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Series

2000

Intellectual Property Law

Trade secret

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Simultaneous Copyright And Trade Secret Claims: Can The Copyright Misuse Defense Prevent Constitutional Doublethink?, Ralph D. Clifford Jan 2000

Simultaneous Copyright And Trade Secret Claims: Can The Copyright Misuse Defense Prevent Constitutional Doublethink?, Ralph D. Clifford

Faculty Publications

As the Constitution authorizes Congress to grant copyrights, it subjects the power to a public purpose requirement. Any monopoly Congress grants must be for the purpose of “promot[ing] the progress of science and useful arts.” But one result of Congress enacting the 1976 Act is a potential conflict between the Act and this public purpose requirement. An owner of intellectual property may believe that both copyright law – which mandates disclosure – and trade secret law – which mandates secrecy – can be used simultaneously. To believe that disclosure and secrecy can coexist is doublethink as both cannot be true. …


The Federal Circuit’S Cruise To Uncharted Waters: How Patent Protection For Algorithms And Business Methods May Sink The Ucita And State Intellectual Property Protection, Ralph D. Clifford Jan 2000

The Federal Circuit’S Cruise To Uncharted Waters: How Patent Protection For Algorithms And Business Methods May Sink The Ucita And State Intellectual Property Protection, Ralph D. Clifford

Faculty Publications

The realm of intellectual property law now changes at an incredible pace, with the courts discarding venerable concepts rapidly. This is not surprising as the transition from a goods-based society to one based on information increases the importance of intellectual property law. Nowhere has this been more apparent than the Federal Circuit’s recent reworking of the scope of federal patent law. Today, it is difficult to imagine anything for which a patent cannot be sought and received. Furthermore, the expansion of the patent law’s scope has a corresponding impact on state powers. Because the patent law serves to implicitly preempt …