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Full-Text Articles in Law

Defenders Of Small Business?: A Perspective On The Supreme Court's Recent Trademark Jurisprudence, Sharon K. Sandeen Jan 2004

Defenders Of Small Business?: A Perspective On The Supreme Court's Recent Trademark Jurisprudence, Sharon K. Sandeen

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.


Through The Years:The Supreme Court And The Copyright Clause, Ruth L. Okediji Jan 2004

Through The Years:The Supreme Court And The Copyright Clause, Ruth L. Okediji

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.


For Of All Sad Words Of Tongue Or Pen, The Saddest Are “It Might Have Been”—Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology And The Law To Lock Down Culture And Control Creativity, Katherine Kelly Jan 2004

For Of All Sad Words Of Tongue Or Pen, The Saddest Are “It Might Have Been”—Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology And The Law To Lock Down Culture And Control Creativity, Katherine Kelly

William Mitchell Law Review

Review of Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. By Lawrence Lessig. Penguin Press, 2004. 348 pages, $24.95


Old Lyrics, Knock-Off Videos, And Copycat Comic Books: The Fourth Fair Use Factor In U.S. Copyright Law, Gregory M. Duhl Jan 2004

Old Lyrics, Knock-Off Videos, And Copycat Comic Books: The Fourth Fair Use Factor In U.S. Copyright Law, Gregory M. Duhl

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the fourth fair use factor in copyright law in cases in which the unlicensed use benefits, or has no effect on, the copyright holder's market. It proposes a two-part framework for these cases. If the unlicensed use is transformative or public, and the use does not harm the copyright holder's market, the copyright holder's economic expectancy is protected, and the user should not have to pay damages, analogous to the law of eminent domain. In cases in which the unlicensed use is private, the court should protect the rights of the copyright holder with damages, even if …


Contrived Conflicts: The Supreme Court Versus The Basics Of Intellectual Property Law, F. Scott Kieff Jan 2004

Contrived Conflicts: The Supreme Court Versus The Basics Of Intellectual Property Law, F. Scott Kieff

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Supreme Court And Trademark Law In The New Millennium, David S. Welkowitz Jan 2004

The Supreme Court And Trademark Law In The New Millennium, David S. Welkowitz

William Mitchell Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Sense And Nonsense Of Web Site Terms Of Use Agreements, Sharon Sandeen Jan 2003

The Sense And Nonsense Of Web Site Terms Of Use Agreements, Sharon Sandeen

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the purpose, use and enforceability of TOUs. In so doing it looks beyond the common question of whether TOUs are enforceable to ask whether and under what circumstances TOUs are necessary. This article explores whether the nature of the Internet is so different from the brick-and-mortar world that TOUs are needed for web sites but not for retail stores. A review of many of the existing TOUs reveals that major differences exist in the number and nature of their provisions. On one extreme are the TOUs of companies like Disney, Barnes and Noble and Amazon that apparently …


Subjecting Rembrandt To The Rule Of Law: Rule-Based Solutions For Determining The Patentability Of Business Methods, R. Carl Moy Jan 2002

Subjecting Rembrandt To The Rule Of Law: Rule-Based Solutions For Determining The Patentability Of Business Methods, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This article is an attempt to refine the substantive law of patents as to reestablish the patent system's control over the determination of whether business methods are patentable. It offers a framework for addressing business methods that allows the system to stay focused on the traditional goals of the statutory subject-matter requirement. It solves some of the problems that modern business methods present. The problems that it does not solve, it at least explains in a manner that sheds some light on the nature of the tasks that remain. This article takes considerable notice of how the relevant legal rules …


Preserving The Public Trust In State-Owned Intellectual Property: A Recommendation For Legislative Action, Sharon Sandeen Jan 2001

Preserving The Public Trust In State-Owned Intellectual Property: A Recommendation For Legislative Action, Sharon Sandeen

Faculty Scholarship

Whether a state chooses to dedicate its intellectual property to the public domain or derive revenue from the licensing of its rights, absent express authority on the subject there is uncertainty. State employees who are aware of the existence of state-owned intellectual property are not certain how it should be managed or if they are authorized to expend state resources to pursue infringement claims. Individuals and entities who wish to use state-owned intellectual property do not know how to obtain permission for such use and without permission they cannot be certain that they will not be sued for infringement. Without …


Protection Of Famous Trademarks In Japan And The United States, Kenneth L. Port Jan 1997

Protection Of Famous Trademarks In Japan And The United States, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

The concepts of trademark jurisprudence in Japan and the United States differ drastically. This difference is apparent in many aspects of trademark protection in both countries and is most evident in the treatment of famous marks. Although Japan and the United States share elements of trademark law that cause some observers to claim that Japan is legally the fifty-first State, the conceptual differences at the foundation of trademark law in each country are so significant that such a claim seems inaccurate and misleading.


