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Invention patents expert witnesses may write reports and testify on software patents, patent infringement, computer patents, and related matters. In the news, the smartphone industry alone spent as much as $20 billion on patent litigation and patent purchases in the past two years.
Geekosystem.com notes that in 2011 Apple and Google spent more on patents than they did on research and development.

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In Who Said Experts Shouldn’t Advertise?, leading authority on expert witness marketing and founder of Expert Communications Rosalie Hamilton writes:

In response to one of our recent emails to Expert News readers, we received an email saying, “I thought experts are not supposed to advertise, even through websites.”

I think you might find our dialogue of interest. I have edited the communication for length and confidentiality.

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Pesticides expert witnesses may give opinions regarding pesticide contamination, pesticide products, and pesticide pollution. According to the International HCH and Pesticides Association, it is very difficult to estimate to assess the real extent of the obsolete pesticides problem, as only a limited number of field investigations have been made globally, but the best preliminary guess gives the estimate of over 300,000 tons world wide. IHPA promotes the management of pollution problems stemming from the production and use of HCH and other unwanted pesticides worldwide.

Read more: http://www.ihpa.info/

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Patents expert witnesses may write reports on drug patents, patent prosecution, and patent infringement. In a recent post on /www.becker-posner-blog.com, Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit writes:

Do patent and copyright law restrict competition and creativity excessively?

I am concerned that both patent and copyright protection, though particularly the former, may be excessive.

To evaluate optimal patent protection for an invention, one has to consider both the cost of inventing and the cost of copying; the higher the ratio of the former to the latter, the greater the optimal patent protection for the inventor.

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In Do Helmets Prevent Concussion? biomechanics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., CPE, CBIS, writes:

Protection against concussion and axonal injury is especially important for young players, including peewee, high school, and college participants, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of encephalopathy. Therefore, the need to develop headgear to protect susceptible individuals from life-changing brain damage is paramount.

Consistent with their innovative approach to meeting the challenges of brain trauma, combined with 20+ years of experience in biomechanics, and neurophysiology, BRAINS researchers have investigated several new technologies to measure and reduce the debilitating effects of concussion in football players. The team is poised to integrate their new technology into helmet design – a paradigm-shift in helmet construction – and bring to market a more comprehensive form of head gear to defend against catastrophic brain injuries while also mitigating linear forces associated with impact.

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In EVALUATING AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY CASES, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:

A careful reading of his expert witness resume showed a lack of advanced and relevant formal training and work experience for some of the key issues in the case. There were also questions about some serious issues in his past, such as a reported termination from a position as a school security director, allegations of involvement in unethical bidding practices, a reputation for frequently harassing school systems and government agencies that would not hire him by filing open records requests, and lodging complaints and making derogatory statements about the organizations in press releases and media interviews. I felt this expert witness would likely not withstand a thorough and skilled examination by a competent and properly prepared attorney. The attorney who retained this expert for the defense apparently missed these potential problem areas in the expert’s background. When plaintiff’s counsel prepared to vigorously challenge the qualifications of the defense expert at deposition, the defense withdrew the expert, and soon thereafter settled the case on terms suitable to the plaintiff. While the defense had other problems with their case, losing what they thought was a top caliber expert witness well into the court proceedings certainly did not help.

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A former Maryland state trooper testified as an excessive force expert witness in the case against Prince George County, MD, officers Reginald Baker and James Harrison. Baker and Harrison are charged with excessive force in hitting a University of Maryland student with batons during a basketball postgame celebration. Student John McKenna was defenseless and on the ground.

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In Do Helmets Prevent Concussion? biomechanics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., CPE, CBIS, writes:

Using proprietary miniature sensors to measure concussion risk at the center of the brain, BRAINS researchers completed more than 330 tests across ten popular helmet brands. The team concluded that while these helmets provide excellent protection from linear impacts – those leading to bruising and skull fracture – they offer little or no protection against angular acceleration, a dangerous source of brain injury and encephalopathy.

Results show percent reduction in linear impact acceleration, Head Injury Criterion (HIC), and angular acceleration provided by the different football helmets, compared to the same impact with no helmet. Note that all helmets provide considerable protection from skull fracture (blue) and focal brain impact (green), but are far less effective at reducing risk of diffuse brain injury and concussion and encephalopathy (red). In fact, some helmet designs offer no significant protection from concussion – and those that offer the least protection are among the most popular on the field.