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Animal Healthcare Robots: The Case For Privacy Regulation, Sulaf Al-Saif Apr 2019

Animal Healthcare Robots: The Case For Privacy Regulation, Sulaf Al-Saif

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Animal healthcare robots are a form of healthcare or wellness devices that possess the appearance of animals or pets and that collect data on the user. The appearance, use, and nature of data collected by these robots illustrate two types of devices for which privacy regulation falls short: Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices and healthcare devices. This paper surveys the animal healthcare robots currently in the market, details the special privacy concerns associated with such robots, examines the current state of potentially relevant privacy laws, and makes recommendations for privacy regulation in the future.


Science And Privacy: Data Protection Laws And Their Impact On Research, Mike Hintze Apr 2019

Science And Privacy: Data Protection Laws And Their Impact On Research, Mike Hintze

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

While privacy laws differ in their scope, focus, and approach, they all involve restrictions on the collection, use, sharing, or retention of information about people. In general, privacy laws reflect a societal consensus that privacy violations can lead to a wide range of financial, reputational, dignitary, and other harms, and that excessive collection and harmful uses of personal information should therefore be constrained. These laws require organizations to comply with a number of obligations concerning personal information. In practice, these requirements can lead organizations to refrain from collecting certain data, only use data with the consent of the individual, or …


Transformative Variations: The Uses And Abuses Of The Transformative Use Doctrine In Right Of Publicity Law, Matthew D. Bunker, Emily Erickson Apr 2019

Transformative Variations: The Uses And Abuses Of The Transformative Use Doctrine In Right Of Publicity Law, Matthew D. Bunker, Emily Erickson

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In 2001, the California Supreme Court embarked upon a novel experiment in its right of publicity jurisprudence. The court imported a single element from copyright's fair use analysis. That element—transformative use—has since become an enormously important defense for publicity defendants. Unfortunately, the transformative use doctrine is notoriously protean, and has resulted in significant confusion in publicity law that almost certainly chills protected speech. Many courts seem to lack a clear idea of what a sophisticated transformative use analysis should even look like. This article unpacks these issues and proposes improvements to this difficult legal area.


Blame It On The Machine: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of Liability In An Ai World, Michael Callier, Harly Callier Oct 2018

Blame It On The Machine: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of Liability In An Ai World, Michael Callier, Harly Callier

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

As technology continues to evolve, interactions between humans and artificial intelligence (“AI”) will skyrocket. It is important to understand the impact AI can have on society, as well as the potential harm and subsequent liability that could result, and to develop best practices designed to address them. The U.S. needs a comprehensive framework to govern the design, creation, use and risks associated with AI. At the time of this writing, no such framework has been implemented. This article takes a socio-legal, interdisciplinary approach to explore ideas on socio-ethical concerns and theories of liability related to AI, and applies a sociological …


Remarks On The Problem Of Scope In Ip, Mark P. Mckenna Oct 2018

Remarks On The Problem Of Scope In Ip, Mark P. Mckenna

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

As I contemplated the focus of this conference, issues about the nature of the rights that are the subject of a deal stood out to me. A good deal of my recent work has focused on challenges in determining the scope of IP rights. And since those rights are the inputs to various kinds of transactions—or, perhaps even more importantly, ability to assess the scope of a right affects whether a transaction is needed—I’m going to focus here on the relationship between the scope of IP rights and potential IP transactions. [These remarks were given as the keynote talk at …


Everyone Wants To See The Entire History Of You, Caesar Kalinowski Iv Oct 2018

Everyone Wants To See The Entire History Of You, Caesar Kalinowski Iv

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Starting with heavy, immobile cameras and progressing to immediately shareable, discreet cellphone videos, the last century has expanded our ability to record ourselves and others—whenever and wherever—to formerly unfathomable heights. Black Mirror, a technology-based, sci-fi miniseries now produced by digital entertainment giant, Netflix, tracks this trajectory to its logical end in “The Entire History of You.” In this not-so-distant, sci-fi future where Google Glass is replaced by an “Augmented Reality Contact Lens and Grain,” everything we see and hear is immediately recorded and uploaded. Effectively, we no longer need memories to recall the past. But as with all new technologies, …


