It's late, I'm tired and the coffee is wearing off, so I'm happy that Paul Kedrosky takes a stab at deciphering the latest quarterly report on Bay Area venture capital activity from Fenwick & West:

For an hourly rate (PDF) of $245-$465+ per hour, most people would be champing at the bit to start work at 6 o' clock in the morning. Not the high-powered but sleep-deprived attorneys of Fenwick & West, however. They'redefending Amazon's 1-Click patent, which covers Amazon's vaunted click-and-buy ordering process. Not only are Amazon's San Francisco-based attorneys unwilling to travel to D.C. for a September 13 hearing they requested, they've asked the Patent and Trademark Office to move the hearing time from 9 a.m. Eastern to 1 p.m., lest they be forced to endure what a Fenwick & West partner characterized as the "undue hardship" of being ready at 6 a.m. Pacific Time. Just another way Amazon's making good on CEO Jeff Bezos's pledge of making "less work for the overworked Patent and Trademark Office."