Law Commons^™

The Jekyll And Hyde Story Of International Trade: The Supreme Court In Phrma V. Walsh And The Trips Agreement, Srividhya Ragavan

Srividhya Ragavan

No abstract provided.

Five Decades Of Intellectual Property And Global Development, Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

The 2016-2017 biennium marks the historical milestones of several major pro-development initiatives relating to intellectual property law and policy. These important milestones include the Intellectual Property Conference of Stockholm in 1967, the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development (UNDRD) in 1986 and the establishment of the WIPO Development Agenda in 2007.

On January 1, 2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also came into force. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development featured 17 SDGs and 169 targets. Prominently mentioned in Target 3.b of SDG 3 are the WTO …

Infringement As Unfair Competition: A Blueprint For Global Governance?, Sean Pager, Eric Priest

Sean Pager

INFRINGEMENT AS UNFAIR COMPETITION: A BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE?

Sean A. Pager Michigan State University College of Law

Eric Priest University of Oregon School of Law

ABSTRACT

This Article examines a new approach to address persistent regulatory failures in global supply chains. In a series of recent cases, unfair competition actions have been brought in U.S. court against foreign manufacturers who infringe software overseas under the theory that the cost savings from infringement confers an unfair advantage in U.S. markets. While this theory has been advanced in the intellectual property context, the same approach could work to target abuses in …

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 …

From Pirates To Partners (Episode Ii): Protecting Intellectual Property In Post-Wto China, Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

In From Pirates to Partners: Protecting Intellectual Property in China in the Twenty-First Century, I criticized the ineffectiveness and short-sightedness of the U.S.-China intellectual property policy. As I argued, the approach taken by the administration in the 1980s and early 1990s had created a cycle of futility in which China and the United States repeatedly threatened each other with trade wars only to back down in the eleventh hour with a compromise that did not provide sustainable improvements in intellectual property protection. Since I wrote that article five years ago, China has joined the WTO and undertook a complete overhaul …

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 …

Promoting “Academic Entrepreurship” In Europe And The United States: Creating An Intellectual Property Regime To Facilitate The Efficient Transfer Of Knowledge From The Lab To The Patient, Constance Bagley, Christina Tvarno

Constance E. Bagley

In 2014, the European Commission announced the launch of a study of knowledge transfer by public research organizations and other institutes of higher learning “to determine which additional measures might be needed to ensure an optimal flow of knowledge between the public research organisations and business thereby contributing to the development of the knowledge based economy.” As the European Commission has recognized, the EU needs to take action to “unlock the potential of IPRs [intellectual property rights] that lie dormant in universities, research institutes and companies.” This article builds on our earlier work on structuring efficient pharmaceutical public-private partnerships (PPPPs) …

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 …

Corporate "Human Rights" To Intellectual Property Protection, J. Janewa Osei Tutu

J. Janewa Osei-Tutu

Adjudicating Trips For Development, Molly Land

Molly K. Land

No abstract provided.

Global Warming Trend? The Creeping Indulgence Of Fair Use In International Copyright Law, Richard Peltz-Steele

Richard J. Peltz-Steele

In her article Toward an International Fair Use Doctrine in 2000, Professor Ruth Okediji hypothesized that the internationalization of copyright law would threaten the freedom of expression if some doctrine akin to U.S. “fair use” were not established as an international legal norm. Acknowledging the central concern of the Okediji article, this paper analyzes research and legal developments since that article to determine how the present state of the “fair use” concept in international copyright law differs from its state in 2000. The paper concludes that in the last eight years, though there has been no formal adoption of an …

China's New Copyright Law Reforms: A Comparative Analysis, Shruti Rana, Garland Rowland

Shruti Rana

Nations and businesses around the globe have been battling over copyright protection rules, with industrialized nations pressuring developing nations to adopt Western-style copyright regimes. These battles have escalated as copyright piracy grows and developing nations struggle to formulate laws that will protect their own intellectual properties as well as those of industrialized nations. China is at the cutting edge of these debates; in the summer of 2012, China released transformative new proposals to modify its copyright rules. This Article, which we believe is the first in-depth academic piece analyzing China’s new reforms, critiques China’s new proposals and argues that China …

