimated 1.5 billion people will have an opportunity to enjoy the best part of this lunar show.

In other parts of the world, only the partial stages of the eclipse will be visible or the eclipse will occur when it's daytime and the moon is not above their local horizon.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON SCIENCE: Meteor Shower to Dazzle Skies in December

2010-12-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

December will feature the best meteor shower of 2010. The Geminid meteor shower, which returns every year, will sparkle the night sky during the overnight hours of 2010 December 13. The Geminid are unique in being associated not with a comet, but with an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.

The Geminids will peak after midnight until the early-morning hours of 2010 December 14, when the Earth heads directly into the meteoroid stream. By 6:00 am EST, the shower will be at its peak in the Eastern Time Zone. The Geminids are expected to stay in view above the horizon all night. As intuitively expected, the Geminid meteor shower will be visible in the direction of the constellation Gemini, with clear dark skies promising the best viewing conditions.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Controversy Over Star Trek Causes Uproar

2010-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

A Star Trek article, posted by News.com Australia, has sparked an online uproar. While the article may appear relatively benign, the mistakenly-reported facts caused an uproar among Star Trek fans.

In response to the uproar from Star Trek lovers world-wide, Peter Farquhar (the Technology Editor) issued a "formal apology," which shows Captain Picard flipping off the readers.

Both the original article and the apology highlight the gravity and levity of Star Trek. Fan input relating to the "correct facts" about the Enterprise evidence the iconic nature of Star Trek. Also, flamers' responses to the outrage evidence how Star Trek still sparks debate.

One can only imagine Gene Roddenberry's response to this ongoing dialogue.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram.

TRATON HOMES: Touchstone Homes Wins Two OBIE Awards

2010-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

The 30th Annual "Then & Now 1980-2010" OBIE Awards Gala was held at the Buckhead Intercontinental Hotel on 2010 November 13. At the Awards Gala, Touchstone Homes won one Gold OBIE Award for its Single Family Detached home plan, and also one Gold OBIE Award for Single Family Attached home plan.

These Touchstone Homes included flexible floor-plans and Energy Star Certification, among many other features. Included in the Touchstone Homes floor-plans are the Huntingdon plan and the Halifax town-home plan, both of which can be found on Touchstone Homes' website.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.