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Top Tens In 2012: Patent, Trademark, Copyright And Trade Secret Cases, Stephen M. Mcjohn
Top Tens In 2012: Patent, Trademark, Copyright And Trade Secret Cases, Stephen M. Mcjohn
Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works
back on the scope of patent subject matter in Prometheus, while according Congress great latitude in extending copyright protection in Golan. Prometheus was one of a number of cases in which the concept of functionality cut across the various areas of intellectual property. Prometheus cut back on patents on innovations that were not sufficiently functional, because they effectively claimed a law of nature. The Federal Circuit, in Myriad Genetics, by contrast, held isolated genes patentable (and the Supreme Court has decided to hear that case). The strongest rationale may be that isolated genes play different functions than their counterpart in …
Top Tens In 2011: Patent, Trademark, Copyright And Trade Secret Cases, Stephen M. Mcjohn
Top Tens In 2011: Patent, Trademark, Copyright And Trade Secret Cases, Stephen M. Mcjohn
Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works
This paper discusses notable intellectual property law cases in the United States in 2011. Patent cases addressed such issues as the scope of patent subject matter (the patentability of human genes and methods for testing for genetic links to cancer), the standards for challenges to the validity of patents (such as where technology that was not considered by the patent office is put in evidence), and the breadth of patent protection (especially with respect to the scope of protection for software patents). Other cases tested the borders of trademark protection – distinctiveness, functionality, and the interplay between trademark law and …