Law Commons^™

Diminishing Uncertainty In Software Patents: After The Supreme Court Denied Certiorari For Synopsys Inc. V. Mentor Graphics Corp., Kayla Hope Barnes

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

There is currently a gap in United States' patent law that is threatening American innovation. The lack of predictability of the patent eligibility of new computer software has left many to wonder what the future holds for the industry. This idea is illustrated by the Global Intellectual Property Center's most recent patent protection rankings where, for the first time, the Global Intellectual Property Center ranked the United States tenth in patent protection tied with Hungary. To put this in perspective, the Center ranked the United States as the best country for patents in 2016. The 2017 report cites "uncertainty" in …

Protecting Blockchain Investments In A Patent Troll World, Kelli Spearman

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

When blockchain technology was first introduced via the now-infamous Bitcoin in 2008, it was almost immediately recognized by the tech industry as being even more valuable (and certainly less volatile) than the cryptocurrency it embodied. The publicly distributed ledger known as the blockchain has created a frenzy that is continuing to grow as industries explore future adaptations of the technology. Following this explosion of cross-industry innovation, intellectual property issues naturally follow as early adaptors seek to capture the value of pioneering new blockchain technology. The rising popularity of the blockchain has created an intellectual property gold-rush as firms hoping to …

The Shifting Landscape Of Medicine: Patents Of Personalized Biologic Treatments And Their Potential Conflicts With Right-To-Try Laws, Johnson T. Laney

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The United States has gone back and forth over whether its citizens have a moral right to access potentially life sustaining or lifesaving treatment when they are terminally ill. Currently, forty-one states and the US Senate have passed "right to try" laws that permit terminally ill patients to have access to experimental treatments that have not yet received FDA approval. The United States has had a difficult time determining whether a patient has the right to refuse life-sustaining or lifesaving treatment because of fear that the patient is suicidal. The Supreme Court has addressed this problem and determined that the …

Hold Up: Digital Sampling, Copyright, Infringement, And Artist Credit Through The Lens Of Beyonce's "Lemonade", Spenser Clark

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Will You Have To Pay For The O.C.G.A.?: Copyrighting The Official Code Of Georgia Annotated, Elizabeth Holland

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In the 1970s, the Georgia General Assembly set out to perfect the organization of the laws of the state. The State worked with a publishing company to not only codify the statutory portions but also create additional annotations to explain the application of the law in practice. When enacting the code, the State merged the statutory portion with the annotations to create the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.). Georgia sought to retain the copyright in the O.C.G.A.

Years later, Carl Malamud and Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (Public Resource) challenged this construction. He alleged merging the statutory code with the annotated version …

Trademarks & The First Amendment After Matal V. Tam, Gary Myers

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The United States Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in Matal v. Tam is a landmark decision regarding the intersection between free speech and trademark law. Addressing whether trademarks can legitimately be barred from federal trademark protection under the Lanham Act based solely on their possible disparaging content, the litigation involving an Asian-American band that sought to register the name, "The Slants," brought this important interplay into stark relief. Writing in bold strokes, Justice Alito's opinion holds that the Lanham Act's prohibition on disparaging marks, 15 U.S.C. 51052(a), violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. "It offends a bedrock First …

Monetizing Tribal And State Sovereign Immunity In Patent Law: An Attempt To Neutralize The Patent Death Squad, Sean P. Belding

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

On September 8, 2017, Allergan announced the assignment of six of its patents to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. These six patents protected Allergan 's exclusivity over the blockbuster drug RESTASIS and were at risk of invalidity due to an inter partes review proceeding. In return for substantial monetary consideration, the Mohawk Tribe granted Allergan an exclusive license back and agreed to invoke its tribal sovereign immunity in an attempt to obtain a dismissal of the inter partes review proceedings against the RESTASIS patents. Allergan's strategy is an attempt to monetize sovereign immunity that raises significant concerns in patent law …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.