Law Commons^™

Parallel Importation--Legitimate Goods Or Trademark Infringement?, W. Weldon Wilson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Conflicts in interpretations of section 42 of the Lanham Act and section 526 of the Tariff Act of 1930 have led to divergent results in several federal courts. Although advocates on each side of the controversy present valid arguments supporting their positions, the dispute should be resolved by analyzing the purpose of the Lanham Act and the Tariff Act. The goal of these acts is protection of consumers and United States industry. Strict application of these statutes would achieve this result. Parallel imports provide goods at lower prices but confuse the consumer as to the origin of the goods and …

Desert Theory: The No-Harm Notion - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

One has no right to complain about another’s appropriation of a plot of land. But we live interdependent lives today. If X were given a property right to pollute, Y might have quite a lot to complain about. If what we are looking for is conditions under which strangers have no right to complain about property being granted, then it would seem appropriate to broaden the proviso a bit and say, the stranger has no right to complain so long as he’s not harmed by the grant of property.

Notes On Demarcation And Other Issues - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Not only is there a problem with demarking the resource (e.g., the problem of larger and larger generality that Hand tries to deal with) but there's also a problem with demarking the TYPE OF USE. In DOW JONES, for example, the defendant was merely making reference to (not copying)the average; ditto the NFL case.

Outline Of Desert Theory - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Locke suggests that a covetous stranger has no justification to complain of another’s taking possession and ownership of land if, after the owner’s appropriation, “there was as good left, as that already possessed, and more than he [the potential complainer] knew what to do with, or his industry could reach to.”

Outline Of New Organization - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

High Technology, The Human Image, And Constitutional Value, Patrick L. Baude

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Note On Singer's The Legal Rights Debate In Analytical Jurisprudence From Betham To Hohfeld - 1984, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The economic realm is the area in which these sorts of privileges are most obviously to be found; it is in the economic realm that the evidence of "damnum absque injuria" began to accumulate, leading Homes, Salmond and others to recognize that the legal system did sometimes allow persons to inflict harm on others.

A Common Law For The Ages Of Intellectual Property, Dan Rosen

University of Miami Law Review

This Article maintains that the rapid pace of technological advances requires that courts take an activist posture in intellectual property cases by updating the Copyright Act and the Patent Law instead of awaiting congressional response.

Outline Of Issues Key: Revised Version - 1984, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Note On Individualized V Particularized Entitlement Inquiries - 1984, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

My analysis now looks something like this: Some entitlements should be "prima facie" protectible from invasion. That means that there are some entitlements which the owner should be able to protect even if he or she is unable to prove (a) that protection is in the net social interest or (b) that the invader's action is deserving of punishment. I would call these entitlements "property".

Note On Caselaw Showing The “Property” Issue - 1984, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The "misappropriation as property" issue has surfaced in Lanham Act

Copyright And The Art Museum, Marshall A. Leaffer, Rhoda L. Berkowitz

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Abstract Of Gift Failure Versus Market Failure - 1982, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Gifts and gift exchanges can serve a combination of economic, personal, social, and humanitarian ends. This article explores how intellectual products are unusually capable of serving these ends through gift relations, and suggests ways in which the law can assist in this process.

Fair Use As Market Failure: A Structural And Economic Analysis Of The Betamax Case And Its Predecessors, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

In the recent and much publicized Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Sony Corp. of America (Betamax) case, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that persons who make videotapes of copyrighted television programs in the privacy of their homes should be considered to be copyright infringers. Basic to the court's reasoning was a misunderstanding of the "fair use" doctrine. Called "the most troublesome [doctrine] in the whole law of copyright," "fair use" renders noninfringing certain uses of copyrighted material that might technically violate the statute, but which do not violate the statute's basic purposes.

Notes Re Betamax - 1982, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

There's a lot of misunderstanding of by BX article. Some simplifying things: There are three types of "market failure" in copyright. The first inheres in the nonexhaustibil ity of the good; barring a right to post-dissemination control against copying, goods may be underproduced because potential users will refuse to pay for access, figuring they can get access to a friend's copy later for free or at lower cost than the creator would charoe. Thus. relying only o~ the physical control which lets i creato~ charge for the "first look", will (except where the look wont' make copying possible- the trade …

Notes On Preemption And Misc - 1981, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

As one of my students indirectly commented (the Herzog midterm?), section 301 PURPORTS to be exclusive. "Nothing in this title shall annul state rights etc." One student, Chris Binnig, indirectly suggested a way out of the exclusivity problem, other than the common sense of Abrams, namely that 301 talks about the general scope of copyright- something which may require some policy inquiry.

Technology Transfer As An Issue In North/South Negotiations, Homer O. Blair

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

For a number of years, negotiations have been taking place on an international scale, usually under the auspices of the United Nations or one of its specialized agencies, on a wide variety of subjects involving technology transfer between the developed countries (the North) and the less developed or developing countries (the South). Three primary groups are involved in the United Nations negotiations. The first is known as the Group of 77, which now includes more than 120 developing countries, including countries in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. Within this group the degree of development varies from countries such …

The European Patent System, Friedrich - Karl Beier

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The formation of the European patent system, which I have presented here only in part and which is still missing one essential element, the Common Market patent, constitutes a milestone in the development of international patent law. No event since the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1883 has so drastically changed the system of protection of inventions as the European patent system will. I do not except the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) signed in Washington in 1970 and entered into force over two years ago. It certainly overcomes the territorial approach of the Paris Convention in …

The Technology Transfer Process: A Vehicle For Continuity And Change, Robert Goldscheider

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The technology transfer or licensing process is a discipline which, if properly appreciated, can be utilized in a wide variety of circumstances. There is a strong parallel with another discipline, music--more particularly, with the playing of a large and complicated church organ.

