Meredith Lowry

Patent drawing of beavers gnawing away at trees.

A method involving "introducing beavers" to help create a wetland.
US Patent 12349618

This is a cool thread by a young person who cares deeply about the Internet. It's a rare find these days.

@elizabethsipod.bsky.social warns that with the way age verification is rolling out in the UK, kids risk being entirely shut out not just from pornography, but the entire web.

I just started Water Moon on audiobook while I ran this morning and it’s captivating.

I’m distracting myself with Stardew Valley and running too much.

I'm mostly trying to tune out the outside world. (I gave birth a week ago.) But between Trump firing BLS commissioner & suddenly finding an opening on the Fed board, today seems like a dark turning point for the US economy.
I fear we've just met 2 horsemen of the turning-into-Venezuela-pocalypse

I Alt text: News headline from the Boston Globe reading, "N.H. Governor Kelly Ayotte signs bills banning gender-affirming care for minors." The subheadline states that the new laws make New Hampshire the first state in New England to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. The article is written by Amanda Gokee and was updated on August 1, 2025, 10 minutes ago. Icons for sharing, printing, and commenting appear below the text.

Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte signed the ban on gender affirming care for trans youth in New Hampshire becoming the first state in New England to do so.

The state is motto is live free or die and it's clear they chose die for trans youth.

archive.ph/nfKWA

Today in trademarks:

It’s about damn time

I came to America as a 4 year old with no knowledge of English. My mom woke me up every day at 5am when PBS Kids programming started and she would put a little table in front of me with a pencil and primary ruled paper to write the letters and numbers they were teaching on Sesame Street that day.

MOSCOW REPORTS BOOMING ECONOMY; But Observers Find Facts Unsupported by Figures 9.5% Growth Asserted Local Statistics Questioned Soviet Maintains Industry Showed 9.5% Growth in '62 (Published 1963)

NYT (Jan. 1963): MOSCOW REPORTS BOOMING ECONOMY
"Every three months, statistics on results of the state plan are published. The statistics are unfailingly optimistic. Each time they raise questions ... about the relationship of statistics to reality."

www.nytimes.com/1963/01/28/a...

Today in design patents:

D958177 issued for a display screen or portion thereof having a graphical user interface for a work table-based presentation of information.

#DesignPatents

Are there any other areas where people can get access to the system the agency's initial decisionmakers will use, but only if they pay?

Today in design patents:

D442776 issued in 2001 and expired in 2015 for a ballroom shoe key ring.

#DesignPatents

They ended cancer research to pay for this, @npr.org

Absolutely honored to join the Howard University School of Law as the Inaugural Director of the Howard Law AI Initiative. | Roy Austin Absolutely honored to join the Howard University School of Law as the Inaugural Director of the Howard Law AI Initiative.

@howardlawschool.bsky.social is preparing a generation of lawyer leaders who will be equipped for what lies ahead. www.linkedin.com/posts/roylau...

Due to age authentication mandates, we're witnessing the real-time destruction of the Internet as we know it. The barriers invade our privacy & block kids'--& adults'--access to material they are entitled to access.

My paper explains why none of this helps children ssrn.com/abstract=520...

🧵 1/3

Oh, come on now

Well this is a bar exam hypo if I’ve ever seen one

Well done!

Would be a good way to describe your product . . .
if you were seeking a utility patent:

"The mark consists of the three-dimensional configuration of a display screen protector for providing shade and privacy specially adapted to human-machine interfaces . . . "

tsdr.uspto.gov#caseNumber=9...

square-shaped spa with what appears to be one transparent wall

D864,402 - issued in 2019 for a design for a spa. #DesignPatents

The protection tends to be narrow here and the lack of specificity in the vest likely helped make it more novel than if they had a vest with more definition. If they had claimed a vest style with more structure, then it would have had more potential to be rejected.

But they're protecting scratch-offs!

I joke, but I am a little impressed that someone considered this for protection. It's clearly limited, but someone on the Target business side is excited this issued.

Is your objection to the style itself or the fact someone can protect a jaunty vest with a flower accent?

The numbers aren't dashed! And yes, that's what I'd argue. But the main reason I posted it is because my students keep wanting to file things like this as copyright.

So yeah. I'm part of the problem with GUI patents.

Today in design patents:

D1085635 issued for an upper body garment.

#DesignPatents

Today in design patents:

D1085678 issued for a shoe.

Shades of Rothy with this one. I'm curious where Nike's going here.

#DesignPatents

Today in design patents:

D1085696 issued for a bag.

#DesignPatents