Law Commons^™

The New Canon: Using Or Misusing Foreign Law To Decide Domestic Intellectual Property Claims , Edward S. Lee

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series

This Article provides the first in-depth analysis of the use of foreign authorities to resolve issues related to domestic statutes, particularly focusing on intellectual property (IP) statutes. The study of IP statutes provides a fertile area of research because of the increased pressures for international protection of IP. The Article criticizes the current approach U.S. courts have taken to using foreign authorities in this area, which can best be described as ad hoc. The Article then sets forth a framework by which U.S. courts can decide, more systematically, when to rely on foreign authorities in IP cases. The Article fills …

United States Antitrust Policy In An Age Of Ip Expansion, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

The idea that there is a tension between antitrust and the intellectual property laws is readily exaggerated. The tension that exists results mainly from our uncertainty about the optimal amount and scope of IP protection. In general, antitrust draws clearer lines than intellectual property law does, although one should not push the point too far. Antitrust policy as manifested in the courts has achieved a fair amount of consensus today. By contrast, deep uncertainty remains about fundamental questions concerning the socially optimal outcome of IP disputes. In addition, while the antitrust statutes are for the most part public regarding provisions …

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of The Computer & Communications Industry Association And Internet Archive, In Opposition To The Writ Of Certiorari, To The United States Supreme Court, Laura Quilter, Peter Jaszi

Amicus Briefs

Amicus on behalf of the Internet Archive and the CCIA, requesting the Supreme Court of the United States to deny the petition for certiorari in the MGM v. Grokster case.

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 …

Hyperownership In A Time Of Biotechnological Promise: The International Conflict To Control The Building Blocks Of Life, Sabrina Safrin

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

This article addresses the corrosive interplay between the patent-based and the sovereign- based systems of ownership of genetic material. In patent-based systems, genetic material is increasingly “owned” by corporations or research institutions which obtain patents over such material. In sovereign-based systems, the national government owns or extensively controls such material. As more patents issue for synthesized genes in developed countries through the patent system, more raw genetic material is legally enclosed by the governments of developing nations, which house most of the world’s wild or raw genetic material. This interactive spiral of increased enclosure results in the sub-optimal utilization, conservation …

Intellectual Property At A Crossroads: Why History Matters, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Intellectual property is at a crossroads today. As the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights noted in its final report, “[o]ver the last twenty years or so there has been an unprecedented increase in the level, scope, territorial extent and role of IP right protection.” From the rapid privatization and commodification of information to the creation of property rights in bioengineered microorganisms and lifeforms, recent developments in the intellectual property field have sparked major controversies, calling into questions our values, worldviews, and the way society protects and incentivizes human creations and innovations. To grapple with these difficult questions, courts and commentators …

The Origins Of Cctld Policymaking, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Extract:

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, there was a decentralized global network of computers. These computers shared information with each other regardless of how far apart they were and whether there was any direct line of communication between them. In the very beginning, this network was used exclusively by government and military agencies, educational and research institutions, government contractors, scientists, and technology specialists. Instead of the domain names we use today, such as “www. amazon.com,” users typed in numeric addresses, such as “123.45.67.89,” and, later, host names to send information to other computers.

This …

Currents And Crosscurrents In The International Intellectual Property Regime, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Since the establishment of the TRIPs Agreement, intellectual property protection has been expanding rapidly, and many less developed countries have become dissatisfied with the international intellectual property regime. From bilateral free trade agreements to the increasing use of technological protection measures, many commentators fear that the recent "one-way ratchet" will roll back the substantive and strategic gains made by less developed countries during the negotiation of the TRIPS Agreement. Interestingly, intellectual property rightsholders feel equally threatened by the recent developments, in particular the development of the Doha Declaration, the World Summit on the Information Society, the WIPO Development Agenda, and …

Vol. Ix, Tab 41 - Ex. I - Hagan Deposition From Geico (Google Managing Counsel - Trademarks), Rose Hagan

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Vol. Ix, Tab 46 - Ex. 58 - Deposition Of Rose Hagan From Geico V. Google (Google Managing Counsel Trademarks), Rose Hagan

