Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Can Incentives To Generic Manufacturers Save The Doha Declaration's Paragraph 6?, Stacey B. Lee

Stacey B. Lee

A primary objective of the DOHA Declaration was to create a process for member countries with insufficient manufacturing capabilities to access generic versions of patented drugs without violating TRIPS intellectual property standards. This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the process. Referred to as the “Paragraph 6 compulsory licenses provisions,” this first and only amendment to TRIPS was intended to ensure developing countries access to affordable medicines. Over the past decade, these provisions have failed to provide the gains initially anticipated. This article explores the reasons for this failure and suggests that an under-examined approach to reaching the DOHA …

Rescuing Access To Patented Essential Medicines: Pharmaceutical Companies As Tortfeasors Under The Prevented Rescue Tort Theory, Richard Cameron Gower

Richard Cameron Gower

Despite some difficulties, state tort law can be argued to create a unique exception to patent law. Specifically, the prevented rescue doctrine suggests that charities and others can circumvent patents on certain critical medications when such actions are necessary to save individuals from death or serious harm. Although this Article finds that the prevented rescue tort doctrines is preempted by federal patent law, all hope is not lost. A federal substantive due process claim may be brought that uses the common law to demonstrate a fundamental right that has long been protected by our Nation’s legal traditions. Moreover, this Article …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, Jim Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Tom Folsom, Timothy Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank Pasquale, Elizabeth Reilly, Jeff Samuels, Kathy Strandburg, Kara Swanson, Andrew Torrance, Katharine Van Tassel

Ryan G. Vacca

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, Jim Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Tom Folsom, Timothy Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank Pasquale, Elizabeth Reilly, Jeff Samuels, Kathy Strandburg, Kara Swanson, Andrew Torrance, Katharine Van Tassel

Frank A. Pasquale

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Energy And Environment Policy Case For A Global Project, Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

A policy case is made for a global project on artificial photosynthesis including its scientific justification, potential governance structure and funding mechanisms.

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, Jim Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Tom Folsom, Timothy Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank Pasquale, Elizabeth Reilly, Jeff Samuels, Kathy Strandburg, Kara Swanson, Andrew Torrance, Katharine Van Tassel

Katharine Van Tassel

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, Jim Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Tom Folsom, Timothy Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank Pasquale, Elizabeth Reilly, Jeff Samuels, Kathy Strandburg, Kara Swanson, Andrew Torrance, Katharine Van Tassel

Yaniv Heled

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

An Elegy For Greg Ham: Copyright Law, The Kookaburra Case, And Remix Culture, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

The ‘Kookaburra’ case was a tragic and controversial copyright dispute, highlighting the need for copyright law reform by the Australian Parliament. In the Kookaburra case, a copyright action was brought by Larrikin Records against Men at Work’s song ‘Down Under’, alleging copyright infringement of the ‘Kookaburra’ song composed by Marion Sinclair. The dispute raised a host of doctrinal matters. There was disquiet over the length of the copyright term. There were fierce contests as to the copyright ownership of the ‘Kookaburra’ song. The litigation raised questions about copyright infringement and substantiality – particularly in relation to musical works. The ‘Kookaburra’ …

23andme Inc.: Patent Law And Lifestyle Genetics, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

The venture, 23andMe Inc., raises a host of issues in respect of patent law, policy, and practice in respect of lifestyle genetics and personalised medicine. The company observes: ‘We recognize that the availability of personal genetic information raises important issues at the nexus of ethics, law, and public policy’. 23andMe Inc. has tested the boundaries of patent law, with its patent applications, which cut across information technology, medicine, and biotechnology. The company’s research raises fundamental issues about patentability, especially in light of the litigation in Bilski v. Kappos, Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories Inc. and Association for Molecular Pathology …

An Assessment Of The Effects Of Desertification In Yobe State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socio-economic problems of our time. Desertification describes circumstances of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from the climatic variation and human activities. The fundamental goal of this thesis was to assess the effects of desertification in Yobe State, Nigeria. The present threat of desertification in the sahel has reached an alarming stage where crops cultivation and animal rearing/grazing are no more productive, soil has lost its nutrient/fertility, various infrastructure had given way because of windstorm from the neighbouring Niger Republic and sand dunes had taken over. The …

Using Remote Sensing Data To Improve Rice Production In Kutigi, Niger State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd, M B. Yunusa

