Shannon Patrick
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Articles by Shannon Patrick
How members of Congress can regain the people's trust | Opinion
Trust is in short supply these days. The public's trust in institutions from the media to the military has been dropping for decades . The drop has been especially steep for Congress, which now rates somewhat below car salespersons. And, alarmingly, these numbers change dramatically with party control: Republicans trust Congress and the presidency more under a Republican president, and Democrats under a Democratic president.
How to bring about a better America at age 275 | Opinion Original
Let’s keep pushing for American ideals of opportunity, demanding government based on consent of the governed, and striving for liberty and justice for all. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists July 11, 2026, 6:10 a.m. CT Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. America has persevered through many challenges in its 250 years, from Revolution to Civil War to civil rights to Cold War. Those challenges have reshaped us, often for the better.
Out of the spotlight, democracy keeps working for betterment | Opinion Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. The news has felt best to avoid lately. It ranges from “discouraging” to “somehow real life, not the Onion.” And political news is the worst. Washington seems to be drawing from the movie "Idiocracy." The Iowa Statehouse is no better. More voting restrictions. Less access to healthcare. Required propaganda at the University of Iowa. Another year of failing our schools and our youth.
Make Iowa California, say Iowa Republicans | Guest Column
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Special to the Press-Citizen May 8, 2026, 6:01 a.m. CT Iowa’s Republicans did a strange thing last week − they decided to make Iowa more like California. This was not, as optimists might have hoped, by attracting more tourism, growing international investment, seeking technology leadership, or adopting any other policy that might put Iowa on track to rival the world’s fourth-largest economy.
Without constitutional amendments, our rights are not secure | Guest Column
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick April 10, 2026, 6:01 a.m. CT In 1776, the American Colonies declared their independence from England with a revolutionary series of moral truths: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” After the Founding Fathers abandoned the unworkable Articles of Confederation, they created the framework for their new government, the...
Live and let live | Guest Column
Growing up in Iowa in the 1980s and 1990s, Kelcey appreciated the “live and let live” attitude that Iowa took toward most things. Keep to yourself, you do you, and as long as no one gets hurt, we’re good. Part of that “live and let live” attitude was home rule for cities and counties. “Home rule” means that local governments can make any law that isn’t prohibited by a state or federal law.
DHS makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment | Guest Column
“A man’s home is his castle” isn’t just a proverb. It’s a principle that runs deep through American culture and law. Coming into someone’s house and disrespecting them is a cultural taboo, enshrined in film and internet forums alike. And in law, government agents are generally forbidden to come into someone’s house without either their permission or a judicial order.
Don't give up on the American Repulic | Guest Column
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Special to the Press-Citizen Jan. 9, 2026, 9:50 a.m. CT As we settle into 2026, we reflect on the muted New Year’s celebrations we experienced: people seemed happy to put 2025 behind them, but trepidatious about what this year would bring. And we couldn’t blame anyone for their lack of enthusiasm. While not everything about 2025 was bad, it was a blockbuster year for Project 2025 and a dire year for the American Republic.
They are coming for free speech | Writer's Group Column
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Trump, Congressional Republicans need to buck up and govern | Writer's Group Column
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The Constitution under siege | Column
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Special to the Press-Citizen The Constitution is the law of our land, the cornerstone of our government, the principles to which our military, our judges, our attorneys, and our public officials pledge themselves. It establishes the most fundamental structure of our government and the rights of our states and the people. If you’ve been paying any attention to the news this year, though, you might not think so.
It’s time to end taxation without representation | Column
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Remember and preserve America’s real greatness | Column
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Addressing the notion of corruption | Guest Opinion
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State, federal budgets betray our heritage and our future | Iowa City Writers' Group
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Restore America’s tradition of being a force for good | Column
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America's tradition is being a force for good worldwide. Let's restore that. | Opinion
For over 75 years, presidents, congresses, and Americans of both parties have understood that our values are not the myopic values of misers. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. In his 1961 inauguration, President John F. Kennedy pledged that America would do more for the world.
