QUANTA COMPUTER, INC. V. LG ELECTRONICS, INC

I went to my first oral argument at the Supreme Court. The case was about Patent Exhaustion. IP cases are rare at SCOTUS so it seemed like a good case to start with. To get into an oral argument as a member of the public you have to wait outside the court in line. Because it was likely to be a popular case, we (me, Chris and Joni) showed up a little after 7:00am. Being January, it was freezing. At some point the sun was hitting the other side of the building. But apparently they’re all about formalities at the court, because we couldn’t get out of line to go stand in the sun – and certainly couldn’t move the line.

The arguments were pretty good. It was clear that neither the justices nor the attorneys really understood the technology being discussed (they were computer chips made by LG, licensed to Intel). Justice Breyer shifted the discussion to bicycle pedals because they could all wrap their heads around those. The actual issue in the case was still muddled, though. The three parties all had very different theories and it seemed that there was no easy solution. The best part was probably when one of the Justices made a comment to the attorney, and he responded with this really coarse “FINE.” They didn’t teach us that technique in Oral Advocacy.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS VS. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Why isn’t it the Toronto Maple Leaves? The Caps handled the Canadians 2-1 at the Verizon Center last Thursday. It was my first NHL game. Like Nascar (which I don’t support), the big draw is the prospect of people getting hurt. Sadly, the checking was kinda weak and only one little fight broke out. It was still fun, though. And it was dollar hot dog night!

US VS. ANNAPOLIS

The law kids get Fridays off, so we decided to make a little road trip this week. Joni, Christy, Corban, the Essigs and I went to Annapolis (for our first time). We went to Cantler’s right on the water. We ordered a couple crab cakes, some hush puppies and about a dozen crabs.

The crab cakes were great. The crabs themselves were pretty decent, but had a pretty low ROI in terms of labor. They were full of a mustard and their ever-present Old Bay spices. I couldn’t tell if the crabs were still salty from the water, or just the spices. I think I’ll stick with crab legs and crabcakes in the future. As for Annapolis, we didn’t find much to do.

DEREK VS. CUPCAKES

I made cupcakes a couple times this week which, I believe, marked my first time. The first batch were chocolate and the second were funfetti – both excellent. A friend suggested a recipe for the chocolate ones which I was cautious about at first, but really enjoyed. Give it a try:

• Chocolate cake mix (she recommends the devil’s food)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1/2 c. oil
• 1 c. sour cream
• Chocolate chips

Thanks Mary!

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