Law Commons^™

Legal And Scientific Flaws In The Myriad Genetics Litigation, Eric Grote

Eric Grote

In Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the Supreme Court held that Myriad’s isolated BRCA DNA patent claims were invalid because an isolated DNA with the same sequence as a natural DNA is a product of nature. The decision has two fundamental flaws. First, due to a faulty claim construction by the trial court, the Supreme Court was never informed that isolated DNA is a synthetic molecule that is not actually isolated from nature, or that isolated DNA lacks functional information encoded by chemical modifications present in natural human DNA. Second, the Court ignored a long line of …

The Costs And Benefits Of Regulatory Intervention In Internet Service Provider Interconnection Disputes: Lessons From Broadcaster-Cable Retransmission Consent Negotiations, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

This paper considers what limited roles the FCC may lawfully assume to ensure timely and fair interconnection and compensation agreements in the Internet ecosystem. The paper examines the FCC’s limited role in broadcaster-cable television retransmission consent negotiations with an eye toward assessing the applicability of this model. The FCC explicitly states that it lacks jurisdiction to prescribe terms, or to mandate binding arbitration. However, it recently interpreted its statutory authority to ensure “good faith” negotiations as allowing it to constrain broadcaster negotiating leverage by prohibiting multiple operators, having the largest market share, from joining in collective negotiations with cable operators. …

Essential Facilities Doctrine And China’S Anti-Monopoly Law, Yong Huang, Elizabeth Xiao-Ru Wang, Xin Roger Zhang

Elizabeth Xiao-Ru Wang

No abstract provided.

Invalid Pre-Termination Grants And The Challenge To Obtain A Remedy, Samuel H. Jones

Samuel H Jones

The 1976 Copyright Act created what is now commonly known as the termination right, which allows authors to unilaterally terminate prior grants of their copyrights and reclaim ownership. This right was created, in large part, to liberate authors from unremunerative agreements previously entered into when the value of their copyrighted works had not yet been realized. It can be a powerful tool for authors to leverage more favorable agreements than they were previously able, particularly when those copyrights are highly valued. To ensure authors’ ability to exercise this right, Congress enacted provisions in the 1976 Copyright Act that prohibit authors …

The Transmit Clause Test: A Pragmatic Approach To A Contemporary Understanding Of The Ambiguity In The Copyright Act’S Transmit Clause, Samantha Tilipman

Samantha Tilipman

The 1976 Copyright Act was a response to development of new technology and an attempt to clarify copyright law to promote further investment in the burgeoning sphere of cable systems.[1] In drafting the provisions of the new Act, Congress created the “Transmit Clause,” a key passage nestled into the definition of “to perform or display a work ‘publicly.’”[2]The ambiguity of the Transmit Clause has led the circuits to interpret it differently leading to conflicting caselaw on opposite ends of the nation. The purpose of this note is to provide the Supreme Court of the United States and …

Dissolving Innovation In Meltwater: A Misguided Paradigm For Online Search, Bill D. Herman

Bill D. Herman

With the exponential increases in online information, internet search engines have helped fill a substantial and growing need for the capacity to sort through and manage data. News outlets in general and newspapers in particular are among the most socially important sources of online content being indexed, and these outlets are faring rather poorly in the internet economy. Both of these sectors are thus in a precarious, potentially conflicted relationship, with copyright law serving as the primary legal basis for mediating the relationship. A 2013 decision, Associated Press v. Meltwater, is one recent attempt to mediate this relationship. In …

Dissolving Innovation In Meltwater: A Misguided Paradigm For Online Search, Bill D. Herman

Bill D. Herman

With the exponential increases in online information, internet search engines have helped fill a substantial and growing need for the capacity to sort through and manage data. News outlets in general and newspapers in particular are among the most socially important sources of online content being indexed, and these outlets are faring rather poorly in the internet economy. Both of these sectors are thus in a precarious, potentially conflicted relationship, with copyright law serving as the primary legal basis for mediating the relationship. A 2013 decision, Associated Press v. Meltwater, is one recent attempt to mediate this relationship. In …

Hacking The Anti-Hacking Statute: Using The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act To Secure Public Data Exclusivity, Nicholas A. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

Work smarter, not harder. Perhaps no other saying better captures the era of hyper-productivity and automation in which we live. Titles such as ‘Top Ten Hacks to Avoid Paywalls,’ ‘Five ways You’re Wasting Your time,’ and ‘One Weird Trick’ fly across our computer screens on a commoditized basis. [1] These tips and tricks help us automate our lives and get more done, faster. Better living through automation. However, as these shortcut solutions get better and automation advances, a question arises. When does working smarter cross the line into cheating?

