If Alexandria officials are to be believed there has already been some impressive upside to their recruitment of the Patent and Trademark Office from the canyons of Crystal City to Carlyle, a neighborhood west of Old Town and north of the Capital Beltway. “We are now the intellectual capital of the world,” says Stephanie Landrum, acting executive director of Alexandria’s economic development office, according to the Washington Post. In addition to the over 7,000 employees…

Last week Ball-Wonk picked up the news that a Cincinnati company called Bygone Sports might win a case with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granting them the rights to the name Washington Nationals. Today, ESPN and The New York Times are reporting that the dispute will go to a judge in April, and a loss in the case there might necessitate a name change for the beleaguered Washington franchise. Ball-Wonk, whose post covers the…

In news that is sure to have Washingtonians clutching their BlackBerrys just a little tighter, the Supreme Court is refusing to grant a rehearing to BlackBerry’s Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd. regarding an on-going patent-infringment case. Cutting through the legalese, these simply means that BlackBerry users might be facing dark days down the road. Canada-based RIM has been embroiled in a legal battle with NTP Inc., a McLean-based patent-holding company that has the licenses for…

The Public Broadcasting Service will be moving their headquarters to Crystal City from Alexandria. The county of Arlington couldn’t resist crowing about the move in a press release, boasting they’d be moving into the “heart of newly-revitalized Crystal City.” Yet beneath the glowing news about “one of America’s preeminent places for living, visiting and doing business,” there’s a less rosy reality. PBS will be moving into some of the 1.4 million square feet vacated by…