Law Commons^™

Doctrinal Approaches To The Animal Breeders’ Rights Granting, Diana V. Ivanova Dr., Julia A. Fedorova

Diana V. Ivanova Dr.

In the paper we analyze foreign and national doctrinal approaches to the animal breeders’ rights granting. Its genesis, legal nature of animal breed, and location of related legal norms are considered. We try to justify the possibility of granting animal breeders’ rights in the Republic of Belarus.

Traditional Knowledge Rights And Wrongs, Sean Pager

Sean Pager

SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/sean/Documents/Folklore%20TK/Unpacking%20ABSTRACT.doc

Traditional Knowledge Rights and Wrongs

Sean A. Pager, Michigan State University

ABSTRACT

Should the intangible heritage of indigenous people be subject to intellectual property rights? After years of effort, international delegates are poised to complete a pair of ambitious treaties that would accomplish this goal. This Article provides the first detailed analysis and critique of the draft treaties, which provide for exclusive rights in traditional knowledge and cultural expression, respectively. Proponents of such protection often invoke both cultural integrity and economic justice rationales. Yet, these rationales dictate conflicting imperatives. To resolve these conflicts, the Article argues for greater differentiation …

Copyright In Pantomime

Brian L. Frye

Why does the Copyright Act specifically provide for the protection of “pantomimes”? This article shows that the Copyright Act of 1976 amended the subject matter of copyright to include pantomimes simply in order to conform it to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. It further shows that the Berlin Act of 1909 amended the Berne Convention to provide for copyright protection of “les pantomimes” and “entertainments in dumb show” in order to ensure copyright protection of silent motion pictures. Unfortunately, the original purpose of providing copyright protection to “pantomimes” was forgotten. This Article argues that …

The Irrelevance Of Nanotechnology Patents, Emily Michiko Morris

Emily Michiko Morris

Once the stuff of science fiction, nanotechnology is now expected to be the next technological revolution, but despite millions of dollars of investment, we still have yet to see the brave new world of cheap energy, cell-specific drug delivery systems, and self-replicating nanobots that nanotechnology promises. Instead, nanotechnology seems to be in a holding pattern, perpetually stuck in the status of “emerging science,” “immature field,” and “new technology” for over three decades now. Why? Professor Mark Lemley and a number of others have suggested that the answer to this puzzling question is simple: nanotechnology differs from the all of the …

Traditional Knowledge Rights And Wrongs, Sean Pager

Sean Pager

Should the intangible heritage of indigenous cultures be subject to intellectual property rights? After years of effort, international delegates are poised to complete a pair of ambitious treaties that would accomplish this goal. This Article provides the first detailed analysis and critique of the draft treaties, which provide for exclusive rights in traditional knowledge and cultural expression, respectively. Proponents of such protection often invoke both cultural integrity and economic justice rationales. Yet, these rationales dictate conflicting imperatives. To resolve these conflicts, the Article argues for greater differentiation between the two draft treaties based on subject matter. Just as copyright and …

Ip Piracy & Developing Nations: A Recipe For Terrorism Funding, Brandy G. Robinson

Brandy G Robinson

When events such as 9/11 hit the U.S., no one thought that terrorists funded these activities through intellectual property piracy. On the surface, intellectual property (IP) piracy and terrorism are two distant topics. However, these topics are not distant but closely connected, as terrorist groups thrive on IP piracy, especially in developing nations, which has led to successful terrorist funding opportunities. Because IP piracy evades normal detection and developing nations do not thoroughly understand it, terrorist groups gravitate towards IP piracy for funding, which presents a distinct global dilemma.

Intellectual property rights and laws, namely criminal enforcement mechanisms, are essential …

The Cost Of Confusion: The Paradox Of Trademarked Pharmaceuticals, Hannah W. Brennan

Hannah W Brennan

The United States spends nearly $1,000 per person annually on drugs—40 percent more than the next highest spender, Canada, and more than twice the amount France and Germany spend. Although myriad factors contribute to high drug spending in the United States, the crucial role that intellectual property laws play in inhibiting access to cheaper, generic medications is among one of the best documented. Yet, for the most part, the discussion of the relationship between intellectual property law and drug spending has centered on patent protection. Recently, however, a few researchers have turned their attention to a different exclusivity—trademark law. New …

Intellectual Property And Copyrights, Sherif K. Shaheen Prof.

sherif k. shaheen Prof.

No abstract provided.

