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Loopholes For Circumventing The Constitution: Unrestrained Bulk Surveillance On Americans By Collecting Network Traffic Abroad, Axel Arnbak, Sharon Goldberg Jun 2015

Loopholes For Circumventing The Constitution: Unrestrained Bulk Surveillance On Americans By Collecting Network Traffic Abroad, Axel Arnbak, Sharon Goldberg

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Article reveals interdependent legal and technical loopholes that the US intelligence community could use to circumvent constitutional and statutory safeguards for Americans. These loopholes involve the collection of Internet traffic on foreign territory, and leave Americans as unprotected as foreigners by current United States (US) surveillance laws. This Article will also describe how modern Internet protocols can be manipulated to deliberately divert American’s traffic abroad, where traffic can then be collected under a more permissive legal regime (Executive Order 12333) that is overseen solely by the executive branch of the US government. Although the media has reported on some …


Patent Punting: How Fda And Antitrust Courts Undermine The Hatch-Waxman Act To Avoid Dealing With Patents, Rebecca S. Eisenberg, Daniel A. Crane Jan 2015

Patent Punting: How Fda And Antitrust Courts Undermine The Hatch-Waxman Act To Avoid Dealing With Patents, Rebecca S. Eisenberg, Daniel A. Crane

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, patent law and FDA regulation work together to determine the timing of generic entry in the market for drugs. But FDA has sought to avoid any responsibility for reading patents, insisting that its role in administering the patent provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act is purely ministerial. This gap in regulatory oversight has allowed innovators to use irrelevant patents to defer generic competition. Meanwhile, patent litigation has set the stage for anticompetitive settlements rather than adjudication of the patent issues in the courts. As these settlements have provoked antitrust litigation, antitrust courts have proven no more willing …


Dilution At The Patent And Trademark Office, Jeremy N. Sheff Jan 2014

Dilution At The Patent And Trademark Office, Jeremy N. Sheff

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Article undertakes the first systematic investigation of trademark dilution in registration practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The Article consists of three distinct descriptive empirical analyses. In the first, I present a new hand-coded dataset of all 453 Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) dispositions of dilution claims through June 30, 2014, and report that dilution has been necessary to the PTO’s refusal of exactly three registrations in over a decade. In the second part, I apply algorithmic coding of the recently released PTO Casefiles Dataset to demonstrate that concurrent registration of identical marks to different …


District Courts Versus The Usitc: Considering Exclusionary Relief For F/Rand-Encumbered Standard-Essential Patents, Helen H. Ji Jan 2014

District Courts Versus The Usitc: Considering Exclusionary Relief For F/Rand-Encumbered Standard-Essential Patents, Helen H. Ji

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Technological standards allow manufacturers and consumers to rely upon these agreed-upon basic systems to facilitate sales and further invention. However, where these standards involved patented technology, the process of standard-setting raises many concerns at the intersection of antitrust and patent law. As patent holders advocate for their patents to become part of technological standards, how should courts police this activity to prevent patent holdup and other anti-competitive practices? This Note explores the differing approaches to remedies employed by the United States International Trade Commission and the United States District Courts where standard-essential patents are infringed. This Note further proposes that …


Wireless Localism: Beyond The Shroud Of Objectivity In Federal Spectrum Administration, Olivier Sylvain Dec 2013

Wireless Localism: Beyond The Shroud Of Objectivity In Federal Spectrum Administration, Olivier Sylvain

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Recent innovations in mobile wireless technology have instigated a debate between two camps of legal scholars about federal administration of the electromagnetic spectrum. The first camp argues that the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) should define spectrum use rights more clearly and give spectrum licensees broad property rights in frequencies. The second camp argues that, rather than award exclusive licenses to the highest bidder, the FCC ought to open much, if not most, of the spectrum to unlicensed use by smartphones and tablets equipped with the newest spectrum administration technology. First, this Article shows that both of these camps comprise a …


The Real Issue Behind Stanford V. Roche: Faulty Conceptions Of University Assignment Policies Stemming From The 1947 Biddle Report, Sean M. O'Connor Jan 2013

The Real Issue Behind Stanford V. Roche: Faulty Conceptions Of University Assignment Policies Stemming From The 1947 Biddle Report, Sean M. O'Connor

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The recent Supreme Court decision in Stanford v. Roche laid bare a faulty assumption of the federal research funding system. Government patent policy for federally funded research relies on "contractors"--the recipients of federal funding--to secure patent assignments from their employees. While this practice was routine for private firms and nonprofit research institutions, it was not for universities. This was in part based on the relationship of faculty and other researchers to universities that differed from industry employment relationships. The roots of this faulty assumption can be traced to the seminal 1947 Biddle Report. Detailed monographs drafted as appendices to the …


Interpreting Biological Similarity: Ongoing Challenges For Diverse Decision Makers, Sarah M. Cork Jan 2013

