#FF Follow Friday – @IPWatchdog Recommends…

If you are a user of Twitter you have probably seen more than a few tweets using “#FF” followed by a number of names.  #FF stands for “Follow Friday.”  On Fridays many Twitter users will suggest who others should follow by tweeting with the FF hashtag.  If this is gobbledygook to you, where have you been?  Twitter is a great way to stay up to day with news and information from the sources that you like the most.  You need to get on the Twitter bandwagon and give it a try!

This edition of #FF Follow Friday recommendations is dedicated to my good friend and fellow Franklin Pierce Law Center… I mean University of New Hampshire…  LL.M. graduate John Kheit, who I see has finally broken down and joined the ranks of Twitter after putting it off for many years, tweeting @JohnKheit.

In any event, I find that Twitter a quite useful way to keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening, so I put a premium on those who convey information.   Of course, you can follow me @ipwatchdog and Renee @ipwatchdog_too.

Below are some of my favorites, who in my humble opinion are excellent people to follow on Twitter.

1. @JohnKheit

I’ve known John Kheit for the past 17 years. We met at Franklin Pierce Law Center and for a time after we received our LL.M. degrees we were law partners. Eventually we both went our separate ways to bigger and better things. John landed in New York city, first with Morgan & Finnegan, then with Chadbourne & Park, and now with Cooley (see John’s profile on Cooley’s website).

Simply put, John is brilliant. He has savant like knowledge of computers, software and the Internet, and despite charging over $1,000 an hour has as much work as he can handle. He is one of the go-to lawyers for top Internet and software companies that need exceptionally high quality patents. You go to John when you need the rights and price is no object.

In addition to being a brilliant lawyer and true computer expert, John is a technology geek. The system he installed in his office has a dozen large high definition monitors running off his computer, with electronic whiteboards and tools that you might normally see in a Science Fiction movie. Although he just started tweeting I anticipate that his tweets will run the gamut from computers to cool technology to law and perhaps even politics. I’m sure if you follow him you will be entertained and learn a thing or two as well.

2. @ProfRisch

Michael Risch is a law professor at Villanova Law School (@Villanova_Law), and a leading patent scholar. I would call him pro-patent, although it is likely more fair to say that he calls balls and strikes like he sees them. Still, in the world of academia he is a rational voice that isn’t afraid to recognize that patent rights are important and that it is OK to be a patent owner. While I don’t always agree with him I find his articles and musings to be interesting and clearly intended to forward debate and discussion.

Risch, by his own admission, was late in coming to Twitter. He joined in March 2013 and his first ever tweet read: “Finally joined Twitter. I know I’m late to the game, but I was late to Facebook as well, and that seemed to work out.”

3. @CAPatentLaws

Jeff Sheldon is a partner in Sheldon Mak & Anderson. He is also the author of the PLI treatise titled How to Write a Patent Application, which is in my opinion a must own for new patent attorneys, patent agents and law students looking to hone their skills. The treatise is a crucial hands-on resource that walks you through every aspect of preparing and filing a patent application, from working with an inventor to patent searches, preparing the patent application, drafting claims and more. I have used some or all of the text on numerous occasions as I teach patent application drafting in law schools.

Although Sheldon is a patent attorney and accomplished author in the patent space, his firm handles all types of intellectual property work. He is as likely to tweet about cool, interesting IP matters relating to copyrights or trademarks as he is to tweet about a patent matter. For example, recently he tweeted about Sherlock Holmes falling into the public domain, and also recently tweeted about the Ninth Circuit case where GoDaddy was held not to be a contributory infringer in a trademark dispute. I find his tweets to spotlight interesting and useful information, and you can’t go wrong following him.

4. @SDFatPhRMA

Stephanie Fischer is Senior Director of Communications at PhRMA. Prior to joining PhRMA she was at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) for nearly 8 years. If you are at all interest in the pharmaceutical or biotech industries you really need to be following Stephanie. She tweets on upcoming events, interesting scientific articles discussing research breakthroughs and, of course, patent law.

Stephanie is also someone who knows first hand the benefits provided by the vast amounts of research and development into life saving treatments and cures. Her brief Twitter bio explains simply: “Rare disease patient & stroke survivor so what we do matters to me!”

Stephanie recently tweeted about the World Orphan Drug Congress coming to DC in April 2014, and she also tweeted about how patients are the inspiration for researchers. Indeed, Stephanie keeps us informed and also reminds us why the work we are engaged in is so important. She definitely deserves a follow!

5. @dvergano

Dan Vergano is Senior Writer and Editor for National Geographic. Prior to joining National Geographic Dan wrote for USA Today, where he covered all things technology, including patent matters from time to time, which is how I first became acquainted with him.

Dan continues to tweet about all things technology, but now with a decidedly more scientific angle. But that doesn’t mean his tweets are boring. Science can be fun! For example, he recently tweeted about how researchers believe testosterone, not estrogen, has more to do with body attractiveness. His tweets also range from the bottom of the planet to the deep regions of space. Recently he tweeted about a canyon deep below Antartic Ice that is deeper than the Grand Canyon, and also about how matter orbiting a black hole appears to be spinning backwards.