Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Activating Actavis, Aaron Edlin, C. Scott Hemphill, Herbert J. Hovenkamp, Carl Shapiro

Aaron Edlin

In Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc., the Supreme Court provided fundamental guidance about how courts should handle antitrust challenges to reverse payment patent settlements. The Court came down strongly in favor of an antitrust solution to the problem, concluding that “an antitrust action is likely to prove more feasible administratively than the Eleventh Circuit believed.” At the same time, Justice Breyer’s majority opinion acknowledged that the Court did not answer every relevant question. The opinion closed by “leav[ing] to the lower courts the structuring of the present rule-of-reason antitrust litigation.”This article is an effort to help courts and counsel …

Actavis And Error Costs: A Reply To Critics, Aaron S. Edlin, C. Scott Hemphill, Herbert J. Hovenkamp, Carl Shapiro

Aaron Edlin

The Supreme Court’s opinion in Federal Trade Commission v. Actavis, Inc. provided fundamental guidance about how courts should handle antitrust challenges to reverse payment patent settlements. In our previous article, Activating Actavis, we identified and operationalized the essential features of the Court’s analysis. Our analysis has been challenged by four economists, who argue that our approach might condemn procompetitive settlements.As we explain in this reply, such settlements are feasible, however, only under special circumstances. Moreover, even where feasible, the parties would not actually choose such a settlement in equilibrium. These considerations, and others discussed in the reply, serve to confirm …

Work Made For Hire – Analyzing The Multifactor Balancing Test, Ryan G. Vacca

Ryan G. Vacca

Authorship, and hence, initial ownership of copyrighted works is oftentimes controlled by the 1976 Copyright Act’s work made for hire doctrine. This doctrine states that works created by employees within the scope of their employment result in the employer owning the copyright. One key determination in this analysis is whether the hired party is an employee or independent contractor. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court, in CCNV v. Reid, answered the question of how employees are distinguished from independent contractors by setting forth a list of factors courts should consider. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not give further guidance on …

Patent Demands & Startup Companies: The View From The Venture Capital Community, Robin C. Feldman

Robin C Feldman

Auburn University Team Takes Third Place In 2011 Launchpad Competition

Paul Swamidass

"Launchpad helps motivate the Thomas Walter Center to prepare a sound business plan for a promising Auburn University engineering invention each year," said Swamidass. "The screening provided by the Launchpad judges and publicity offered by the competition increases the chances that a strong Auburn invention will get to market for the benefit of the economy and the public. We expect IPC Foam to attract a CEO and private capital to establish a local startup to successfully commercialize this technology."

First Annual Invention2venture (I2v) Apprentice Challenge Workshop (2010)

Paul Swamidass

In a nutshell, a number of AU student teams, after an introduction from experts on starting and running a business, were challenged along the lines of Mr. Trump’s TV show, “The Apprentice,” to start a business and produce income in 72 hours with $100 seed investment given to each team. The teams delivered, and in the process gained hands-on experience in entrepreneurship; the teams returned the seed investment and kept the profits. Two teams were rewarded.

Product Concept To Complete Business Plan In Three Months In An Ug Course For Business + Engineering Students, Paul Swamidass, Nels Madsen, P.K. Raju, Jackie Dipofi

Paul Swamidass

sophomores/juniors work in multi-disciplinary teams to conceive and select a technology-intensive product, develop a project schedule, conduct market research and survey, complete product engineering/design, make manufacturing/sourcing decisions, estimate demand for five years, develop production/sourcing capacity, estimate investment needed and 5-yr cash flow as part of a business plan in 3 months; the business plan presentation is judged by a panel. The course is called Introduction to Business and Engineering but it is a holistic Technology Ventures course that prepares engineering and business students to partner together in bringing a technology-intensive product to the market. This course can be easily adopted …

Csmysore Newsletter, Cs. Sunil Kumar B.G., Csmysore E-Group

Sunil B.G. & Associates

This Contains the latest updates on various topics relating to corporate professionals and also contains useful articles