A man named Johann Sebastian Bach could sit in a drafty church in Leipzig over 200 years ago and create a phenomenon that had an original, and to the ears of most listeners, very wonderful sound. By utilizing the universally recognized notations of music, the staff, clefs, notes of varying duration, sharps, flats, keys, and indications of loudness …

Notes On Misc Re Contract - 1981, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Once there is a patent, voluntarily-accepted user restrictions may not be enforceable. Or, at least, an attempt on the patentee's part to condition access of certain types on obtaining such restrictions, may be impossible. See 30 BNA PTCJ 104 (5/30/85)(Restrictions voided on availability of deposited yeast strains.) Filed under Yeast case.

Lecture Draft On Sensory Recall Device - 1980, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Perception is a bodily function. The brain “sees” according to the orders which the optic nerve relays from its position at the back of the eye. Similarly, it is the brain which also "hears." As we know from our dreaming and our remembering, neither eye nor ear is indispensable to having the sensations of seeing and hearing.

Recent Decisions, Gayle B. Carlson, Michael P. Coury, Celia J. Collins, Spencer M. Sax

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE-ACT OF STATE DOCTRINE DOES NOT PRECLUDE ADJUDICATION OF ANTITRUST CLAIM INVOLVING ALLEGED FRAUDULENT PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN PATENTS

Gayle B. Carlson

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ADMIRALTY-DAMAGES FOR WRONGFUL DEATH ON THE HIGH SEAS ARE LIMITED TO PECUNIARY LOSS

Michael P. Coury

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ANTITRUST-E.E.C. TREATY-JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT THAT OPERATES TO PRECLUDE ENTRY INTO A GEOGRAPHIC MARKET IS PROHIBITED UNDER ARTICLE 85 OF THE E.E.C. TREATY

Celia J. Collins

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-TEAS STATUTE'S DENIAL OF FREE EDUCATION TO ILLEGAL ALIENS VIOLATES EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE AND IS PREEMPTED BY THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT

Spencer M. Sax

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SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY-FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES ACT …

Intellectual And Industrial Property In A Nutshell, Thomas G. Fields Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unfair Competition In Intellectual Products In The Public Domain, Marian R. Nathan

Cleveland State Law Review

A recent Federal District Court case , Grove Press, Inc. v. Collector's Publication, Inc., illustrates another attempt by our judiciary to find its way out of the immense entanglement of copyright infringement in statutory law and unfair competition in common law besetting properties in the public domain. Two 1964 United States Supreme Court decisions have further complicated the positions of both creators and judiciary.

Book Reviews, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since there has never been an era in which as much aggregate contemplation has been expended on the problems involved in the protection of literary property, Professor Patterson's book is both timely and important. The issues involved are being widely debated and discussed, but unfortunately much of the current discussion appears to be proceeding more from emotion, oratory, and vested concern than from detached and dispassionate logic. For this reason especially, the scholarly, sound history in Professor Patterson's new monograph is certain to be welcome, as it cuts through four centuries of continuing obfuscation and confusion and clarifies considerably the …

Suggestion Box Systems, Esther Weissman

Cleveland State Law Review

The employee "suggestion box" has become a common feature of American enterprise. Its use is simple and beneficial. An employee writes an idea on a blank form conveniently made available in his work area and drops his suggestion into a box provided for such suggestions. Many legal questions arise in connection with suggestion systems. But there has been little litigation in this field so far, probably because of the small scale nature of most of the claims which develop as a result of such suggestions. But with the rapid expansion of suggestion systems, more attention will be given to their …

Disclosure Of Specific Types Of Ideas: Misappropriation, Homer C. Mcrae

Cleveland State Law Review

Normal procedure in attempting sale of a valuable idea is for the claimant to offer his idea for sale to the recipient who usually will refuse to buy it until disclosure. Then, after disclosure, the recipient may or may not promise to pay for the idea if he uses it. In either case, the recipient may use the idea later, perhaps in a modified form, and refuse to compensate the claimant.

Statutory Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights, Richard G. Smith

Cleveland State Law Review

As intellectual property is an intangible, its identification and protection under legal process provides peculiar problems. Presently, intellectual property is protected primarily by statutory provisions, as the methods provided by common law have inherent frailty. For exemplary purposes, this exposition will be concerned solely with the problems arising from the domain of invention and discovery and the application of the provisions of the patent laws.

Unfair Competition--News--Literary Property, A. J. B.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Borderland - Where Copyright And Design Patent Meet, Richard W. Pogue

Michigan Law Review

Copyright law and design patent law contemplate basically different objects of protection. Yet at the outer fringes of these types of protection certain concepts overlap to form a rather undefined borderland in which it is difficult to say what law is applicable-copyright law, patent law, neither, or both. It is the purpose of this paper to explore this borderland area in the light of traditional copyright and patent law principles, with attention given to policy considerations involved, and to offer suggestions toward drawing a sharper boundary between the two.