Law Commons^™

Letter From The Editor, Richard P. Klau

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Over the last eight months, several people have asked why we decided to publish The Journal exclusively online. These concerns are not insignificant -- any embrace of a new technology should be made without blinders on. We were excited by the possibilities of publishing online, but the fears that we would not be taken seriously were very real. These fears have, however, been overcome by the enthusiasm which has greeted The Journal.

Trademarks Along The Infobahn: A First Look At The Emerging Law Of Cybermarks, Dan L. Burk

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Use of the global Internet computer network is rising exponentially. As Internet subscription increases disagreements between users are expected to arise, just as where any sizeable number of human beings interact, disagreements may be expected to arise. To date, on-line disputes have been primarily dealt with via informal solutions, such as the polite conventions of "netiquette" shared by Internet users. However, as the community of Internet users grows increasingly diverse, formal dispute resolution mechanisms, embodied as law and legal institutions, may be called upon by the parties to resolve disagreements. For example, several acrimonious disputes have already arisen over the …

Priority Of Invention In United States Patents: From The Paris Convention To Gatt, John F. Carroll Iv

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Imagine the following: It's New Year's Eve, 1994, and as twilight falls you start to clean off your desk and get ready to go home. On top of your "Out" tray is a copy of a patent application for American Corporation that you filed with the Patent and Trademark Office last week. A-Corp., one of your largest clients, is the nation's largest manufacturer of business office furniture. The patent application is for A-Corp's new "Security Cabinet," a device that protects sensitive computer disks and video- tapes from electromagnetic contamination. The Security Cabinet was unveiled at an office supply trade show …

Overreaching Provisions In Software License Agreements, Michael Liberman

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Historically, software license agreements emerged as the most popular means of protection of proprietary rights in computer software. As a common form of contract and trade secret protection, software licenses coexist with other forms of intellectual property rights such as patent and copyright. The importance of these forms of protection has recently increased. Where the licensor fails to consider the implications of the relation between these forms of protection, the licensor's attempts to maximize contractual protection while restricting the licensee's activities regarding the licensed software may result in overreaching. Under these circumstances, a court may invalidate the license agreement in …

Lawfutures, Or, Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'M Sixty Four?, Stephen T. Maher

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

I cannot imagine what it was like to practice law without a photocopy machine. In the first years of my practice, I received a few briefs typed the old fashioned way, on onion-skin paper with five sets of carbons in between. But since then, we have witnessed a continuing march of progress in information processing. From the mag card, to the memory typewriter, to the System 6, to the dedicated word processor, to the personal computer and now to the computer network, we have seen technology, when working correctly, providing tremendous assistance in meeting the demands of our busy lives. …

Impact Of Federal Circuit Precedent On The On-Sale And Public-Use Bars To Patentability, The A Review Of Recent Decisions Of The United States Court Of Appeals For The Federal Court , Edward G. Poplawski, Paul D. Tripodi, Ii

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Distinguishing Between Consensual And Nonconsensual Advantages Of Liability Rules, Ian Ayres, Eric Talley

Faculty Scholarship

Louis Kaplow and Steven Shavell's thoughtful reply to our recent article contains powerful insights about the relative efficiency of liability and property rules. While we are in agreement that liability rules can be more efficient than property rules when transaction costs are low, we disagree about the cause of this liability-rule advantage. Kaplow and Shaveli believe that liability rules hold only a nonconsensual advantage over property rules (i.e., liability rules tend to induce efficient nonconsensual takings). While granting this oftrecognized nonconsensual advantage, we contend that liability rules may also have a consensual advantage in low-transaction-cost settings (i.e., liability rules facilitate …

Biodiversity Prospecting: Fulfilling The Mandate Of The Biodiversity Convention, Edgar J. Asebey, Jill D. Kempenaa

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

After a brief overview of biodiversity prospecting, the authors review the historical context of biodiversity prospecting, including the common heritage doctrine, international patent law, and the Biodiversity Convention. The authors analyze the four major United States prospecting initiatives to date and identify their strengths and shortcomings. The authors then investigate two possible alternatives: (1) biological resource cartelization and (2) the development of a new type of biodiversity enterprise. The authors advocate the latter as a means of complying with the Biodiversity Convention.