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

On Software Regulation, Polk Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article develops a novel analytic framework for the evaluation of regulatory policy in cyberspace, flowing from a reconceptualization of cyberlaw’s central premise: software code as complementary to law rather than its substitute. This approach emphasizes the linkage between law and software; for every quantum of legal-regulatory impact, there is a corresponding equilibria of regulation-bysoftware. The absence of a legal right will stimulate a technological response—and such incentives will moderate with increased rights. Rather than “code is law,” this is “code meets law.” The implications of this methodological shift are explored in the context of the emerging (and intensely controversial) …

Too Many Markets Or Too Few? Copyright Policy Toward Shared Works, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

Proper analysis of sharing requires attention to the ways copyright law shapes markets. It also requires an analytic framework that identifies the gains and losses to copyright owners and users operating under the different market forms that can be sustained by different versions of copyright law. My framework will help judges avoid two mistakes that a market failure orientation invites. First, some judges overemphasize transaction costs and fail to appreciate the reasons to apply fair use to sharing even when negotiation and payment costs are zero. One reason is well known: sharing that generates positive externalities may be treated as …

Intellectual Property Law And The Boundaries Of The Firm, Oren Bar-Gill, Gideon Parchomovsky

All Faculty Scholarship

Arrow's disclosure paradox implies that information that is not afforded legal protection cannot be bought or sold on the market. This paper emphasizes the important relationship between the paradox of disclosure and the boundaries of the firm question. Only legally protected inventions, i.e., patented inventions, may be traded; pre-patent stages of the innovation process may not. Consequently, by force of law, rather than by the guidance of economic principle, pre-patent innovation must be carried out within the boundaries of a single firm.

Vol. Viii, Tab 39 - Ex. 1 - Email From Lepe Bismarck, Lepe Bismarck

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

The Information Context Of Moral Rights Under The Copyright Regime, Margaret Ann Wilkinson, Natasha Gerolami

Law Publications

Moral rights have not been so uniformly or widely adopted as economic copyrights for authors, perhaps because the actual and potential value of moral rights in ensuring information needs are met has gone unrecognized. The authors demonstrate that moral rights protection can enhance authority control in the new information environment.

Technology Worth Patenting, Thomas G. Field Jr

Law Faculty Scholarship

Inevitably scarce resources are better invested in deciding which [patent] applications are worth filing and seeking the broadest defensible claims for those that are chosen. Whether a patent can be obtained for less than, say, $10,000 is the wrong question. Whether a patent is worth having is the better question—particularly from the standpoint of prospective licensees.

Intellectual Property Protection In Philippine Agriculture: A Developmental Perspective, Salvador B. Belaro Jr.

Cornell Law School J.D. Student Research Papers

This paper is premised on the debate on whether intellectual property protection furthers economic development in developing countries. One view is that more is better, arguing that intellectual property rights trigger research and technological advancement. The other view is that more means not better, but worse. Advocates of this view claim that developing countries, being "second comers" in a world where developed countries got a head start in development are confronted with rules imposed by the "first comers", intellectual property rules included, which are of course, designed by the latter to serve their interests

This note suggests two general approaches …

The Jekyll And Hyde Story Of International Trade: The Supreme Court In Phrma V. Walsh And The Trips Agreement, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

The paper analyses the international impact of the approval by the United States Supreme Court to use indirect price control mechanisms to tackle public health and Medicaid issues. It traces similarities in policies implemented by the United States and those it opposed within developing nations. For example, the recent use by the developed nations of compulsory licensing and price control mechanisms, which they opposed as violating TRIPS when used by developing nations, underlines a poverty penalty suffered by developing nation signatories of TRIPS. In effect, TRIPS exempts developed nations from fulfilling obligations developing nations were forced to fulfill and thus …

Vol. Ix, Tab 41 - Ex 6 - Google Three Ad Policy Changes, Google

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Intellectual Property And Golden Gate University, Marc Greenberg

Publications

Golden Gate University School of Law is uniquely positioned to train lawyers in this fast-paced field. Located in the heart of the hi-tech SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco and just north of Silicon Valley, the Law School is able to draw upon a rich community of legal and business expertise in Intellectual Property.