How Machines Learn: Where Do Companies Get Data For Machine Learning And What Licenses Do They Need?, Rachel Wilka, Rachel Landy, Scott A. Mckinney Apr 2018

How Machines Learn: Where Do Companies Get Data For Machine Learning And What Licenses Do They Need?, Rachel Wilka, Rachel Landy, Scott A. Mckinney

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Machine learning services ingest customer data in order to provide refined, customized services. Machine learning algorithms are increasingly prominent in multiple sectors within the software-as-a-service industry including online advertising, health diagnostics, and travel. However, very little has been written on the rights a company utilizing machine learning needs to obtain in order to use customer data to improve its own products or services. Machine learning encompasses multiple types of data use and analysis, including (a) supervised machine learning algorithms, which take specific data provided in a tagged and classified format to deliver specific predictable output; and (b) unsupervised machine learning …


Robots Welcome? Ethical And Legal Considerations For Web Crawling And Scraping, Zachary Gold, Mark Latonero Apr 2018

Robots Welcome? Ethical And Legal Considerations For Web Crawling And Scraping, Zachary Gold, Mark Latonero

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Web crawlers are widely used software programs designed to automatically search the online universe to find and collect information. The data that crawlers provide help make sense of the vast and often chaotic nature of the Web. Crawlers find websites and content that power search engines and online marketplaces. As people and organizations put an ever-increasing amount of information online, tech companies and researchers deploy more advanced algorithms that feed on that data. Even governments and law enforcement now use crawlers to carry out their missions. Despite the ubiquity of crawlers, their use is ambiguously regulated largely by online social …


Fair Use, Fair Play: Video Game Performances And "Let's Plays" As Transformative Use, Dan Hagen Apr 2018

Fair Use, Fair Play: Video Game Performances And "Let's Plays" As Transformative Use, Dan Hagen

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

With the advent of social video upload sites like YouTube, what constitutes fair use has become a hotly debated and often litigated subject. Major content rights holders in the movie and music industry assert ownership rights of content on video upload platforms, and the application of the fair use doctrine to such content is largely unclear. Amid these disputes over what constitutes fair use, new genres of digital content have arrived in the form of “Let’s Play” videos and other related media. In particular, “Let’s Plays”—videos in which prominent gamers play video games for the entertainment of others—are big business …


Smart Contracts, Blockchain, And The Next Frontier Of Transactional Law, Scott A. Mckinney, Rachel Landy, Rachel Wilka Apr 2018

Smart Contracts, Blockchain, And The Next Frontier Of Transactional Law, Scott A. Mckinney, Rachel Landy, Rachel Wilka

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Smart contracts are an emerging technology that could revolutionize commercial transactions by eliminating inefficiencies and uncertainty created by the current transactional ecosystem of lawyers, courts, regulators, banks, and other parties with divergent interests. However, a lack of consensus around how smart contracts are implemented, uncertainty regarding enforceability, and scarcity of on point statutes and case law means that a stable legal, commercial and technical smart contract landscape has yet to emerge. The implementation of universal legal, technical and commercial standards and best practices will reduce uncertainty and promote widespread adoption and use of smart contracts.


Report And Recommendations Of The Arizona Task Force On Court Management Of Digital Evidence, Arizona Task Force On Court Management Of Digital Evidence Jan 2018

Report And Recommendations Of The Arizona Task Force On Court Management Of Digital Evidence, Arizona Task Force On Court Management Of Digital Evidence

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The court record has three components, each historically paper-based and tangible: (1) filings; (2) transcripts; and (3) exhibits. Given technology changes, filings and transcripts now are often kept as digital files. Exhibits, however, continue to be received and held by the court in tangible form. Technology changes mean that will soon change, and will change drastically. The 2016 Joint Technology Committee Resource Bulletin: Managing Digital Evidence in Courts, warned that “[c]ourt management systems are not currently designed to manage large quantities of digital evidence, which means that courts and industry must find creative ways to deal immediately with the dramatically …