Intellectual Property Rights And Native American Tribes, Richard A. Guest

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Authors' Rights In A Digital Age, Marshall A. Leaffer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Reverse Engineering And The Rise Of Electronic Vigilantism: Intellectual Property Implications Of "Lock-Out" Programs, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Over the past few years, there has been an abundance of scholarship dealing with the appropriate scope of copyright and patent protection for computer programs. This Article approaches those problems from a slightly different perspective, focusing on the discrete problem of lock-out programs. The choice of lock-out as a paradigm for exploring the interoperability question and the contours of copyright and patent protection of computer programs is informed by two considerations. First, for purposes of the interoperability inquiry, lock-out programs represent an extreme; they are discrete, self-contained modules that are highly innovative in design, yet that serve no purpose other …

The Unconscious And The Law The Law And The Unconscious, Jorge Degregorio

Cardozo Law Review

The god Apollo, whose diverse gifts included the ability to interpret dreams, was recognized as the first author of the law, which was dictated through his oracle in Delphi. For his sacred person, dreams were laws and laws, dreams. Let us invent a story in order to fill in the missing pages of the myth:

Laws, as well as the power to decipher the soul's mysteries from dreams, were bestowed upon the Androgyns by the god. Once they acquired the power of law and of dream interpretation, they attempted to scale Olympus and sit on the gods' stage. Zeus, presiding …

Assertive Modesty: An Economics Of Intangibles, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

At the center of our Symposium stand two papers: "A Manifesto Concerning the Legal Protection of Computer Programs" (Manifesto) and "Legal Hybrids: Between the Patent and Copyright Paradigms" (Legal Hybrids). Both are stimulating. Both are lengthy. As a result, my primary role is that of a guide: this Comment will summarize the authors' proposals, analyze certain aspects in greater detail, and outline their explicit and implicit methodologies. Part I of the Comment describes the papers' positions and methodologies. Part II highlights some of the papers' many contributions to the literature, and offers some other evaluative observations.

The Exemption From Patent Infringement And Declaratory Judgments: Misinterpretation Of Legislative Intent?, Amy Stark

San Diego Law Review

This Comment explores the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984. This statute was enacted to encourage expenditure in the areas of pharmaceutical and medical inventions, and to ensure greater competition in these fields at an earlier date after relevant patents expire. The author argues that courts' interpretations of this act may be preventing these original goals of Congress from being met. Several courts have based denial of declaratory judgments upon this statute. The author argues that if the statute is interpreted as requiring the denial of all declaratory judgment suits, the statute may actually discourage companies …

Intellectual Property Right Protections In The Republic Of China: Biotechnology And Pollution Control, Joi Cary

Buffalo Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Enablement In Biotechnology Cases After In Re Goodman, John C. Todaro

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Enforcement Of Intellectual Property Protection Between Mexico And The United States: A Precursor Of Criminal Enforcement For Western Hemispheric Integration?, Bruce Zagaris, Alvaro J. Aguilar

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Holding Producers And Distributors Liable For The Harms Of Sexually Violent Pornography Through Tort Law, Elizabeth K. Fuller

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

United States V. Knox: Protecting Children From Sexual Exploitation Through The Federal Child Portonography Laws, Annemarie J. Mazzone

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Eleven Copyright Law Professors In Princeton University Press V. Michigan Document Services, Inc., L. Ray Patterson

Scholarly Works

The issue dealt with in this amici curiae brief is the judicial ability (or inability) to take away rights granted by Congress in 17 U.S.C. S 107, the fair use doctrine.