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This research work looked in the used of Remote Sensing to improve Agricultural production in Kutigi, Niger State. The aim of the study is to use remote sensing to improve rice farming activities in Kutigi, Niger State. It is very important to identify such methods to improve Agricultural production because experts are always interested in new researches and findings to better the standard of living in any environment. In view of this, Remotely-sensed data could be used or employed to elevate most of these agricultural problems in Kutigi through the following objectives: Using Landsat imagery to assess the present landuse …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Remix Culture, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSIn its issues paper, the Australian Law Reform Commission asks a number of inter-connected questions about transformative use, fair dealing, and fair use:Transformative useQuestion 14. How are copyright materials being used in transformative and collaborative ways—for example, in ‘sampling’, ‘remixes’ and ‘mashups’. For what purposes—for example, commercial purposes, in creating cultural works or as individual self-expression?Question 15. Should the use of copyright materials in transformative uses be more freely permitted? Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to provide that transformative use does not constitute an infringement of copyright? If so, how should such an exception be framed?Question 16. …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: 3d Printing, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of questions on the defence of fair use in Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 52. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to include a broad, flexible exception? If so, how should this exception be framed? For example, should such an exception be based on ‘fairness’, ‘reasonableness’ or something else? Question 53. Should such a new exception replace all or some existing exceptions or should it be in addition to existing exceptions?The case study of 3D printing highlights how Australia would benefit from a defence of fair use.Recommendation 1 The narrow, …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Disability Rights, Matthew Rimmer Dr

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1 The Australian Government should take legislative action to implement Article 30 (3) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006, which provides that ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials’. This will involve revising the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) – and addressing any direct or indirect disability discrimination.

Recommendation 2 The Australian Law Reform Commission should consider revising the Copyright Act 1968 …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: International Law, Matthew Rimmer Dr

Matthew Rimmer

The Australian Law Reform Commission poses a question in respect of international law in the issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 1. The ALRC is interested in evidence of how Australia’s copyright law is affecting participation in the digital economy. For example, is there evidence about how copyright law: a. affects the ability of creators to earn a living, including through access to new revenue streams and new digital goods and services; b. affects the introduction of new or innovative business models; c. imposes unnecessary costs or inefficiencies on creators or those wanting to access or make use …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Consumer Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of inter-related questions about copyright law, personal use, consumer rights, and cloud computing:Cloud computingQuestion 5. Is Australian copyright law impeding the development or delivery of cloud computing services?Question 6. Should exceptions in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended, or new exceptions created, to account for new cloud computing services, and if so, how?Copying for private useQuestion 7. Should the copying of legally acquired copyright material, including broadcast material, for private and domestic use be more freely permitted?Question 8. The format shifting exceptions in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) allow users to …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Moral Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a question in respect of moral rights in the issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 18. The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) provides authors with three ‘moral rights’: a right of attribution; a right against false attribution; and a right of integrity. What amendments to provisions of the Act dealing with moral rights may be desirable to respond to new exceptions allowing transformative or collaborative uses of copyright material?In response, I would emphasize a number of themes in respect of moral rights.Recommendation 1 There is a need for the Australian Law Reform Commission …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: The Copyright Term And Orphan Works, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission asks a number of questions in respect of copyright law and orphan works:Question 23. How does the legal treatment of orphan works affect the use, access to and dissemination of copyright works in Australia?Question 24. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to create a new exception or collective licensing scheme for use of orphan works? How should such an exception or collective licensing scheme be framed?In response, I would make the following recommendations on copyright term and copyright duration; old copyright works; orphan works; and copyfraud:Recommendation 1 The Australian Government should withdraw from …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: The Progress Of Science, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of questions about copyright law and databases in its issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy:Data and text miningQuestion 25. Are uses of data and text mining tools being impeded by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)? What evidence, if any, is there of the value of data mining to the digital economy?Question 26. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to provide for an exception for the use of copyright material for text, data mining and other analytical software? If so, how should this exception be framed?Question 27. Are there …

Symposium: Comments On Panel 2, Peter Jaszi

Peter Jaszi

No abstract provided.

Variations In Climatic Parameters And Food Crop Yields: Implications On Food Security In Benue State, Nigeria., Emmanuel Adamgbe, Fanan Ujoh

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Agricultural production in Nigeria like in other developing countries is highly vulnerable to variations in climatic parameters which may have inverse or direct effect on the performance of food crops. This paper examines the patterns and trends of the variations in the climatic parameters and the implications of such variations on efficient yield rates of some food crops in Benue State using data on climatic variables (rainfall, temperature, sunshine) and the yield of some crops per hectare for 25 years (1986-2010). Data on the climatic variables were collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, AirForce Base, Makurdi while the data on …

Patents For Humanity, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This article evaluates two policy initiatives by the United States Government to address access to essential medicines—Priority Review vouchers and “Patents for Humanity”. Such proposals are aimed at speeding up the regulatory review of inventions with humanitarian uses and applications by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is argued that such measures fall short of international standards and norms established by the World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda 2007; the World Trade Organization’s Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health 2001 and the WTO General Council Decision of …

