Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Living With Monsanto, Daryl Lim

Daryl Lim

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. signaled the end of an era of seed saving. Farmers must buy new seed for replanting or risk patent infringement. The familiar rhetoric of oppressed farmers belies the fact that Monsanto’s success rests in part on farmers prizing its innovations. Current trends indicate that this reliance on Monsanto will continue. The Supreme Court correctly found for Monsanto. However, future cases must iron out the kinks in the Bowman decision. Despite the Court’s best intentions, inadvertence cannot shield farmers from patent infringement. The Court must also make it clear that patentees cannot use licensing restrictions to claw …

Living With Monsanto, 2015 Mich. St. L. Rev. 559 (2015), Daryl Lim

Daryl Lim

Patenting Standards - A Case For Us Antitrust Law Or A Call For Recognizing Immanent Public Policy Limitations To The Exploitation Rights Conferred By The Patent Act?, Apostolos Chronopoulos

Apostolos Chronopoulos

This paper examines the adverse effect of patent ambushing on competitive conditions resulting in the distortion of the standardization process in markets where the effectiveness of competition relies heavily on standardization. The US Rambus litigation serves as a point of departure. In this case, the strategic behavior of the patentee was subjected to both an antitrust and unfair competition analysis. Both approaches display an inadequacy to squarely balance all of the conflicting interests involved. The solution proposed is to apply the patent misuse doctrine as a rule that expresses a public policy defense against patent enforcement so as to ensure …