Before I had left, I gave my boss the link to my journal. She laughed, and said that this way she could make sure I was actually doing something for law school, rather than just having a vacation in Europe. Last Friday, the program I'm in visited the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office in Munich with Chief Judge Rader. A point that may be of interest to Examiners: at the DPMA (roughly, Deutsches Patent and Trademark Office), Examiners aren't on a production system. Clarification: the production of individual Examiners is measured. However, instead of being measured against a quota based on the number of hours worked, the DPMA measures an individual Examiner's production against the average production in their (art unit / work group / TC? It wasn't clear) every two months. If the Examiner is below average, they receive a warning of sorts and are told to produce more. If they are above average, they are congratulated. So, while it's a bit more lenient than the US system, it also lacks the incentives for high production (they award no bonuses, from my understanding), and the disincentives for low production (such as losing one's job).
As far as substantive issues from the open discussion - I remember the discussion focused on the direction patent law was taking. The DPMA faces a growing backlog similar to the US. There was a lot of talk about work sharing and international convergence regarding IP protection schemes. As far as work sharing goes, I don't think they meant full faith and credit (though, thinking about some of the comments I heard afterward, I'm not certain of this). I think the use of the term was more directed towards making office actions and resources regarding an application in one office immediately available in another office examining a related application. So, to allay my boss's fear, in addition to class, I am doing things that are relevant to our profession. I'll have a more detailed report upon my return :-P


The next day, Jen, Alex, Nick, and I went souvenir shopping. This ended up being a failure on my part - I like quality goods. Quality goods in Germany are very expensive. Cheap souvenirs in germany are still expensive. Argh. In the end, we went to a Milka chocolate store near Viktualien Market.



The next day, Ezgi, Alex, Nick and I traveled to Salzburg. Unlike many at the MIPLC, we chose to travel on our own without a tour. We also went on a Sunday. I don't really question the wisdom of either of these decisions, however, they did affect our trip. We arrived at 11 without a plan. There was a general desire to see the Lake District. However, first we figured we would see some of the main sites in Salzburg and wander the town. After visiting the tourist information center a second time, we were given a list of busses and directed to the busy stop. We got in, and the driver collected our money - "single direction only." He spoke english quite well. Several stops in, the woman sitting in front of me turned around and helpfully explained that the bus was going out of town. However, the final stop was not far away, and all we would need to do is stay on the bus and it would take us to where we wanted to go, eventually. We followed her advice.
After the bus stopped for several minutes at its terminus, and every other passenger filed out, I began to wonder if the bus driver would have a complaint with our remaining on board. Soon, he left his seat and approached us. He explained how this was the end of the line, and how we had only purchased single-direction tickets. He mentioned how he had told us single-direction when we purchased the tickets. I explained how we didn't know this - we were told to take bus 3 at the tourist info office. We were not told which terminus name to look for on the bus. I asked if he wanted us to purchase new tickets for the way back (I mean, we did admittedly break the rules. Ignorance, is, unfortunately, not valid defense). He paused and considered our group. He asked where we were from. America, I said. She's from Turkey, I added, pointing to Ezgi. He nodded and smiled, and said that he would not require us to pay an additional fare. He gave us a tourist map and some advice for navigating the city. So, go Austria. Your bus drivers are sympathetic, at least, when it comes to the mistakes of ignorant tourists.















While souvenir hunting, I took up a quest of sorts. Jen had seen a shirt that said "I (picture of a pretzel) München," where the pretzel is shaped like a heart. She had searched on her own, in vain. So, while shopping, we kept an eye out for the shirt. We asked about them in several shops - usually we were told 'no.' One shopkeeper sent us to another shop, which then sent us to a third shop, which did have one shirt... in extra-small. Jen despaired; I refused to give up. When I got home, I googled them, and found a rumor that the shirts were sold in a shop at the foot of the Olympic tower. So, one day after class, I headed back to the Olympic village. Since I was there, I decided to go up the tower as well - I enjoy seeing cities from high places.







And the quest? Well...

As for here on out? I have finals tomorrow, and there'll probably be some final, bittersweet outing with my friends from the program. I think we're planning to watch the opening ceremony of the olympics. On Saturday, I'm heading to Belgium to visit an old friend, Marc (the Belgian). He was an exchange student my senior year of highschool. I'll spend Saturday-Tuesday in Belgium. After that, I'll rush back to Munich to catch my flight back to the states on Wednesday. I'll write up at least one more entry (probably on the train to or from Belgium).
2 comments:
So I loved the scenery, but more interesting to me was the odd name of the Chinese restaurant in the above streetscape: apparently the restaurant is called "China Floor" Restaurant (中国楼) an odd name...
Haha. Is there any sense of the character for 'floor' also meaning, more generally, 'place' or 'location'? It might make sense, then.
Honestly, they could name it whatever they want. To non-chinese readers, any set of characters would indicate "chinese restaurant," regardless of actual meaning.
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