A Submission To The New Zealand Government On The Plain Packaging Of Tobacco Products, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis submission draws upon a number of pieces of research and policy papers on the plain packaging of tobacco products including:1. Becky Freeman, Simon Chapman, and Matthew Rimmer, 'The Case for the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products' (2008) 103 (4) Addiction 580-590.2. Matthew Rimmer, 'A Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on the Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill (Cth)', September 2011, https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=dabfcd75-9807-493f-bc99-4a7506bf493b3A. Matthew Rimmer, 'Tobacco's Mad Men Threaten Public Health', The Conversation, 23 September 2011, http://theconversation.edu.au/tobaccos-mad-men-threaten-public-health-34503B. Matthew Rimmer, 'Big Tobacco's Box Fetish: Plain Packaging at the High Court', The Conversation, 20 April 2012, https://theconversation.edu.au/big-tobaccos-box-fetish-plain-packaging-at-the-high-court-65183C. Matthew …

It Pricing: Copyright Law, Consumer Rights, And Competition Policy. A Submission To The House Of Representatives Standing Committee On Infrastructure And Communications Inquiry Into It Pricing, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Justice Lionel Murphy‘Copyright is being used to manipulate the Australian market.’Justice Michael Kirby‘In effect, and apparently intentionally, those [technological] restrictions reduce global market competition. They inhibit rights ordinarily acquired by Australian owners of chattels to use and adapt the same, once acquired, to their advantage and for their use as they see fit.’US Attorney-General Eric Holder‘As a result of this alleged conspiracy, we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles.’Justice Denise Coates‘There can be no denying the importance of books and authors in the quest for human knowledge and creative expression, and …

This Sporting Life: Copyright Law And Consumer Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

When too much sport is not enoughH.G. Nelson and Roy SlavenSport occupies an anomalous position under Australian copyright law. A footballer like Gary Ablett Junior is not an author under copyright law. A sporting spectacle like the AFL Grand Final or the State of Origin is not a dramatic work. Sporting events are protected somewhat peripherally as television broadcasts under Australian copyright law. Nonetheless, sports organizations have engaged in special pleading in respect of intellectual property law. This has been particularly evident in the litigation between Optus, the National Rugby League, and the Australian Football League.

Dynamics Of Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Its Implication On Food Security In Anyigba, North Central, Nigeria, Tokula E. Arome, Sunday P. Ejaro (Phd)

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This study assessed land use/land cover changes and its effect on Agricultural land in Anyigba. The objectives were to identify and delineate different land use / land cover categories, assess the rate of change that occurred and examine the impact of land use/land cover change on food security using satellite remote sensing data collected at three different years (1987 Land sat TM, 2001 Land Sat TM and 2011 Land Sat ETM). The study utilized GIS software such as Idrisi Andes academic and ArcGIS 9.3. The study area covers approximately 31.8km2, and four major land use/cover classes were utilized (built up, …

La Transparencia En La Protección De Datos Personales, Bruno L. Costantini García

Bruno L. Costantini García

La Transparencia en la Protección de Datos Personales, ponencia elaborada dentro de los trabajos del VII Congreso Nacional de Organismos Públicos Autónomos (OPAM)

The Alternative Forms Of Dispute Settlement And The Essential Difference Between These And Arbitration, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

The paper examines the characteristics of some common alternative forms of dispute settlement and their key differences from arbitration regarding their nature and scope. Its purpose is to explore each mechanism's suitability for specific types of disputes.

Could A Hub And Spoke, Homegrown Ceo Strategy Boost The Success Of University Start-Ups?, Brendan O. Baggot, Martin R. Graf Phd

Brendan O. Baggot

How can universities make more money with their spinout company (SpinCo)‐suitable technologies? By “growing” their own CEOs to improve both the quality and quantity of startup company leaders available, that’s how. Surprisingly, however, at most universities little or no effort is made to interweave this critical need into tech transfer efforts.

Sorting Out The Green From The Greenwash, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Greenwashing is corporate spin which involves making misleading or deceptive claims that a company’s products or services are environmentally sustainable or friendly.The problem of greenwashing requires a robust, integrated approach to law reform to discourage the practice that makes it harder for legitimate voices to be heard.The consultancy group, TerraChoice, had identified seven sins of greenwashing – including claims involving hidden trade-offs; lack of proof; vagueness; false labelling; irrelevant claims; false comparisons; and false statements. Such conduct is putting consumers at a disadvantage and giving some businesses an unfair advantage in a market increasingly concerned about the environment and climate …