Super Lawyers Receives Patent for Lawyer-Rating System : The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) doesn't hand out patents like candy. Under federal law, the only things that can be patented are "new and useful" processes , machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, or improvements. But the criteria doesn't end at the "new and useful" stage. The government also says that a patented item can't be " obvious ." In other words, getting a patent is a big deal. And last week, the USPTO awarded Super Lawyers , a Thomson Reuters business, a patent on its attorney-rating system. Super Lawyers is a research-driven, peer influenced rating service of lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The multiphase selection process involves creation of the candidate pool, evaluation of candidates by the research department, and peer evaluation by practice area. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of...