Approximating A Federal Patent District Court After Tc Heartland, Timothy T. Hsieh Jan 2018

Approximating A Federal Patent District Court After Tc Heartland, Timothy T. Hsieh

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article presents a patent litigation framework for other federal district courts to follow, using the example of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas after TC Heartland. This article also provides an overview of the TC Heartland U.S. Supreme Court case and the In Re Cray Federal Circuit opinion, as well as how those two cases have impacted patent litigation in various district courts across the country, most notably in the District of Delaware. All district courts should learn various lessons from the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and should model their …


Bio-Property Contracts In A New Ecosystem: Genetic Resources Access And Benefit Sharing, Mariko Kageyama Jan 2018

Bio-Property Contracts In A New Ecosystem: Genetic Resources Access And Benefit Sharing, Mariko Kageyama

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity presents a relatively new international legal framework. Although the United States is not currently bound by this legal instrument, its impact may be felt in the life sciences innovation sector and beyond. Transnational implementation mechanisms for the Nagoya Protocol have a combination of property law and contract law as their theoretical underpinning. Stakeholders who are entering into an agreement with their foreign counterparts should honor the Access and Benefit-Sharing scheme as well as domestic …


The State Department Can Gun Down 3-D Printed Firearms, Derk Westermeyer Jan 2018

The State Department Can Gun Down 3-D Printed Firearms, Derk Westermeyer

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In 1976, Congress enacted the Arms Export Control Act (“AECA”), giving the President broad power to control imports and exports of defense articles. At the time, defense articles included any “technical data” relating to weapons, such as the manufacturing blueprints of a firearm. Generally, this technical data was only in the hands of weapon manufacturers. After forty years of technological advances, however, this “technical data” can now be accessed by anyone in the world in a matter of seconds. Thanks to 3-D printing, a person can use this data to personally manufacture a fully functional plastic weapon within a few …


Neighborhood Watch 2.0: Private Surveillance And The Internet Of Things, Daniel Healow Oct 2017

Neighborhood Watch 2.0: Private Surveillance And The Internet Of Things, Daniel Healow

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The use of low-cost cameras and internet-connected sensors is sharply increasing among local law enforcement, businesses, and average Americans. While the motives behind adopting these devices may differ, this trend means more data about the events on Earth is rapidly being collected and aggregated each day. Current and future products, such as drones and self-driving cars, contain cameras and other embedded sensors used by private individuals in public settings. To function, these devices must passively collect information about other individuals who have not given the express consent that is commonly required when one is actively using an online service, such …


Why The Renewable Energy Credit Market Needs Standardization, Lisa Koperski Oct 2017

Why The Renewable Energy Credit Market Needs Standardization, Lisa Koperski

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are a relatively new financial instrument that help to stimulate the renewable energy market through capturing the premiums for environmental attributes associated with electricity, hopefully, encouraging investment in new renewable energy projects. However, lack of standardization in both the definition of RECs and the ways that RECs can be exchanged and administered has led to confusion on the parts of all concerned—the REC seller, the REC buyer, regulators, and the public at large—stymying investment in renewable energy projects and creating market inefficiency. Much like inconsistent accounting definitions or divergent requirements for providing investment guidance to consumers …


The Drone Wars: The Need For Federal Protection Of Individual Privacy, Toban Platt Oct 2017

The Drone Wars: The Need For Federal Protection Of Individual Privacy, Toban Platt

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Drones—also known as unmanned aerial vehicles—are lightweight, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive aircraft with a wide variety of applications. Drone popularity has recently exploded, with an estimated two million recreational drones sold in 2016 and analysts predicting that sales will increase to 4.3 million units sold annually by 2020. With this increased popularity comes increased concerns about how they will be used and who will fly them. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state legislatures have created drone-specific legislation and rules governing drone use. However, these rules and regulations are more concerned with regulating drones with in relation to …


Law At The Speed Of Dial Up: The Need For A Clear Standard For Employee Use Of Employer-Provided Email Systems That Will Withstand Changing Technology, Jeffrey S. Bosley, Taylor Ball Oct 2017

