Introduction

I accepted a very kind invitation to join this group, but have never introduced myself. I am writing to apologize for my rudeness and to tell you about myself. My name is Tom Nutter. I was born in Jeff City and I grew up in St. Louis, where I now live. I also lived a number of years in KC (1976-1992). I am way over-educated (BA, MA, Ph.D from MU-Columbia, J.D. from UMKC), and have spent the last 30 years practicing intellectual property law. I am still doing that, albeit reluctantly----I still have two children in high school and one in college. My library is almost entirely military history, which is the subject in which I am most interested and about which I read and write the most. However, I have lots of other interests (cars, antiques, clocks, gardening, trains, theology, medicine...............). Presently I am working on several writing projects in military history, and getting my kids to and from school.

I won't bore you with more. Please accept my apology for my rudeness, and thanks for your tolerance. Tom

Welcome, Tom! Good to have you with us! You sound awfully busy--I'm glad you could find time to join us!

BTW, what is intellectual property law?

Thank you. Intellectual property law generally includes patent law, trademark law, and copyright law (the one of most interest to writers). I do not write patent applications. However, I have done much litigation involving patents. In the last ten years, my work has been primarily in the area of trademarks. I worked for Ralston Purina Company for several years, at a time when they owned Eveready Battery Company. So, I worked on things like the Energizer and Eveready trademarks, and the pet food marks---Meow Mix, Beneful, Dog Chow, Cat Chow, Puppy Chow, Purina One............. At Ralston, you can bring your dog to work. Wonderful.

Awesome! Although there are some days I go to work to get away from my dog...I need both hands to type, and she wouldn't cotton too well to not being pet constantly!

One of my good friends in St. Louis works for Purina. My dog loved it - she does quality control testing, and something had to happen to those leftover bags of treats!

And welcome to the group! Glad to have you.

A belated welcome from me, too, Tom. Your work sounds interesting.

I don't have a dog, but - being self-employed with a home office - my cat often comes to work with me. She's generally content to sleep in the arm chair or curl up under the desk at my feet, but occasionally feels the need to closely monitor the paper spewing forth from the printer or examine the computer screen.