Changing Places: A New Role For Creators In The Digital World, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq., Maria Alejandra Lopez Garcia Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The authors provide a brief overview of the author’s role in exploiting their creations and how new technologies have made authors and publishers explore new business models. In the article, the authors take a look at the innovative business models implemented by J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Radiohead and Frank Ocean amongst others./////////////////////////////////////////////////// Los autores proporcionan una breve descripción de la función del autor en la explotación de sus creaciones y cómo las nuevas tecnologías han obligado a los autores y editores explorar nuevos modelos de negocio. En el artículo, los autores echan un vistazo a los modelos de negocio innovadores …

Rebalancing Trips, Molly K. Land

Molly K. Land

In recent years, global intellectual property scholarship has been preoccupied with “rehabilitating” the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). With some distance from the polarizing rhetoric that accompanied the early years of TRIPS, contemporary accounts laud the treaty as far more flexible and sensitive to the needs of developing countries than had previously been believed. This article argues that, contrary to these accounts, the fears of developing countries concerning TRIPS have indeed been realized—just not in the manner they imagined at the time of its conclusion. Although TRIPS does contain significant flexibilities, states have largely failed to take …

Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In The North American Free Trade Agreement: A Successful Case Of Regional Trade Regulation, Frank J. Garcia

Frank J. Garcia

No abstract provided.

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.

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 …

How China Succeeded In Protecting Olympic Trademarks And Why This Success Will Not Generate Immediate Improvements In Intellectual Property Protection In China, Aileen M. Mcgill

Aileen M McGill

After centuries of stagnant growth and international isolation, China has emerged as the fastest-growing economy in the world and one of the most important parties in international trade. This staggering growth and influx of foreign goods has led to rampant counterfeiting of brand-name goods in a society with little cultural basis for individual intellectual property rights. When Beijing was awarded the 2008 summer Olympics in 2001, the Chinese government moved quickly to prepare for this beloved international event, rallying this massive country for, what many considered to be their grand emergence onto the world stage. One of the reforms enacted …

Intellectual Property Rights And The Right To Participate In Cultural Life, Molly Land

Molly K. Land

Although many contend that human rights law is a justification for intellectual property rights, precisely the opposite is true. Human rights law is far more a limit on intellectual property rights than a rationale for such regimes. In a variety of ways, human rights law requires states to take specific, concrete steps to limit the effects of intellectual property rights in order to protect international human rights. This powerful and emancipatory dimension of human rights law has unfortunately been overshadowed by those who claim human rights as a basis for granting exclusive rights.

The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social, and …

Bits, Ippas, Trips And Icsid: Justice For Some, Alphabet Soup For All, Christopher Wadlow

Christopher Wadlow

Examines the possibility that ICSID (the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes) might be a more favourable forum than the WTO for private party complaints of violations of the TRIPs Agreement, if the state conduct alleged to violate TRIPs amounted to expropriation or breach of the principle of fair and equitable treatment.

Presentation: U.S. Licensing Regulation As A Model For Developing Countries, Benton C. Martin

Benton C. Martin

Highlights differences between legislation regulating goverment labs and universities and discusses the implications of these differences for developing countries seeking to emulate United States technology transfer legislation. Concludes that diversity amongst countries based on historical context and infrastructure is vital, just as it has been in regulating different types of institutions in the United States.

Evaluate Patentability Of Your Invention, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The patent system is designed to encourage inventions that are useful to society by granting inventors absolute right to make profit from their inventions. While disclosing the invention benefits the society, protecting the invention benefits the inventor. But patents cannot protect each and every person who conceives an invention. While there are some common criteria of accepting an invention for patenting, the laws of patenting differ from country to country to some extent. The concept of patentability is also very vague in some instances of the legal system. Hence it is important to check the patentability of your invention in …

Patentability Criteria In Different Countries, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The patent system is designed to attract inventors to disclose and protect their inventions. While disclosing the invention benefits the society, protecting the invention benefits the inventor. However, the invention must fulfill certain criteria to be patentable. Hence, patentability assessment is extremely important before filing a patent application. Although there are some commonalities in the criteria of patentability there are some differences from country to country depending on the law of the land. In many cases the criteria are very vague and the patent application may be rejected for several unforeseen reasons. A proper patentability assessment helps the inventors assessing …