Reforming Copyright Interpretation, Zahr K. Said

Zahr K Said

This Article argues that copyright law needs to acknowledge and reform its interpretive choice regime. Even though judges face potentially outcome-determinative choices among competing sources of interpretive authority when they adjudicate copyrightable works, their selection of interpretive methods has been almost entirely overlooked by scholars and judges alike. This selection among competing interpretive methods demands that judges choose where to locate their own authority: in the work itself; in the context around the work, including its reception, or in the author’s intentions; in expert opinions; or in judicial intuition. Copyright’s interpretive choice regime controls questions of major importance for the …

Trademark Law And The Prickly Ambivalence Of Post-Parodies, Charles E. Colman

Charles E. Colman

This Essay examines what I call "post-parodies" in apparel. This emerging genre of do-it-yourself fashion is characterized by the appropriation and modification of third-party trademarks — not for the sake of dismissively mocking or zealously glorifying luxury fashion, but rather to engage in more complex forms of expression. I examine the cultural circumstances and psychological factors giving rise to post-parodic fashion, and conclude that the sensibility causing its proliferation is one grounded in ambivalence. Unfortunately, current doctrine governing trademark parodies cannot begin to make sense of post-parodic goods; among other shortcomings, that doctrine suffers from crude analytical tools and a …

Friend Or Faux: The Trademark Counterfeiting Act's Inability To Stop The Sale Of Counterfeit Sporting Goods, Jennifer Riso

Jennifer Riso

The demand for counterfeit sporting goods, such as jerseys and other apparel, is on the rise as the prices of authentic goods continue to increase. The Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 criminalizes the import and sale of counterfeit goods, but is ineffective at addressing the demand side of counterfeit goods. This paper analyzes the history behind the Act and recommends ways to ensure that the act will stay relevant as technology makes it easier to purchase counterfeit goods.

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 …

Aereo's Errors, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This article scrutinizes the many troubling errors made by the United States Supreme Court in its decision in American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. Aereo’s streaming television service allowed subscribers to watch broadcast television on a computer, tablet, or smartphone without requiring them to be directly connected to cable, satellite, or a local antenna. Aereo’s system was designed to comply with existing copyright law by using thousands of antennas, each of which was designated for only one subscriber at a time. Aereo was sued for copyright infringement by a number of leading television broadcasters. The United States Supreme Court, …

Guidelines To Limit Criminal Prosecutions Of Filesharing Services, Benton C. Martin, Jeremiah R. Newhall

Benton C. Martin

This short essay acknowledges certain efficiencies in enforcing copyright law against "secondary" infringers like filesharing services through criminal proceedings, but it proposes guidelines for prosecutors to use in limiting prosecutions against this type of infringer.

Intellectual Property, Trips And Development, Anne Fitzgerald, Rami M. Olwan

Rami M Olwan

No abstract provided.

Piracy And Video Games: Is There A Light At The End Of The Tunnel?, Maxim Tsotsorin

Maxim Tsotsorin

Over the past couple decades piracy has become a relatively low-cost business – available technology has made making a copy of a videogame as easy as ripping off a music CD on your personal laptop – with a click of a button. Digital color copiers make CD inserts that look better than originals, and printing technology allows printing on CDs without messy stickers. In the Internet universe, multitude of bit-torrents and peer-to-peer sharing platforms provide videogame pirates with an unlimited distribution market and low cost operations. The industry’s countermeasures, however, also has not stayed still. The game developers employ a …

Surveying Recent Scholarship On Fair Use: A Conversation, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

A conversation about recent books discussing copyright fair use with Rebecca Tushnet, Peter Decherney and Bill Herman.

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 …

Ethics In Intellectual Property Negotiations: Issues And Illustrations, Lisa A. Dolak

Lisa A Dolak

Negotiating – formally or informally – is a characteristic aspect of law practice. The requisite skills are acquired “on the job” and, for some, via the formal study of negotiation processes and attributes. The negotiator has much to consider, including the client’s goals and interests, likely litigation outcomes should negotiations fail or any ultimate agreement be breached, and what the counterparty is likely seeking to accomplish.

The challenges include negotiating within the limits imposed by the ethics rules. This paper identifies key authorities relevant to negotiation ethics and illustrates their operation in the context of hypotheticals based on intellectual property …

Navigating The Uncharted Waters Of Teaching Law With Online Simulations, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

The Internet is more than a place where the Millennial Generation communicates, plays, and shops. It is also a medium that raises issues central to nearly every existing field of legal doctrine, whether basic (such as Torts, Property, or Contracts) or advanced (such as Intellectual Property, Criminal Procedure, or Securities Regulation). This creates tremendous opportunities for legal educators interested in using the live Internet for experiential education. This Article examines how live websites can be used to create engaging and holistic simulations that tie together doctrine, theory, skills, and values in ways impossible to achieve with the case method. In …

Toward A Limited Right Of Publicity: An Argument For The Convergence Of The Right Of Publicity, Unfair Competition & Trademark Law, Andrew Beckerman Rodau

Andrew Beckerman Rodau

The right of publicity, the newest type of intellectual property, allows a person to control commercial use of his or her identity. The scope of the right has expanded significantly because many courts and commentators have misinterpreted it by viewing it as a pure property right justified by a labor or unjust enrichment theory. It should be evaluated in light of the utilitarian justification for intellectual property law. Rewarding people by allowing them to monetize their public persona is not the goal. The goal is to incentivize individuals to engage in creative endeavors for the benefit of the public. An …

A Rollicking Band Of Pirates: Licensing The Exclusive Right Of Public Performance In The Theatre Industry, Shane D. Valenzi