Knowledge, Capabilities And Manufacturing Innovation: A Us-Europe Comparison, Stephen Roper, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira, Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

This paper presents a comparative analysis of factors contributing to the innovation performance of manufacturing firms in Georgia (USA), Wales (UK), the West Midlands (UK), and Catalonia (Spain). Enabled by comparable survey data, multivariate probit models are developed to estimate how various types of firms’ innovative activities are influenced by links to external knowledge sources, internal resources, absorptive capacity, and public innovation support. The results suggest the potential for mutual learning. For the European study regions there are insights about how universities in Georgia support innovation. For Georgia and Catalonia there are lessons from UK firms about better capturing potential …

Patent Examination Policy And The Social Costs Of Examiner Allowance And Rejection Errors, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

The Case For Actively Seeking Startup Companies For “Technology-Push” Inventions From Universities: A Research Agenda, Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

Google Inc. began as a startup when all the large players in the industry turned down the opportunity to license the technology from Stanford University; Google has since become the leader in the industry with nearly 20,000 employees and a market value of about $150 Billion as of August 2009. Startup companies, using university technologies, have the potential to become a major economic force in the economy. But, it takes additional skills and effort on the part of University Offices of Technology Transfer (UOTT) to license an invention to a startup company compared to the effort needed to license to …

Firms' Global Patent Strategies In An Emerging Technology, Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

Despite international patenting can be a costly and risky investment, an increasing number of firms patent proprietary technologies in foreign countries. This paper explores trends of global patenting in a new domain of technology characterized by rapid globalization. The research setting consists of the population of U.S.-based Large and Small and Mid-Sized firms (SMEs) filing nanotechnology-related patent applications at the World International Patent Office (WIPO) during 1996-2006.

This paper appears in: Science and Innovation Policy, 2009 Atlanta Conference on Publication Date: 2-3 Oct. 2009 On page(s): 1-5 ISBN: 978-1-4244-5041-1 INSPEC Accession Number: 11035266 DOI: 10.1109/ACSIP.2009.5367863 Posted online: 2009-12-28 12:00:57.0

Do R&D Programs Of Different Government Levels Overlap In The European Union?, Andrea Fernandez-Ribas, Isabel Busom

Andrea Fernandez-Ribas

Multiple levels of government currently design and implement research and innovation programs both in the US and in Europe. Empirical analysis of interdependencies among programs has not been fully explored, however. Our contribution is a first step in understanding potential complementarities across R&D programs. Using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, we study the determinants of firms’ participation in national and in European level research programs and test for differences across programs. Our results suggest that firms’ participation in European and national R&D programs is largely driven by different factors. We interpret these results as suggesting that, ex-post, there is …

A Non-Credit Model For Real-Life Technology Transfer Experience For Cross-Disciplinary Student Teams, Paul Swamidass, Brian Wright

Paul Swamidass

This paper addresses several major issues of interest to ASEE’s Entrepreneurship Division. It covers (1) university technology transfer; (2) introducing technology IP protocol management to students; and (3) a model of working relationship with university technology transfer officers for the mutual benefit of university technology transfer and the training of university graduates with real-life technology transfer problems. Student reported benefits are included.

The Effect Of Auburn University’S Business-Engineering-Technology Program On The Predisposition Towards Entrepreneurship In Business And Engineering Graduates, Paul Swamidass, Daniel Butler

Paul Swamidass

The unique Business-Engineering-Technology (BET) minor at Auburn University trains business and engineering students in teamwork and entrepreneurship. All eleven graduates of the first BET class (2003) and nineteen graduates from the second BET class (2004) were surveyed to assess their entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and abilities. Their responses were compared against the Auburn University norm for graduating seniors. The norm was developed using 254 responses from business and engineering students who were cohorts of the BET students. In this lock-step program, students design and develop three different products and matching businesses to exploit their products. Over the two years, they prepare …

