Law Commons^™

Planting A Standard: Proposing A Broad Reading Of In Re Elsner, Alicia L. Frostick

Michigan Law Review

This Note will show that one can read Elsner broadly to encompass both plant-type and widget-type inventions, and that applying Elsner to both plants and widgets is within the current statutory framework and case law. Such a reading would change the § 102 bar for inventions patentable under § 10i29 (hereinafter referred to as "widgets") as well as for plants. Part I of this Note argues that congressional sources require a flexible test-one that does not prejudice any objects under the Patent Act. Part II discusses the judicial interpretation of the Patent Act prior to Elsner in order to argue …

Table Of Contents

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Sweating In Europe : The European Database Directive, Amar A. Hasan

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

The United States Supreme Court rejected the "sweat of the brow" doctrine and copyright or alternative methods are inadequate for protecting non-creative databases. The European Database Directive protects "substantial investment" in a database regardless of whether copyright protection is available. However, by incorporating the "spin-off' doctrine, the Directive provides only limited protection for "sole-source" databases, the primary market of the database industry. Also, the ECJ has made proving infringement more difficult by expanding its meaning yet simultaneously narrowing its scope and leaving ambiguities. Thus, although European database owners may technically have more protection, many of them, especially providers of "sole-source" …

Ninth Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Jailhouse Webcams, Rob Sayles

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Demery v. Arpaio is a 2004 case that deals with whether the use of world-wide cameras ("webcams") to stream live images of jailed, pretrial detainees over the Internet constitutes punishment prior to adjudication of guilt in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A divided Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling that the use of the webcams constituted punishment and was a violation of the Due Process Clause. While the appellate court properly ruled that the use of the webcams amounted to punishment, the majority's analysis of the issue falls short.

Ninth Circuit Holds That Distributors Of File-Sharing Software Are Not Liable For Their Users' Copyright Infringement Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. V. Grokster, Ltd., Suzanne Sprague-Trammell

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to television and movie studios in their fight against creeping copyright infringement. Sony Corp. of America. v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (Sony-Betamax) declined to hold the Sony Corporation liable for the copyright violations its consumers committed by using the new Betamax video tape recorder (VTR) to build immense libraries of broadcast television programs without permission from the programs' copyright holders. Taking a nod from patent law, the Court classified the VTR as a "staple article of commerce," effectively excusing its manufacturer from secondary copyright infringement because the recorder …

Trips: Ten Years Of Disputes At The Wto, Sue Ann Mota

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

"The TRIPS Agreement, which came into effect on 1 January 1995, is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property."

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement, was enacted to reduce impediments to global trade, to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights, and to ensure that enforcement measures and procedures don't become barriers to trade. To resolve intellectual property and other disputes among member nations, the dispute resolution system is a central element in providing security and predictability, and preserves the rights and obligations …

The Limitations On Police Regarding Gps Tracking Devices: A Necessary Hindrance?, Tenison Craddock

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Article one, Section seven of the Washington Constitution states "no person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law." This section provides greater privacy protection than the United States Constitution. "Examination of the constitutional history of this section reveals that the State Constitutional Convention rejected the language of the federal constitution's Fourth Amendment; instead, the Convention adopted the language. .. to intentionally provide greater protection of individual rights." The problem arises when privacy comes face to face with technological advances, such as Global Positioning System ("GPS") devices. GPS units were first built for …

In Re World Auxiliary Power Co., Adam Moore

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

The filing of unregistered copyrights as security interests pursuant to either a state's UCC filing system or pursuant to the Federal Copyright Act is not the most glamorous of issues. However, it is a very practical issue for those involved in secured transaction deals and, when stepping back, offers a pressing look at some of the important limitations and inadequacies of the Federal Copyright Act. In re World Auxiliary Power Co. sets the stage for these issues. The Ninth Circuit, in this case, held that because the Federal Copyright Act did not provide for a scheme to record unregistered …

North American Anti-Circumvention: Implementation Of The Wipo Internet Treaties In The United States, Mexico And Canada, Heather A. Sapp

