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Full-Text Articles in Law
Reinventing Copyright And Patent, Abraham Bell, Gideon Parchomovsky
Reinventing Copyright And Patent, Abraham Bell, Gideon Parchomovsky
Michigan Law Review
Intellectual property systems all over the world are modeled on a one-size-fitsall principle. However important or unimportant, inventions and original works receive the same scope of protection, for the same period of time, backed by the same variety of legal remedies. Essentially, all intellectual property is equal under the law. This equality comes at a heavy price, however. The equality principle gives all creators access to the same remedies, even when those remedies create perverse litigation incentives. Moreover, society overpays for innovation through more monopoly losses than are strictly necessary to incentivize production. In this Article, we propose a solution …
The Audience In Intellectual Property Infringement, Jeanne C. Fromer, Mark A. Lemley
The Audience In Intellectual Property Infringement, Jeanne C. Fromer, Mark A. Lemley
Michigan Law Review
Every intellectual property (“IP”) right has its own definition of infringement. In this Article, we suggest that this diversity of legal rules is largely traceable to differences in the audience in IP cases. Patent, trademark, copyright, and design patent each focus on a different person as the fulcrum for evaluating IP infringement. That patent law, for example, focuses on an expert audience while trademark looks to a consumer audience explains many of the differences in how patent and trademark cases are decided. Expert audiences are likely to evaluate infringement based on the technical similarity between the plaintiff’s and defendant’s works. …