Shane D Valenzi

With ticket prices on Broadway at an all-time high, amateur and regional theatres are the only venues for theatrical productions to which most Americans are exposed. Licensing these performance rights—known as “stock and amateur rights”—is the primary source of income for many playwrights, even for those whose plays flopped at the highest level. However, the licensing houses responsible for facilitating these transactions frequently retain and exercise the ability to issue exclusive performance licenses to certain large regional theatres. This practice limits public access to particular works and restricts playwrights’ potential earnings in those works. Though this behavior does not amount …

Images In/Of Law, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

The proliferation of images in and of law lends itself to surprisingly complex problems of epistemology and power. Understanding through images is innate; most of us easily understand images without thinking. But arriving at mutually agreeable understandings of images is also difficult. Translating images into shared words leads to multiple problems inherent in translation and that pose problems for justice. Despite our saturated imagistic culture, we have not established methods to pursue that translation process with confidence. This article explains how images are intuitively understood and yet collectively inscrutable, posing unique problems for resolving legal conflicts that demand common and …

Intellectual Property Rights And Detached Human Body Parts, Justine Pila

Justine Pila

This paper responds to an invitation by the editors to consider whether the intellectual property (IP) regime suggests an appropriate model for protecting interests in detached human body parts. It begins by outlining the extent of existing IP protection for body parts in Europe, and the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the patent system in that regard. It then considers two further species of IP right of less obvious relevance. The first are the statutory rights of ownership conferred by domestic UK law in respect of employee inventions, and the second are the economic and moral rights recognized by European …

Concepts Of Intellectual Property In The Roman Tradition, Erin Guldiken, Marianina Demetri Olcott

Dr. Marianina Olcott and Erin Guldiken

The current study concerns concepts of intellectual property in the Roman tradition first century BCE through forth century CE. It complements a previous study published in the Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA (Summer 2002, vol.49, No.4) which dealt with ancient Athenian concepts of intellectual property. The current study as in the earlier study of the Athenian tradition shows that ancient concepts of intellectual property are remarkably similar to modern concepts, as embodied in American case law (Title 17) and guidelines on plagiarism formulated by the modern academic establishment. Our plan of investigation is as follows: First we …

Innovation Cooperation: Energy Biosciences And Law, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

This Article analyzes the development and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies that can address climate change. Climate change poses catastrophic health and security risks on a global scale. Universities, individual innovators, private firms, civil society, governments, and the United Nations can unite in the common goal to address climate change. This Article recommends means by which legal, scientific, engineering, and a host of other public and private actors can bring environmentally sound innovation into widespread use to achieve sustainable development. In particular, universities can facilitate this collaboration by fostering global innovation and diffusion networks.

Die Institutionalisierung Von Wissensbeständen In Österreich. Die Diskrepanz Zwischen Wirtschaftlicher Realität Und Politik (The Institutionalization Of Knowledge In Austria: Coming To Grips Between Economic Reality & Policy), Roya Ghafele

Roya Ghafele

The University Act 2002 redefines ownership structures over intellectual property in Austria, thus paving the way for enhanced knowledge transfer and knowledge commercialization from public research institutions. This study discusses the various featers of the different models of generating and leveraging knowledge. It does so, by explaining the characteristics of technology markets and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of proprietary versus open knowledge generation from a perspective of new institutional economics. Particular emphasis is being put on the preservation of the public interest, deemed particularly important in the context of publicly funded research. The paper concludes by offering a rough …

Accounting For Intellectual Property?, Roya Ghafele

Roya Ghafele

Accounting constitutes a very specific form of language, which is highly standardized, mathematical in nature and seeks to uniformly and systematically describe events while avoiding expressions of individual creativity or explicit political positions. In this sense, accounting is a social, cultural and historical artefact rather than a natural or technical phenomenon and can therefore be viewed as the decisive instrument to create and maintain imagined business communities. On the balance sheet, IP experiences a specific form of authorization. It is represented in the discourse of accounting by ‘intangibles’, an imprecise term associated with the increasingly observed ‘gap between the market …

Patent Pleading After Iqbal: Using Infringement Contentions As A Guide, Richard Alan Kamprath

Richard Kamprath

“Patent Pleading After Iqbal: Using Infringement Contentions As A Guide” This article proposes how the new standard for pleading patent infringement related claims should be interpreted in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Twombly and Iqbal. The facial plausibility of a pleading requires more than bare allegations and must be supported with enough facts in order for the court to infer wrongdoing by the accused infringer. This article is dedicated to applying this theory of pleading to the practical world of the courtroom. Federal Rule 8 is discussed as the starting point to understanding pleading in the federal courts. …

Parallel Importation, Patent Right Exhaustion, And Strategies For Navigating The Evolving Landscape, Bryan J. Su

Bryan J Su

Parallel importation provides a means for purchasers and consumers of commercial goods protected by intellectual property law to acquire products for prices lower than the price set by intellectual property right holders. This form of “legal piracy” of grey-market goods is conducted by legally purchasing products in jurisdictions with lower prices, which allows distributors to import products into jurisdictions with higher prices, leading to a competitive advantage. The doctrine of patent exhaustion, especially when applied internationally, allows this practice by giving authorized purchasers of products unfettered ownership and control over the specific articles they acquire.

Analysis of how the United …