Blockchain tech might be poised to revolutionize how companies like Bank of America operate and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin trade. But inventors trying to patent their ideas in the field—and stake their claim on future profits—are facing hurdles at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Episode 25: It’s Not Easy Being a Blockchain Patent Attorney

Code & Conduit is a legal and policy podcast from Bloomberg Law focusing on all things tech, telecom, intellectual property and privacy. Each episode features interesting discussions about what’s happening in Congress, the economy, the courts,  federal agencies and society. We cover everything from drones, competition policy, transatlantic data transfers, copyright and patent litigation and all things tech. Learn more at www.bna.com/legal.

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New tech innovations usually spur a wave of companies competing to win patents for their inventions.
 
But with budding blockchain technology, the decision to patent isn’t always easy.
 
Blockchain was first created as the underpinning technology to crypocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, which use code that is free and open to anyone. Many blockchain developers still embrace this open source ethos and resist their companies’ attempts to patent their work, Ropes & Gray LLP Intellectual property litigation partner Leslie Spencer and attorney Marta Belcher told Bloomberg Law in a recent podcast episode of Code & Conduit.

Episode 32: Talking Blockchain Patents with Ropes & Gray

Senators, industry and interest groups continue their negotiations over that chamber’s self-driving car bill AV START (S. 1885). Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), one of the co-authors of the legislation, returned in August from a five-day motorcycle tour of Michigan where he had long stretches of road to think about how autonomous technology should be deployed.  
 
We recently sat down with Senator Peters in his Washington office where we talked about his love of motorcycles: “My view is, if I have to go from Point A to Point B, why not do that on a motorcycle?”
 
And how riding influenced his approach to writing the AV START legislation. Peters and his co-author Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune are working to push the bill through the Senate before year’s end, which Peters thinks will result in a safer testing environment.
 
“You can still put vehicles on the road right now without any kind of regulation or oversight,” he said.
 
His bill “will allow the testing to go through in a safer manner than it is now,” Peters said in a sit-down interview for our Code and Conduit podcast.

Episode 31: Sen. Gary Peters Talks Self-driving Cars and Taking the Long Way on his Motorcycle

In a special fintech episode of Code and Conduit, we chat with Eugene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency during President Bill Clinton’s administration and now CEO of Promontory Financial Services Group, a sought-after financial regulatory advisory company.
 
Ludwig discusses his views on why allowing fintechs to become more like banks benefits the financial system and how to boost lending and economic opportunity for low- and middle-income Americans.

Episode 30: Gene Ludwig Talks FinTech, Regulation and Economic Opportunity

America’s information security workforce faces a massive gender gap, and it hasn’t improved much in recent years.
 
It’s a longstanding issue. Women composed 10 percent of the cybersecurity profession in 2013, and the number rose to just 14 percent in 2017. That’s according to the 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study, a white paper by Frost & Sullivan that compiled data from more than 19,000 respondents in 170 countries.
 
For this episode of Code & Conduit, Joyce Brocaglia, founder of the Executive Women’s Forum, which contributed to the report, and chief executive officer of Alta Associates, joined the podcast via phone. Tyrone Wilson, founder of Cover6Solutions, a veteran and minority-owned small business, and organizer of the D.C. Cyber Security Professionals meet-up, which brings together about 5,000 cybersecurity professionals each year, joined host Kyle LaHucik in the studio.

Episode 29: ‘If Not Us, Who?’: Cybersecurity’s Gender Gap Requires Fixing

The chief House proponent of getting self-driving cars on U.S. roads says Congress must pass a self-driving car law this year.

The House, Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told a recent episode of Code & Conduit, spent a lot of time working on H. 3388, his bill directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to set up a regulatory framework for testing self-driving cars and ensuring they’re safe.

Episode 25: It’s Not Easy Being a Blockchain Patent Attorney

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