Attorney resignations are giant red flags for the state of our union | Guest Column
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” There are many jokes about lawyers, but this line, one of Shakespeare’s most famous, isn’t one of them. It’s a serious line from an enforcer-type character who is plotting a coup and doesn’t want the law between him and power. Why start out by killing the lawyers? Because on the whole, the profession commits its members to supporting the rule of law even over the interests of their clients.
Trump’s actions are proving the Democrats right | Writer's Group
Democrats spent most of 2024 sounding the alarm: reelecting Donald Trump was a threat to American international leadership, American prosperity, and especially to American democracy. Were these fears realistic?
Let’s make Johnson County a beacon in a time of change | Column
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Iowa City Writer's Group: Thoughts on immigration reform
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Special to the Iowa City Press-Citizen Immigration is one of Americans’ top concerns this election season, but that doesn’t mean there is meaningful debate on the topic. Instead of a focus on real problems and potential solutions, we see politicians bandying about inflated numbers, scapegoating, and lying about eating pets. This bloviating is as disconnected from reality as it is distracting.
Hold appellate judges and Supreme Court justices accountable Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest Columnists/Special to the Press-Citizen Americans’ ballots this November will present us with several choices: President, Congress, state legislature, local races. In Iowa, we have another decision to make: should we retain our judges? Many voters are unsure what to do with this part of the ballot. The Iowa State Bar Association conducts a survey allowing Iowa lawyers to anonymously rate judges they are familiar with.
Joe Biden is correct: The Supreme Court needs an ethics code with teeth. Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Most federal and state court judges have strict, mandatory codes of conduct. The purpose of those rules is to prevent both actual impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. And that makes sense: Why would we trust a court when the judges have financial or personal interests in the outcomes of their cases? When they do, judicial codes of ethics require that the cases go to another judge who does not.
It's time to do something Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Special to the Press-Citizen Over the past few weeks, the Supreme Courts of the United States and of Iowa have issued several decisions with alarming implications. The current U.S. Supreme Court has overturned precedents (changed its mind about what the law is) at a historic rate and with unprecedented vitriol toward its predecessors. For example, it overturned Chevron, its own 40-year-old ruling.
Guest Column: Undermining community
As a high school student in Ames, Kelcey took a Western Civ class. Since Iowa’s Republicans want to emphasize western civilizations in Iowa schools, let’s consider what that class had to say about politics and how it fits with how they have governed.
Earth Day: We have accomplished a lot, and our climate battle is not hopeless Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. Earth Day is around the corner, which has us thinking about, well, the earth. When Earth Day was established in 1970, things were different. There was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Water Act, no Superfund. The Cuyahoga River had recently caught fire again. Our biggest environmental issues included leaded gasoline, air pollution and vehicle emissions. And toxic waste still gave us superheroes like Daredevil.
Uncontested seats help foster fear and demonizing of political opponents Original
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. In our most recent column, we asked, “Why are Republican policies so bad for rural Iowa?” We suggested one possible answer: Republicans aren’t really a rural party. We thought the column was more analytic than electrifying.
Rural Iowans have nobody to represent them; Republicans certainly aren't doing it
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. It’s conventional wisdom these days that America is divided between city and country, an urban-rural divide that drives our politics. Urban Democrats and rural Republicans, they say, have different cultures and rarely mingle. In this story, Democrats represent the interests of the cities and Republicans those of rural areas. How, then, do we explain Iowa’s state government?
Iowa lawmakers starve public schools of needed money Original
The state’s “piggy bank” for future tax cuts, the Taxpayer Relief Fund, would be better called the Neglect Our Future Fund, since our schools have paid almost two-thirds of it. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City.
Republicans put Iowa on a course toward a budget nightmare
Don’t let the exuberant political declarations fool you: Iowa’s political leaders have been working very hard at the “gradually” part of going bankrupt. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. To paraphrase Herman Melville, bankruptcy happens a little bit at a time, and then all at once. A little debt here, a little expense there, a slightly lower revenue this year.