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was designed to draw this …

When Art Becomes Free: On Artistic In-Expression & Personal Convictions, Amir H. Khoury

Amir Khoury

In this paper I argue that just as there are moral rights in copyright law, which secure attribution and integrity, so too, there should be 'inverse' moral rights that can protect artists from being impelled or compelled to create in the first place. This research comes against the backdrop of one of the most contentious issues in the Western world today, that pertaining to same-sex marriage. But the discussion applies to all other fields where creativity finds itself in a battle over personal convictions. In my view, the inverse moral rights construct is the true reflection of the extent of …

Orphans In Turmoil: How A Legislative Solution Can Help Put The Orphan Works Dilemma To Rest, Vicenç Feliú

Vicenç Feliú

The orphan works issue has continued to grow in the U.S. despite strong efforts to find a workable solution. Stake holders on both sides of the issue have proposed and opposed solutions and compromises that could have alleviated the problem, and we are still no closer to an agreement. This paper posits that the solutions offered in the proposed legislation of 2006 and 2008 provide a strong working foundation for a legislative answer to the issue. To make that answer workable, a new legislative effort would have to take into account the questions raised by stakeholders to the previous legislative …

Dissymmetry Of Intervening Rights In The Aia And Marine Polymer, Juan Villar

Juan Villar

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Intellectual Property Protections In The People’S Republic Of China: Is There An Enforcement Problem?, William Mcguire, Michael Wotherspoon

William McGuire

No abstract provided.

The New Law Of Ideas, Robert Denicola

Robert C Denicola

The New Law of Ideas Robert C. Denicola Most businesses run on ideas—ideas for new products, new production methods, and new marketing strategies. Since at least the middle of the last century rights in ideas have been analyzed under a body of law that came to be called “the law of ideas.” Dominated by contract principles, the law of ideas also subsumed an array of additional theories regularly invoked to protect idea merchants, including property-based causes of action such as conversion and misappropriation, quasi-contractual claims premised on unjust enrichment, and claims alleging breaches of confidence, fiduciary duty, and loyalty. Texas …

Intellectual Property Rights Protection In The Field Of E-Learning, Mohamed S. Asadek Dr.

Mohamed S Abdel Sadek

No abstract provided.

, Mohamed S. Asadek Dr.

Mohamed S Abdel Sadek

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property Rights Protection In The Field Of E-Learning, Mohamed S. Asadek

Mohamed S Abdel Sadek

In the field of providing e-learning services, educational institutions often deal with protected works in accordance with intellectual property regulations. This dealing, from our point of view, does not go beyond three assumptions: The first assumption: The educational institution is the owner of the rights contained in those works, whether due to preparing it within the framework of collective works, or due to purchasing the financial rights contained in them. The second assumption: The educational institution legitimately use the protected works for the purpose of educational illustration, or for the purpose of criticism and analysis, without the need to obtain …

Inhibiting Patent Trolling: A New Approach For Applying Rule 11, Eric J. Rogers, Young Jeon

Eric J Rogers

The existing Rule 11 of the FRCP can be immediately harnessed to help solve the patent troll, nuisance-lawsuit problem. Currently there is the perception that too many litigious entities, commonly referred to as “patent trolls,” are creating too much dead-weight economic waste in society. The popular view is that there has been an alarming rise in the number of patent trolls that make no products but try to monetize patents by filing dubious patent infringement lawsuits merely to extract money from commercially productive companies that actually make products and use technologies for society’s benefit. Defining “patent troll” is probably too …

Rebuttable Presumption Of Public Interest In Protecting The Public Health—The Necessity For Denying Injunctive Relief In Medically Related Patent Infringement Cases After Ebay V. Mercexchange, Lance E. Wyatt Jr.

Lance E Wyatt Jr.

The public’s interest in medicine and good health is substantial. However, this interest is harmed when important medical devices or pharmaceuticals, although infringing on valid patents, are suddenly taken off the market after a court grants a permanent injunction. While permanent injunctions were automatically granted by the Federal Circuit before the Supreme Court’s holding in eBay v. MercExchange, courts now have more discretion to deny injunctive relief. Now that courts have this newfound discretion after eBay, the public should no longer expect to be harmed by the sudden removal of medical supplies. Unfortunately, this has not been the course that …