Succeeding In A Cross-Disciplinary, International, Student Design-Team Project: Auburn University/University Of Plymouth Experience, Paul Swamidass, Bob Bulfin, David Grieve, Chetan Sankar, Venu Vulasa

Paul Swamidass

Globalization has turned product design upside down. Members of a single design team in multinational firms may be located in several countries such as the USA, UK, Italy, India and so on. It is a challenge to give engineering and business students a taste of this experience. Auburn University’s Business-Engineering-Technology (B-E-T) program, and the College of Engineering, University of Plymouth, participated in a joint effort to replicate real-life product design process with a mixture of engineering and business students. This paper describes the experience, its lessons and compares it with other attempts at multinational student design-team projects.

Modeling The Adoption Rates Of Manufacturing Technology Innovations By Small Us Manufacturers: A Longitudinal Investigation Feb. 2003, Pp. 351-366., Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

This study provides conclusive evidence to support the view that small plants are slower than larger plants to adopt manufacturing innovations. This empirical study based on over 1000 US manufacturing plants engaged in producing discrete products, studies the adoption of manufacturing technologies in small plants relative to large plants between 1993 and 1997.

Under the assumption that small manufacturers are disadvantaged, several federal and state programs have been created to assist small manufacturers in acquiring and adopting manufacturing innovations. Through quantification of technology adoption in small manufacturing firms, this study’s findings reveal which manufacturing innovations are in greater need of …

Innovations In Competitive Manufacturing, Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

Competitive manufacturing in the US was made possible by the progress made in a number of areas. For example, progress in competitive manufacturing is attributable to advances in the strategic use if manufacturing, cellular manufacturing, lean manufacturing, flexible automation, total quality management, supply chain management, design for manufacturing, mass customization, improved costing, and so on.

Pressured by competition, US manufacturers began the journey to competitive manufacturing in the late seventies; their success brought revolutionary changes to US manufacturing.

The book is arranged in 13 different chapters, each covering a major subject within manufacturing management. Each chapter consists of one or …

Encyclopedia Of Production And Manufacturing Management, Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

The Encyclopedia of Production and Manufacturing Management (1048 pages) is a specialized encyclopedia developed to serve as a basic reference resource for the practitioner, researcher, and student. Because of its specialized focus, this one-volume work is able to cover the entire field of production and manufacturing management. It contains factual and conceptual information for fundamental understanding while serving as a starting point for a deeper researched investigation. The material is state-of-the-art, covering the field of operations management and its exciting recent developments. These developments are covered extensively in this volume.

The downloadable file here has 54 pages which include, the …

Technology On The Factory Floor Iii: Technology Use And Training In Us Manufacturing Firms, Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

This is the third issue of the Technology on the Factory Floor series. The study was sponsored by the Manufacturing Institute and the National Science Foundation. Data for this study of manufacturing technology use was collected from 1,025 manufacturing plant managers during 1997 using a modified survey questionnaire originally used in the 1993 study.

The findings were: Since the 1993 study, inventory turnover increased, rejection and rework reduced, and cycle time and manufacturing costs decreased; overall, there was measurable improvement in manufacturing since 1993. Other findings were: larger plants use technologies more extensively than smaller plants; exporters use more manufacturing …

Technology On The Factory Floor Ii: Benchmarking Manufacturing Technology Use In The Usa, Paul Swamidass

Paul Swamidass

This monograph is the result of the second joint effort of the Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the author for studying the use of fifteen different manufacturing technologies in the US. Timely support by the National Science Foundation enabled this second study to be expanded to a larger number of participants. A total of 1,121 members of NAM participated in this study. Hard technologies studied were: AGV, CAD, CAM, CIM, CNC, FMS, LAN, Robotics and automated inspection, and soft technologies studied were: TQM, JIT, SQC, MRP, MRP II, and manufacturing cells.

Selected findings are: CAD, …