The recent CAFC ruling in the Egyptian Goddess v

Prospal, Markus Naslund, and Brandan Shanahan were both older players looking to prove they still had a little more gas in their tanks. And Gaborik's injury history made him a huge risk.So looking at Sather's moves, while some of them worked brilliantly (Gaborik, Prospal, Jagr, Nylander, Straka, and Shanahan), others were OK (Naslund), and others were train wrecks (Gomez and Drury), none of them seemed guaranteed to improve the team.The free-agent signings that did work seemed more happy accidents than deliberate planning. And for whatever reason, Sather has taken an all-or-nothing approach to free agency, routinely choosing to take the one (or two) best high-risk free agents available, rather than spreading money around on more consistent, if less prestigious, forwards.At the same time, Sather has not developed much young forward talent. The injured Brandon Dubinsky has just three goals on the season The healthy Ryan Callahan has the same. Artem Anisimov, playing his first full NHL season and is more of a defensive center, has four goals.Uneven free agent signings and undeveloped youth make it hard to find scoring especially across seasons. As the Rangers have seen, it leaves them with no core to count on.Organizational culture might also play a huge role in the Rangers consistent inability to score. It seems Rangers don't feel the need to play down low, with opposing creases usually free of Rangers jerseys.

Meanwhile, goalie Henrik Lundqvist has spent the bulk of this season getting bumped like a broken snack machine. Organizationally, it often looks like players come to the Rangers not expecting to have to fight for position or to stand-up for fellow players. What is surprising is that management has seemed content to let the team suffer the same ills the past five seasons.Changing players hasn't helped the issue, nor has changing coaches. The Rangers continue to make the playoffs, but never seem in danger of getting very far. Eventually fans and ownership will want more from the team and Sather will have to figure out a way to solve a problem he seems to have been ignoring for quite some time.. WASHINGTON, DC, Jan 08 (MARKET WIRE) Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., a leading intellectual property firm that isdedicated to the procurement, enforcement and litigation of intellectualproperty rights throughout the world, has once again set the record forprosecuting the most U.S. design patents to issuance by a law firm in acalendar year.On December 31, 2008, Banner & Witcoff set the design patent procurementrecord for the third consecutive year by procuring 958 design patents onbehalf of its clients.

Prior to 2008, Banner & Witcoffwas the only law firm to prosecute over 400 design patents in a calendaryear.Microsoft, NIKE, Nokia, Electrolux, and Toshiba collectively accounted forthe majority of design patents procured by Banner & Witcoff this year asBanner & Witcoff obtained over 50 design patents for each of them. Thefirm also added Saverglass and Dedon to the design patent client list in2008.Robert S. Katz, principal shareholder and head of the design patent teamat Banner & Witcoff, notes that this year has been a landmark year fordesign patent law. "The recent CAFC ruling in the Egyptian Goddess v.Swisa case has strengthened the design patent system in the U.S. Therehas been an increase in the number of designs being copied and importedinto the U.S. Due to the combination of these two factors, we wouldexpect that many design-driven companies will increase their designfilings." Additionally, he indicated that "we would like to thank ourdesign-driven clients for entrusting us with the responsibility to assistthem in the protection of their designs."About Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

is dedicated to excellence in the specializedpractice of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark,copyright, trade secret, computer, franchise and unfair competition law.The firm actively engages in the procurement, enforcement and litigationof intellectual property rights throughout the world, including allfederal and state agencies, and the distribution of such rights throughlicensing and franchising. The firm has over 90 attorneys and agents inits Chicago, Washington, DC, Boston and Portland, OR offices.For more information about Banner & Witcoff please visit Strasser312-463-5465Email ContactCopyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.-0-. The Blue Devils of Durham and the Tar Heels of Chapel Hill were named co-favorites to win the ACC during the preseason. Never before had there been two schools tied for first in the voting, and never before had the rivals of Duke and UNC started the ACC season on equal terms.Duke was elected as a contender because of their experience, big names like Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith, and a talented core of inexperienced frontcourt players. UNC, on the other hand, was given the nod because of coach Roy Williams' star-studded recruiting class packed with five-star freshmen.Four games into the season, it is easy to say that Duke has the edge.The fourth-ranked Tar Heels knocked off an underachieving Ohio Buckeyes team ranked 15th in the preseason polls. The win showed how talented the freshmen at UNC are and how good they can be when all the pieces of the puzzle come together.Then came the game versus 24th-ranked Syracuse: A game that reunited Coach Williams of UNC and coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange, a game that would decide the winner of the 2K Sports Classic, and a game that Tar Heel fans everywhere wish they could forget.Shot after shot, rebound after rebound, up and down the court, UNC was outplayed from tip-off. The loss not only showed that this UNC team is vulnerable, but also how far the freshmen on the roster have to go in order to become an elite team.While the UNC season has started with big voids to fill and questions that need to be answered, Duke's couldn't have started any better.The first two games saw junior guard Nolan Smith sitting out after having been suspended for two games by the NCAA for playing in an unsanctioned summer league during the offseason. Although his presence was missed, ACC Player of the Year candidate Kyle Singler carried most of the load for Coach K and his staff.Duke opened the season at home against UNC-Greensboro on Nov.