Law At The Speed Of Dial Up: The Need For A Clear Standard For Employee Use Of Employer-Provided Email Systems That Will Withstand Changing Technology, Jeffrey S. Bosley, Taylor Ball

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In 2007, the National Labor Relations Board adopted two clear rules concerning employee use of employer-provided email in Guard Publishing Co.: First, the Board held that employers were not required to allow employees to use employer-provided email to engage in protected activity pursuant to section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act; second, the Board held that if an employer allowed employees to use its email system for non-work purposes, it could still lawfully adopt and enforce nondiscriminatory rules that restricted otherwise protected activity. In 2014, the Board reversed this precedent in Purple Communications, Inc., and held that …


"Let's Go Crazy" With Fair Use: Amending The Digial Millennium Copyright Act, Kiran K. Jassal Apr 2017

"Let's Go Crazy" With Fair Use: Amending The Digial Millennium Copyright Act, Kiran K. Jassal

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In Lenz v. Universal, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that copyright holders must consider fair use before filing takedown notices for infringing content posted on the internet. In the case, Stephanie Lenz uploaded a home video to YouTube of her children dancing to Prince's song "Let's Go Crazy.” In response, Universal Music Corporation submitted a takedown notice to YouTube pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), claiming that Lenz's home video violated its copyright in the song. Lenz claimed fair use of the copyrighted material and sued Universal for misrepresentation of …


Remarks On The Problem Of Scope In Ip, Mark P. Mckenna Apr 2017

Remarks On The Problem Of Scope In Ip, Mark P. Mckenna

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

These remarks were given as the keynote talk at The Art and Science of the Deal Conference at the University of Washington School of Law.


Taking Care Of Article 6BisNess: How Belmora Llc V. Bayer Consumer Care Ag Made The Well-Known Mark Doctrine Inevitable In The U.S., Gwen Wei Apr 2017

Taking Care Of Article 6BisNess: How Belmora Llc V. Bayer Consumer Care Ag Made The Well-Known Mark Doctrine Inevitable In The U.S., Gwen Wei

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In Belmora LLC v. Bayer Consumer Care AG, the Fourth Circuit held that a foreign company with no U.S. federal trademark registration for "FLANAX" could nevertheless demand cancellation of its competitor's U.S. trademark for "FLANAX". This holding circumvented Article 6bis of the Paris Convention, a provision which protects trademark owners in signatory countries by way of the well-known mark doctrine. Following Belmora's precedent would allow foreign trademark owners to bypass the U.S.'s existing trademark registration system and so undermine U.S. trademark law's central principle of territoriality. This Article argues that Article 6bis is critical to asserting substantive rights …


Future Of Innovation In Medicine: Incentives For New Medical Treatments And Global Health, Robin Jacob Feb 2017

Future Of Innovation In Medicine: Incentives For New Medical Treatments And Global Health, Robin Jacob

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The Future of Innovation in Medicine Conference (“Conference”) proceedings contained in this Symposium Issue are about the problem of incentivizing research into new uses for established medicines. Putting the problem into the wider context of financing pharma research generally gives an important perspective.


The Patent And Non-Patent Incentives For Research And Development Of New Uses Of Known Pharmaceuticals In Japan, Toshiko Takenaka Feb 2017

The Patent And Non-Patent Incentives For Research And Development Of New Uses Of Known Pharmaceuticals In Japan, Toshiko Takenaka

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Japan is one of most innovative drug manufacturer-friendly countries because it revised its patent and drug regulation systems for providing patent and non-patent incentives for new use and treatment R&D based on its pro-patent and pro-medical science policies. This article provides an overview of the pharmaceutical industry and examines patent and non-patent incentives for drug R&D in focusing on incentives for developing new uses of and treatments for known drugs from a comparative law perspective. After discussing the difficulties in establishing infringement and in obtaining injunctions against generic drug manufacturers who infringe new use product patents, the article reviews measure …


Infringement Of Swiss-Type Second Medical Use Patent Claims In Germany—Recent Developments In Case Law, Matthias Zigann Feb 2017

Infringement Of Swiss-Type Second Medical Use Patent Claims In Germany—Recent Developments In Case Law, Matthias Zigann

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Following recent regional court decisions on the infringement of second medical use patent claims, the German concept of manifest arrangement—previously believed to provide a safe harbor for generic pharmaceutical companies as long as they skinny-labeled their products—may be subject to a new interpretation. The German decisions are part of a Europe wide series of decisions on the same or similar subject matter and prove to be patent owner friendly.


