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Hit The Road, Jack: The Auto Industry As The Next Vehicle For Predatory Infringement, Kristen Osenga
Hit The Road, Jack: The Auto Industry As The Next Vehicle For Predatory Infringement, Kristen Osenga
Law Faculty Publications
While patents, patent litigation, and patent pools have been part of the automotive industry since the late-1800s, the prevalence of technology covered by standards and accompanying standard essential patents (SEPs) is much more recent. Today’s smart cars and the widespread incorporation of telecommunication and Internet of Things standards in vehicles raise concerns about how well the automotive industry will be able to adapt to this new SEP-laden future. This article predicts that predatory infringement of SEPs for two related reasons. First, although some industries, such as telecommunications, have long dealt with SEPs, the incorporation of standardized technology is more recent …
The Problem With Ptab's Power Over Section 101, Kristen Osenga
The Problem With Ptab's Power Over Section 101, Kristen Osenga
Law Faculty Publications
The doctrine of patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is a “real mess.” Other apt terms to describe this doctrine, and the jurisprudence surrounding it, include “chaos” and “crisis.” Few question whether patent eligible subject matter is a problem; however, many do not realize how high the stakes are and how dire the consequences. The erosion of patent protection, in part due to the “chaos,” impacts the willingness of companies to invest in innovation. This is especially true in today’s most important technologies where innovations occur in the spaces most likely to be flagged as ineligible subject …
Once And Future Copyright, James Gibson
Once And Future Copyright, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
Copyright is like a well-meaning but ultimately bothersome friend, eager to help but nearly impossible to get rid of. It attaches indiscriminately to the simplest acts of expression, without regard for whether the author needs or wants its protection. This automatic propertization made sense in the print era, when mass distribution of information was an expensive process rarely undertaken by those with no plans to profit from their creativity. It makes little sense today. The following article shows that copyright's overly solicitous nature is the source of several seemingly unrelated and intractable problems - e.g., closed code, copyright as censorship, …
Re-Reifying Data, James Gibson
Re-Reifying Data, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
There's a war on between those who view digital technology as a reason to expand intellectual property law and those who oppose this expansion. One front in the war is technological: the pro-expansionists enclose their products in restrictive code, which the anti-expansionists circumvent and hack. A second is legislative: the pro-expansionists seek extended copyright duration, favorable changes to contract law, and other new legal entitlements, while the anti-expansionists lobby for the opposite. And a third front is a combination of the first two: it is technological. On this battlefield, the pro-expansionists use the law to fortify their technological protections. But …