However, after reading your more recent blog posts, I feel compelled to stand up and be recognized as a licensed patent attorney by doing the very least I can – joining the AIPA. But here’s the rub: I am a product of our times, so once resolved I did what every other normal internet savvy professional would do: I googled the AIPA to find their site so I could find the registration information. Unfortunately, other than a few references on your blog and several CV references to AIPA membership (most conspicuously from Reinhold Cohen patent attorneys), the organization doesn’t seem to exist on the Internet. Is it possible that they don’t have a site? FWIW, I tried “AIPA”, “Association of Israel Patent Attorneys” and “איגוד עורכי הפטנטים”.

So, um, how does one contact the AIPA for membership or anything else? Do you need to know the secret handshake?

Re the AIPA meeting; from the discussion it appears that the best idea the previous committee could come up with was to invite the offenders to a Shimuah, i.e. a hearing or “court marshal?”
Since noone was expected to voluntarily waste his time coming to such a kangaroo court and the verdict would presumably have been to suspend their non-membership of a professional organization they were inelligible to join, that idea was dropped.

As to Snheider, I confess to having missed the Colboteck episode as I was in the UK on business. I did read the talkbacks and review his website and think that in some questions he crossed the line.

The business model of manufacturing and letting others play catch up is certainly appropriate in some cases, but there were presumably reasons why he appeared on Colbotek and people want their money back. According to the website, he had the backing of a notary and attorney who was an IP expert, but the person in question specializes in copyright law.

I could certainly give other examples of protypers etc., offering IP services, but Shneider is definately the most picturesque and up to-the-minute with the recent program.

I do agree with you that holding your breadth whilst waiting for the AIPA to act is not something that I would recommend. That said, Ed Langer has joined the committee and is interested in dealing with the issue, so maybe things will move.

One matter of clarification: Shnaider (sic) was by no means a self professed IP expert. In fact, “The Shnaider Method” actually steered people away from patenting inventions. Since Shnaider almost entirely dealt with low-tech and individual inventors (as opposed to companies), he more often than not tried to convince his clients to forget about wasting time and money on a patent, because they wouldn’t have the time or money to uphold it in the future! That’s business advice, not IP advice. Rather, he would say that they should try to make the first splash in the market, and make as much money as they could with that. If someone copies the invention, which, he argued, will invariably happen, so be it. If a client insisted on patenting, Shnaider would send him to someone licensed in the field.

The problems that ultimately lead to the recent unfolding of events was entirely unrelated to the IP field. It also is not as simple as the fact that he convinced people that they could make money with their ideas.

While the theme of your post is of utmost importance, the example chosen is not relevant to the topic.