Commentary: Authority Of The Commissioner Over The Board Of Patent Appeals And Interferences, R. Carl Moy Jan 1994

Commentary: Authority Of The Commissioner Over The Board Of Patent Appeals And Interferences, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

On August 3, 1992, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on the PTO's appeal procedures. Taken in context, then, the notice can be fairly said to raise the issue whether, under the existing statute, the Board is subservient to the Commissioner. It also raises the broader question of whether such a subservient arrangement is desirable or, alternatively, whether the statute should be modified if necessary to give the Board decisional independence from the Commissioner. This Commentary is directed primarily to this latter point. In summary, it concludes that the …


The Unnatural Expansion Of Trademark Rights: Is A Federal Dilution Statute Necessary?, Kenneth L. Port Jan 1994

The Unnatural Expansion Of Trademark Rights: Is A Federal Dilution Statute Necessary?, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

This article is a systematic review of proposed section 43(c ). Proposed section 43(c ) would create a federal cause of action for trademark dilution and would grossly expand trademark rights. The article reviews both the practical implications and theoretical underpinnings of the dilution concept. Part II describes the basic origins and history of the dilution debate. Part IV(A) presents the practical problems that proposed section 43(c ) raises. Part IV(B) critiques some of the more popular theoretical justifications that are typically used to support granting intellectual property rights and concludes that no satisfactory theoretical justification exists to warrant an …


The History Of The Patent Harmonization Treaty: Economic Self-Interest As An Influence, R. Carl Moy Jan 1993

The History Of The Patent Harmonization Treaty: Economic Self-Interest As An Influence, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

How shall the United States decide whether to adopt the Patent Harmonization Treaty? What questions shall we ask? Whose answers shall we trust? What sources of information can provide us with the background needed for these inquiries? This article offers a framework in which to ask, and begin to answer, these questions. It focuses on the international community's past efforts to harmonize the law of patents. It asserts not only that history provides context, but also, that the same history yields lessons directly applicable to many of the treaty's basic issues. Section I discusses the immediate history of WIPO's efforts …


The Illegitimacy Of Trademark Incontestability, Kenneth L. Port Jan 1993

The Illegitimacy Of Trademark Incontestability, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

The concept of incontestability in American trademark law has caused great confusion ever since its adoption as part of United States trademark law in 1946. This Article is first a study of the rational basis for incontestability in American trademark law. The role of incontestability in the larger regime of American trademark law is established in order to understand incontestability as it fits within the history of the common law of trademarks. This is fundamental in order to understand the significance of the thesis that incontestability is illegitimate. Next, acquisition of incontestability is presented in order to show how simple …


The Effect Of New Rule 56 On The Law Of Inequitable Conduct, R. Carl Moy Jan 1992

The Effect Of New Rule 56 On The Law Of Inequitable Conduct, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses Rule 56 of the Patent and Trademark Office. Part II discusses changes from the old to the new Rule 56, and examines the former’s relationship to the law of inequitable conduct. Part III elaborates on the current status of the PTO’s rulemaking efforts, and Part IV is focused on the new Rule under the APA. Parts V and VI are about new Rule 56 as a hortatory statement and common-law jurisprudential limitations, respectively. The author ultimately concludes that the PTO could have chosen to approach the Federal Circuit as an amicus without a prior rulemaking proceeding. That …


Patent Harmonization, Protectionism And Legislation, R. Carl Moy Jan 1992

Patent Harmonization, Protectionism And Legislation, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This essay raises questions about the Patent Harmonization Treaty. addressing the overall direction of harmonization in this country and the processes that are being applied to the harmonization effort. Section I of the essay compares the underlying goals of patent harmonization with those of the current United States patent system. The article contends that the legal rules relating to patents in this country evidence a specific intent to promote domestic industry. The aims of harmonization, in contrast, are fundamentally different. To be valid, then, patent harmonization may require a basic shift in the social consensus in this country concerning the …


Judicial Deference To The Pto's Interpretations Of The Patent Law, R. Carl Moy Jan 1992

Judicial Deference To The Pto's Interpretations Of The Patent Law, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This article attempts to provide a basis upon which to preserve the Federal Circuit's current lawmaking primacy. Given the large body of preexisting literature on Chevron, USA, Inc v. Natural Resources Defense Council, it does not address whether Chevron allocates power between agencies and the courts optimally. Rather, the article examines how the PTO's statutory interpretations should be reviewed under Chevron. In Section I, the article places the examination in context by describing the Chevron decision and its general implications. Section II of the article examines how Chevron should be applied specifically in the context of reviewing statutory interpretations of …


The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act And Its Impact On The International Protection Of Chip Designs, Jay Erstling Jan 1989

The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act And Its Impact On The International Protection Of Chip Designs, Jay Erstling

Faculty Scholarship

The United States Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 (“SCPA”') has already had a profound impact on the creation of foreign legal systems of chip protection. The allure of reciprocity under the SCPA has motivated a host of nations, including Japan, the Member States of the European Communities (“EC”'), Sweden, Finland, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, to adopt or consider adopting chip protection legislation. The SCPA has also been the impetus for multilateral discussions within the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”') and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”') to establish an international standard of chip protection. The result has …


Copyright Protection Of Fictional Characters In Japan, Kenneth L. Port Jan 1988

Copyright Protection Of Fictional Characters In Japan, Kenneth L. Port

Faculty Scholarship

There is a renewed interest in the United States in Japanese Copyright law. Specifically, new attention has been focused on the protection of computer software under the Japanese Copyright Act, but only a cursory attempt has been given in English language literature to the issue of whether fictional characters can be protected using copyright law in Japan independent of the original work. The objective of this Comment is to fill this void. First the Comment presents the fundamental concepts of American copyright law needed as background knowledge to understand the issue. The Comment then explores the existing satiation in Japan …


The Interpretation Of Means Expressions During Prosecution, R. Carl Moy Jan 1986

The Interpretation Of Means Expressions During Prosecution, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This article briefly explains how the scope of a claim including a means expression is determined both under the PTO view and a strict application of the statutory language. The lack of consensus and current state of the law in the area are illustrated through an analysis of several recent decisions of the Federal Circuit. The policies underlying the PTO and statutory methods of interpreting means expressions during prosecution are examined in an effort to demonstrate that the statutory method more effectively furthers the policies underlying the patent system.