Iowa Republicans set course for a budget nightmare
To paraphrase Herman Melville, bankruptcy happens a little bit at a time, and then all at once. A little debt here, a little expense there, a slightly lower revenue this year. And everything can seem fine until those small decisions together suddenly become very big problems. Iowa is staring down a very big budget problem. If you have listened only to our Republican leaders, you might think that Iowa’s budget is in excellent shape and wonder why we’re bringing this up.
Iowa Republicans set course for a budget nightmare
To paraphrase Herman Melville, bankruptcy happens a little bit at a time, and then all at once. A little debt here, a little expense there, a slightly lower revenue this year. And everything can seem fine until those small decisions together suddenly become very big problems. Iowa is staring down a very big budget problem. If you have listened only to our Republican leaders, you might think that Iowa’s budget is in excellent shape and wonder why we’re bringing this up.
Leaders make Iowa less safe for sex and childbirth
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. As a nation, Americans believe in progress. We believe that over time, we should be safer, healthier, and generally better off. And so we have elected leaders we think can move us forward at costs we can accept. Unfortunately, Iowa’s political leaders have chosen political rabble rousing over sensible policy.
Local journalism shouldn't be in the hands of just a few providers
f public opinion pushes anti-monopoly efforts further, the media sector is another ripe target. Media has become massively consolidated, whether we’re talking about film, TV, newspapers, or radio. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City and write at www.ourlibertiesweprize.com. The board game Monopoly has long been marketed as an opportunity to live the dream of becoming a tycoon.
Claim Construction Leads To Unpatentability For Lack Of Written Description Support
In Tokyo Ohka Koygo., Ltd. v. Fujifilm Electronic Materials U.S.A., Inc., PGR2022-00010, Paper 28 (P.T.A.B. May 31, 2023), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("the Board") held all challenged claims unpatentable for obviousness. Petitioner Tokyo Ohka Koygo ("TOK") challenged claims 1-5 of Fujifilm's U.S. Patent No. 10,927,329 ("the '329 patent") as unpatentable for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §103 and lack of written description under §112(a).
Claim Construction Leads to Unpatentability for Lack of Written Description Support
Holding In Tokyo Ohka Koygo., Ltd. v. Fujifilm Electronic Materials U.S.A., Inc., PGR2022-00010, Paper 28 (P.T.A.B. May 31, 2023), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) held all challenged claims unpatentable for obviousness. Background Petitioner Tokyo Ohka Koygo (“TOK”) challenged claims 1-5 of Fujifilm’s U.S. Patent No. 10,927,329 (“the ’329 patent”) as unpatentable for obviousness under 35 U.S.C. §103 and lack of written description under §112(a).
Opinion: Iowa City has a chance to do the smart thing on housing
Blocking affordable housing is not the right solution to college parties. People of all stripes should be able to live in Iowa City. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. Iowa City takes pride in doing both the right thing and the smart thing.
"Nearly All" Not Quite Good Enough To Achieve Discretionary Denial Under §325(d)
In Fusion Pharms., Inc. v. Univerität Heidelberg, IPR2023-00551, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") instituted inter partes review ("IPR"), rejecting Patent Owner's §325(d) argument. Fusion Pharms. petitioned for IPR of claims 1, 2, and 4-13 of U.S. Patent No. 10,980,901 ("the '901 patent"). Id. at *2. The '901 patent is directed to "a method of treating prostate specific membrane antigen ('PSMA') expressing cancers." Id. at *3. Independent claim 1 reads: 1.
Opinion: With Iowa book ban in schools, do not obey in advance
The consequences of a mistake are draconian: for only two books overlooked, teachers and superintendents could lose their licenses. But rushing to throw books on the fire is still the wrong response. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. If there’s one thing Americans can agree on, it’s disagreeing. That is, we don’t like people telling us that we can’t disagree with them.
Guest column: In politics, we demand a spectacle, we get a spectacle
By being fans instead of citizens, we lose our focus on making our country better and safer for all of us. Instead, we focus on beating the other team, and we all lose. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. When we were in middle school, domestic terrorists blew up an Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168, including 19 children, mostly from the building’s daycare center, and injuring 680.