On June 9, 1994, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, issued an opinion in Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc., granting several publishers a permanent injunction prohibiting a commercial copying service from photocopying excerpts from copyrighted works chosen by professors and compiled as course packets to be used by university students in class. The court held that such photocopying was …

Environmentally Dependent Inventions And The "On Sale" And "Public Use" Bars Of § 102(B): A Proffered Solution To A Statutory Dichotomy, James A. Jorgensen

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Product-By-Process Patent Claims: Majority Of The Court Of Appeals For The Federal Circuit Forgets Purpose Of The Patent Act, Mark D. Passler

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Review Of: Ann Rappaport, Development And Transfer Of Pollution Prevention Technology, Kristina M. Jahns

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of: Ann Rappaport, Development and Transfer of Pollution Prevention Technology (Quorum Books 1993). Appendices, bibliographical references, figures, index, preface, tables. LC 93-292; ISBN 0-89930-816-3 [203 pp. Cloth $55.00. 88 Post Road West, Westport CT 06881.]

Of "Ugly Stiks" And Uglier Case Law: A Comment On The Federal Registration Of Functional Designs After Shakespeare Co. V. Silstar Corp. Of America, Theodore H. Davis, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter To J.S.G. Boggs, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Money originally was just a way of measuring. Cattle at first. When metal: being sure of the weight & purity of the metal. Metal as purchasing power = value as coinage. Bring bullion to the mint: they'd test it, weigh it, and give it back as coins.

Lost And Foundry: Forging A New Approach To Patent Licensing Agreements, Lawrence D. Graham

Washington Law Review

The Federal Circuit has been inconsistent in its treatment of patent licensing agreements held by foundries. Recently, the Federal Circuit held that a foundry contract is a sale of goods that severs the right of the patentee with respect to the buyer under the patent exhaustion doctrine. In addition, it held that the applicable license would be construed to allow foundry rights unless the patentee could prove otherwise. This Note analyzes a string of Federal Circuit cases involving foundries and patent licenses. It concludes that a foundry contract should be viewed as a sale of services rather than a sale …

Revision Of The Japanese Patent And Utlility Model System, Nobuo Monya, Marvin Motsenbocker, Hiroki Mitsumata

Washington International Law Journal

As part of the international harmonization of industrial property rights, in the summer of 1992 a U.S. advisory committee published recommendations concerning revisions to the patent system. The Industrial Property Council of Japan also published a report at the end of 1992 concerning revisions to the patent law and utility model law. Soon thereafter the U.S. administration in Washington changed, and the U.S. position on patent law harmonization became unclear. Japan, however, enacted its report into legislation. Japan revised the relevant parts of its Patent Law (Law No. 26 of 1993) on April 16, 1993, and the revisions were promulgated …

Vagueness And Enforceability: Potential Problems Of The 1991 Thai Trademark Act, Sakda Thanitcul

Washington International Law Journal

In 1991, Thailand adopted a new Trademark Act, which, among other goals, increased protection of trademark and service mark agreements. However, enforcement of these new rules has not been clearly defined. In the first portion of this article, the author examines the new rules for trademark agreements in Thailand. These rules give extensive discretion to the Thai Registrar, yet have potential problems in enforcing standards such as quality control. The next section examines Thai public policy, and analyzes how other industrialized nations enforce their policies on trademarks. Finally, the article recommends that Thailand increase quality control, and more carefully define …

Newscasts As Property: Will Retransmission Consent Stimulate Production Of More Local Television News?, Lorna Veraldi

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Cable Act of 1992 required, for the first time, that cable systems receive the consent of broadcast stations to retransmit their signals. While the fees that some stations had hoped to extract from the cable systems have generally not materialized, broadcasters may be able to use their expertise in the provision of local news and programming to gain additional cable channel space for this local-interest programming. The Author explores the historical interaction and conflict between cable systems and local broadcasters over retransmission rights. The Author also examines the courts' and FCC's responses to the copyright issues surrounding retransmission. Focusing …

The Wright Enabling Disclosure For Biotechnology Patents, Karen S. Canady

Washington Law Review

The disclosure in a patent specification must enable others to make and use the claimed invention. In the competitive biotechnology industry, companies often seek broad claims to protect contemplated embodiments of their inventions that have not yet been reduced to practice. In In re Wright, the Federal Circuit recently challenged this approach when it upheld the rejection, for lack of enablement, of all but the narrowest claims to a vaccine genetically engineered to protect against retroviruses. This decision unreasonably elevates the established standard for enablement by limiting biotechnological patent protection to only those embodiments of a claimed invention whose success …