Communicating Entitlements: Property And The Internet, William Hubbard

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Rationalizing The Allocative/Distributive Relationship In Copyright, Jeffrey L. Harrison

UF Law Faculty Publications

It is the position of this article that the benefits of a regime of copyright law can be maintained while shedding at least some of the wastefulness of monopolistic competition. This article cuts against the grain of modem copyright law by making the case that a more substantive approach to the issues of creativity and authorship would lower costs, streamline the system, and raise the level of socially beneficial creativity. In Section II, I will elaborate on the allocative/distributive distinction and their interconnectedness. In Section III, I will focus on an enhanced creativity standard and argue that an elevated standard …

Building A Better Bounty: Litigation-Stage Rewards For Defeating Patents, Joe Miller

Scholarly Works

A patent challenger who defeats a patent wins a prize that it must share with the whole world, including all its competitors. This forced sharing undermines an alleged infringer's reason for fighting the patent case to the finish - especially if the patent owner offers an attractive settlement. Too many settlements, and too few definitive patent challenges, are the result. A litigation-stage bounty would correct this defect in patent litigation's basic framework, for it would provide cash prizes to successful patent challengers that they alone would enjoy. After briefly describing the free rider problem with inventions that patent law attempts …

Vol. Ix, Tab 46 - Ex. 40 - Document Tmprocess.Txt Trademark Meeting 3/4, Google

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Patents And The Diffusion Of Technical Information, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

Does the disclosure requirement of the patent system encourage the diffusion of inventions? This paper builds a simple model where firms choose between patents and trade secrecy to protect inventions. Diffusion is not necessarily more likely with a patent system nor is the market for technology necessarily greater.

The Escalating Copyright Wars, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Piracy is one of the biggest threats confronting the entertainment industry today. Every year, the industry is estimated to lose billions of dollars in revenue and faces the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. To protect itself against Internet pirates, the entertainment industry has launched the latest copyright war. So far, the industry has been winning. Among its trophies are the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Vivendi Universal's defeat and purchase of MP3.com, the movie studios' victory in the DeCSS litigation, the bankruptcy and subsequent sale of Napster and its recent relaunch as a legitimate subscription-based …

Adrift On A Sea Of Uncertainty: Preserving Uniformity In Patent Law Post-Vornado Through Deference To The Federal Circuit, Larry D. Thompson

Scholarly Works

Congress created the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1982, and granted that court exclusive appellate jurisdiction over civil actions arising under patent law. Congress's primary goals in creating the Federal Circuit were to produce a more uniform patent jurisprudence and to reduce forum shopping based on favorable patent law. But in the 2002 decision of Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air Circulation Systems, the Supreme Court held that patent counterclaims alone could not create Federal Circuit jurisdiction. This decision not only overruled the Federal Circuit's longstanding jurisdictional rule, but also opened the door for Regional …

A New Player In The Boardroom: The Emergence Of The Independent Directors' Counsel, Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr., Edward B. Rock

All Faculty Scholarship

Over the last thirty years, the independent directors have occasionally been represented by independent counsel. Instances include: special litigation committees reviewing derivative suits; independent committees in parent subsidiary mergers and MBOs; and internal investigations of misconduct. We predict that, with the additional legal requirements imposed on independent directors by the Sarbanes Oxley Act and related changes to SEC rules and Stock Exchange listing requirements, the independent directors, especially those on the Audit Committee, increasingly will be represented on a continuing basis by independent legal counsel. Out of this will emerge a new figure in the board room: the Independent Directors' …

Is The Federal Circuit Succeeding? An Empirical Assessment Of Judicial Performance, Polk Wagner, Lee Petherbridge

All Faculty Scholarship

As an appellate body jurisdictionally demarcated by subject matter rather than geography, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit occupies a unique role in the federal judiciary. This controversial institutional design has had profound effects on the jurisprudential development of the legal regimes within its purview - especially the patent law, which the Federal Circuit has come to thoroughly dominate in its two decades of existence. In this Article, we assess the court's performance against its basic premise: that, as compared to prior regional circuit involvement, centralization of legal authority will yield a clearer, more coherent, and …

A "Patent" Restriction On Research & Development: Infringers Or Innovators?, Srividhya Ragavan

Faculty Scholarship

The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS") requires developing nations to harmonize patent regimes as a means to achieve stronger industrial growth. Countries, however, need to adopt effective patent procedures in order to successfully institute a patent regime. In spite of this, international treaties like TRIPS do not properly assist developing nations in establishing appropriate procedural mechanisms capable of complimenting a sophisticated patent regime. Consequently, developing nations may embrace ineffective patent procedures that can eventually further limit industrial growth despite establishing a TRIPS compliant patent regime. The paper uses India as a case study to demonstrate the detriments …