Innovation In Known Drugs—The European Angle, Galit Gonen Feb 2017

Innovation In Known Drugs—The European Angle, Galit Gonen

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Research into new uses for known drugs should be encouraged because the “repurposing” of known drug molecules can be a highly effective route of innovation for pharmaceutical companies. Investment in the development of these products should be rewarded. However, incentives that are designed to reward innovation must be in line with the size and value of the innovation in order to maintain a sustainable balance between incentivizing research and developing and encouraging a competitive market. In the context of encouraging innovation of new uses for known drugs, factors that facilitate access to drug development and innovation should also be considered …


Future Of Innovation In Medicine: Incentives For New Medical Treatments And Global Health, Anon Feb 2017

Future Of Innovation In Medicine: Incentives For New Medical Treatments And Global Health, Anon

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

A transcript of the symposium's proceedings.


From Monkey Selfies To Open Source: The Essential Interplay Of Creative Culture, Technology, Copyright Office Practice, And The Law, Maria A. Pallante Jan 2017

From Monkey Selfies To Open Source: The Essential Interplay Of Creative Culture, Technology, Copyright Office Practice, And The Law, Maria A. Pallante

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The 2016 Distinguished Roger L. Shidler Lecture was delivered on July 22, 2016 at the University of Washington School of Law, Center for Advanced Study & Research on Innovation Policy during the 2016 Global Innovation Law Summit.


Deepsouth Will Rise Again—The Argument In Favor Of The Federal Circuit's Holding In Promega Corp. V. Life Technologies, Christopher Ainscough Jan 2017

Deepsouth Will Rise Again—The Argument In Favor Of The Federal Circuit's Holding In Promega Corp. V. Life Technologies, Christopher Ainscough

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Two recent holdings from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Promega Corp. v. Life Technologies Corp. have come under fire from members of the patent community. In Promega, the Federal Circuit held that i) 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(1) does not require a third party to "actively induce the combination" of a patented invention, and ii) that a single component can be a "substantial portion" of the components of patented invention. In this Article, I argue that the Federal Circuit decided these issues correctly in light of the policy considerations that went into Congress's enactment …


Revenge Porn And Narrowing The Cda: Litigating A Web-Based Tort In Washington, Jessy R. Nations Jan 2017

Revenge Porn And Narrowing The Cda: Litigating A Web-Based Tort In Washington, Jessy R. Nations

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Effective September 2015, the Washington State Legislature passed two statutes which created both civil and criminal liability against individuals who distribute "intimate images" of others without their consent. These statutes were created to combat the modern phenomenon colloquially known as "revenge porn." Revenge porn is the non-consensual distribution of nude or sexually explicit photographs or videos, created with the intent to humiliate or harass the person these images depict. In addition to causing emotional damage to the victim, revenge porn can also produce broader consequences such as loss of employment and stalking. Traditionally, litigating these kinds of offenses has been …


"Reasonable Zones Of Privacy"—The Supreme Court's Struggle To Find Clarity In The American Landscape Regarding Fourth Amendment Rights, Alex Alben Jan 2017

"Reasonable Zones Of Privacy"—The Supreme Court's Struggle To Find Clarity In The American Landscape Regarding Fourth Amendment Rights, Alex Alben

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled over the years to develop the concept of what constitutes a "reasonable zone of privacy" when it comes to intrusion on an individual's physical space or activities. With the advent and widespread adoption of new technologies such as drones and listening devices, concern for protecting privacy has magnified, yet court doctrine remains inconsistent. The author, Washington State's Chief Privacy Officer, reviews the history of Supreme Court "search and seizure" rulings in prominent cases to identify both patterns and flaws on the topic of protecting citizen privacy.