“Follow your dreams.”  It seems that we have heard this adage so many times throughout our lives, but exactly how many people in the world can truly say that they have taken this advice to heart?

For three Columbia University graduates, following their dreams, or rather, following their sweet tooth is exactly what they did.

CNN reports the story of three young men who started their own business selling customized chocolate after being unhappy working in the financial world.  The new business entrepreneurs state that they came up with their idea one day after a bunch of chocolate and other candies melted together in the backseat of one of their cars.  Not wanting the candy to go to waste, they put the mixed candy concoction in the refrigerator; presto, customized chocolate bars with gummy bears and marshmallows. 

The three friends launched their website that offers buyers the possibility of adding a multitude of ingredients into a chocolate bar.  Success was quick, with the company, “Chocomize” making a profit soon after launching. 

Of course not every idea becomes a success overnight, but Chocomize illustrates that with the right ingredients, success is possible.

Broccoli.   Who knew that the vegetable most of us despised as children would soon become the fodder for a landmark European patent case.  You read correctly, a European company called Plant Bioscience, Ltd. received a patent for broccoli which has high concentrations of anti-carcinogen properties.  Good for the world, debatable for our taste buds.While it is not uncommon for the Patent Office to issue a patent for the technical aspect of how to create a new plant, it is uncommon to issue a patent on the plants selected themselves.  A Swiss company is arguing that this patent effectively gives Plant Bioscience a patent on broccoli itself.

Get ready to add the butter, because this situation just got even unhealthier.  Many European countries disagree with patenting vegetables because they believe that it will result in other produce being harder to find.  Consumers will then be left with the higher priced patented vegetables, and no cheaper alternative.

Should vegetables be patented or should biological developments that help all people be accessible to all people?  Like mother always said, “make sure you eat your vegetables.”

If you have ever filed anything with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you are completely aware of how long the turn-around takes before a patent application review is completed.  On average, an application will take approximately thirty-six grueling months before being processed.  I am not saying that this DMV-like delay is the result of poor workmanship, quite the contrary; resources and funding is usually the prime culprit.

However, it was recently announced that the Obama administration is trying to get Congress to allot an additional $279 million to the USPTO.   The goal of such an enormous increase in budget would be to help the USPTO process applications more quickly, trying to reduce the process time to approximately twenty months on average.

Do not think that the Patent Office has a lot on their plate?  Just ask the 700,000 patent applicants from last year who have been backlogged, and I am sure you will get an earful.

What do you think?  Should the Obama administration be spending this amount of money for the USPTO in such a time of recession?