Iowa takes away parents' rights, risking harm to children
These conservative activists seem to believe that their families’ faith, morals, and values are so weak that they will not survive scrutiny or comparison. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. Parents’ rights have been in the news a lot lately.
Guest column: The Iowa Legislature in 2023 was a mess, but there is hope
Make sure you tell lawmakers what they did right and hold them accountable for what they did wrong. Because it’s only a government by, for, and of the people if we keep making it one. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. What happened with our most recent legislative session? It’s hard to tell by listening to our politicians.
Guest column: In a state filled with manipulation through fear, action is the best response
Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. Fear is a powerful motivator. Healthy fear, fear of a specific thing in a specific moment, can propel us to do astonishing things, like the mother who lifted a car off her son or the national space race putting men on the moon. But fear can be damaging, especially when it is deliberately and persistently provoked.
Disclaimers Can Be Held Against the Patentee
Holding In Early Warning Services, LLC v. Wepay Global Payments LLC, PGR2022-00031, Paper 34, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the PTAB”) granted Petitioner’s motion for adverse judgment and cancelled the challenged claim.[1] Background Early Warning Services, LLC (“EWS”) filed a post-grant review (“PGR”) petition challenging the sole design claim of Wepay’s U.S. Patent No. D930,702 S (“the ’702 patent”) on anticipation and obviousness grounds. The PTAB instituted.
Guest column: Iowa government overhaul is half-baked
Shannon Patrick and Kelcey Patrick-Ferree live in Iowa City. In this country, we lionize the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to the point where some consider constitutional amendments almost heretical. This is, perhaps, not a healthy attitude; previous generations have wisely revamped presidential succession, election of senators, citizenship, and voting rights. But there are always those worthy elements that we must preserve.
District Court Collateral Estoppel: Materially Altering the Question of Invalidity
In Kroy IP Holdings, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., No. 17-cv-01405, 2022 WL 17403538 (D. Del. Dec. 2, 2022), the Court granted Groupon’s motion to dismiss Kroy IP’s amended complaint based on collateral estoppel. On October 16, 2017, Kroy IP filed suit against Groupon in the District of Delaware, alleging that Groupon infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,061,660 (“the ’660 patent”), which claims a method and system for providing incentive programs over a computer network. Id. at *2.
Guest column: Insular leaders keep secrets, leave Iowans in the dark Original
Cutting out the minority’s input and oversight has real-world consequences and can lead only to worse government. Shannon Patrick and Kelcey Patrick-Ferree Guest columnists Shannon Patrick and Kelcey Patrick-Ferree live in Iowa City. When we taxpayers entrust money to our state government, we have pretty reasonable expectations. We expect that our public servants will use state resources responsibly. We expect that our money will be invested in high-priority areas.
Guest column: School vouchers undermine the public good Original
Support the public good: Contact your legislators today and tell them to keep public money in public schools. Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick Guest columnists Writers’ Group members Kelcey Patrick-Ferree and Shannon Patrick live in Iowa City. For years, we have been constantly subject to the politics of fear. Fear that bad people will come into your home, so you need guns to protect yourself. Fear that desperate refugees are actually criminals coming to hurt you.
PTAB Denies IPR Challenging Patent Relating To A Prenatal Vitamin
Holding In Westminster Pharmaceuticals, LLC, v. LPRI France,1 the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found that Westminster did not show that it would likely prevail with respect to at least one of the challenged claims and denied the institution of inter partes review under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) for U.S. Patent No. 8,183,227 B1.
Product-By-Process Construction Dooms Claims
Holding In Kamstrup A/S v. Axioma Metering UAB, No. 2021-1923 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 12, 2022) (“Kamstrup”), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the holding of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the challenged claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,806,957 were unpatentable. See Axioma Metering UAB v. Kamstrup A/S, IPR2019-01640, Paper 32 (P.T.A.B. April 1, 2021). This post focuses on the product-by-process claim element.
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