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

The speed and ease with which digital formats of copyrighted works can be copied and exchanged on the Internet have given rise to "legal developments that once might have seemed unlikely or unthinkable." Although the digital era was hailed by many for the potential of providing a global marketplace for copyrighted works, many copyright holders were concerned about the ease of digital piracy. In some senses, despite the promise of new markets and increases in efficiency, the digital era signaled a copyright holder's nightmare. Works could be immediately and perfectly copied and then immediately and perfectly distributed. As a result, …

Table Of Contents

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Financial Innovation Patents: The Future Of The Futures Markets, Or Old Wine In New Bottles?, John Fazzio

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Electronic exchanges and electronic trading are the future of the futures industry. Since the landmark case State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., the volume of trading on electronic exchanges has grown at ten times the pace of open outcry trading.4 Institutions and brokerage houses have rushed to the patent office to protect business methods, and an industry of Independent Software Providers ("ISPs") has sprung up to meet the demand for new trading technologies. These developments have reshaped the commodity and futures landscape. In response, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") passed regulations regarding order …

Liability Of Isps: Immunity From Liability Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And The Communications Decency Act, Cyrus S. J. Manekshaw

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

The Internet has so completely permeated our lives in the past ten years that often we do not fully realize how truly revolutionary this technology is or how many legal issues and problems it can present. At its most basic level, the Internet is a system of worldwide computer networks that transfer data. To the ordinary user, the Internet is an all-purpose essential tool used to do everything from checking e-mail and reading the news to playing games and sharing music, pictures, and ideas. The power to share ideas and communicate with people all around the globe is the Internet's …

The Speed Of Normal: Conflicts, Competency, And Confidentiality In The Digital Age, David Hricik

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Digitalization has increased the speed of communications in all areas, including law. Although in many ways technology has made practice easier, quicker, and more efficient, the dawn of the digital age has increased the need for lawyers to focus on legal ethics. As always, lawyers must be concerned about confidentiality, conflicts, and competency. Those fundamentals remain unchanged. However, the vast increases in storage capacity, the lightning-quick speed of communication, and the ability to allow access to data over the Internet have each made it more important for lawyers to focus on the impact of technology on these core principles of …

Rewriting Fair Use And The Future Of Copyright Reform, Michael J. Madison

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Law, Geography And Cyberspace: The Case Of On-Line Territorial Privacy, Daniel Benoliel

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

Territorial privacy, one of the central categories of privacy protection, involves setting limit boundaries on intrusion into an explicit space or locale. Initially, the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which defined the privacy tort of intrusion as applied by courts, most notably designated two classes of excluded areas: "private" places in which the individual can expect to be free from intrusion, and "non-private" places, in which the individual does not have a recognized expectation of privacy. In the physical world, courts ultimately held, almost uniformly, that the tort of intrusion could not occur in a public place or in a place …

Table Of Contents, Journal On Telecommunications & High Technology Law

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Are "Dumb Pipe" Mandates Smart Public Policy? Vertical Integration, Net Neutrality, And The Network Layers Model, Adam Thierer

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Preserving Universal Service In The Age Of Ip, Kathleen Q. Abernathy

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Emerging Communications Technologies: Wireless Deployments And Beyond, Jennifer Manner

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Content Protection And Fair Use: What's The Use?, Ben Fernandez

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Wireless Communications And Computing At A Crossroads: New Paradigms And Their Impact On Theories Governing The Public's Right To Spectrum Access, Patrick S. Ryan

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Tension Between Privacy And Security: An Analysis Based On Coase And Pigou, Kathleen Wallman

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"Not Quite Dead Yet": The Near Fatal Wounding Of The Experimental Use Exception And Its Impact On Public Universities, Jennifer L. Owens

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Journal On Telecommunications & High Technology Law

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Digital Migration: Toward A New Telecom Act, Michael K. Powell

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Overseeing The Unforeseeable: A Rational Regulatory Approach To 21st Century Communications, Richard C. Notebaert

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reforming The Fcc And Its Mission: Lessons From The Airline Experience, Alfred E. Kahn

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Communications' Copyright Policy, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rewriting The Telecom Act: An Introduction, Philip J. Weiser

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Question Of Spectrum: Technology, Management, And Regime Change, Gerald R. Faulhaber

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.