Interpreting Biological Similarity: Ongoing Challenges For Diverse Decision Makers, Sarah M. Cork

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Similarity is an elusive and complicated concept facing comparisons of biological molecules, as even minute changes to a molecule's structure can dramatically affect its function in the body. Yet the flood of biologic drugs on the market will increasingly force these similarity comparisons. These concerns are particularly relevant to two groups of drugs: families of biologic drugs that closely resemble each other in structure and function, here termed "similar-impact biologics," and the biosimilars, which are intended to closely approximate generic forms of biologic drugs. In bringing biologic drugs to the market, manufacturers are likely to face dual obstacles: FDA approval …


Burying, Robert Brendan Taylor Jan 2012

Burying, Robert Brendan Taylor

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

When applying for a patent, applicants must provide the examiner with all known material prior art. Those who fail to do so can be charged with inequitable conduct. But applicants can still effectively hide material prior art references by submitting them along with large quantities of immaterial prior art to the examiner. This deceptive practice, known as "burying," is generally not considered inequitable conduct. This Essay summarizes the current legal landscape concerning burying, discusses the costs associated with the practice, and suggests ways to deter and punish those who do it.


Pharmaceutical Lemons: Innovation And Regulation In The Drug Industry, Ariel Katz Jan 2007

Pharmaceutical Lemons: Innovation And Regulation In The Drug Industry, Ariel Katz

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Before a new drug can be marketed, the Food and Drug Administration must be satisfied that it is safe and effective. According to conventional wisdom, the cost and delay involved in this process diminish the incentives to invest in the development of new drugs. Accordingly, several reforms aimed at restoring such incentives have been implemented or advocated. This Article challenges the central argument that drug regulation and drug innovation are necessarily at odds with one another. Although intuitively appealing, the argument that drug regulation negatively affects the incentives to innovate does not fully capture the role that regulation plays in …


Fda Approval Of Generic Biologics: Finding A Regulatory Pathway, Kathleen R. Kelleher Jan 2007

Fda Approval Of Generic Biologics: Finding A Regulatory Pathway, Kathleen R. Kelleher

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Biologics are becoming increasingly important for the potential treatment of widespread diseases such as cancer, anemia, and diabetes. As hundreds of biologics are going off-patent, the market has become ripe for the introduction of generic biologics. A regulatory pathway for biogenerics, however, is virtually nonexistent. The purpose of this paper is thus to analyze how a successful legislative pathway for generic biologics might be designed. The current regulatory scheme, economic concerns, health and safety concerns, and the need to provide proper incentives for innovation are analyzed. Finally, recent Congressional bills are outlined and critiqued, through which the structure of a …


The Fcc Complaint Process And Increasing Public Unease: Toward An Apolitical Broadcast Indecency Regime, Kurt Hunt Jan 2007

The Fcc Complaint Process And Increasing Public Unease: Toward An Apolitical Broadcast Indecency Regime, Kurt Hunt

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

[...]I propose depoliticizing the broadcast indecency regime by utilizing polling to determine the average broadcast viewer's opinion, divorced from all the pressures inherent in relying on the complaint process as a proxy. In section II, I will discuss the background and development of the broadcast indecency doctrine from the days of the Federal Radio Commission in the 1920s through the present day. I will also explain why the apparent increasing public unease is misleading, and why valid First Amendment concerns are steamrolled by the fiery nature of the debate. In section III, I will explain why the FCC's reliance on …


Compulsory Patent Licensing: Is It A Viable Solution In The United States, Carol M. Nielsen, Michael R. Samardzija Jan 2007

Compulsory Patent Licensing: Is It A Viable Solution In The United States, Carol M. Nielsen, Michael R. Samardzija

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, so do the number of patents that cover every aspect of making, using, and selling these innovations. In 1996, to compound the rapid change of technology, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that business methods are also patentable. Hence in the current environment, scores of patents, assigned to many different parties, may cover a single electronic device or software--making it increasingly impossible to manufacture an electronic device without receiving a cease and desist letter or other notice from a patentee demanding a large royalty or threatening an injunction. Companies, particularly those in …


The R.F.I.D. Act Of 2006 And E-Pedigrees: Tackling The Problem Of Counterfeit Drugs In The United States Wholesale Industry, Suchira Ghosh Jan 2007

The R.F.I.D. Act Of 2006 And E-Pedigrees: Tackling The Problem Of Counterfeit Drugs In The United States Wholesale Industry, Suchira Ghosh

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Gaps within the drug distribution system make it increasingly vulnerable to bad actors, such as counterfeiters and terrorists. Congress intended the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) of 1987 to close these gaps, but the PDMA has not fully succeeded. Important PDMA provisions that require tracking of drugs throughout the distribution chain in the form of "pedigrees" were set to be implemented as of Dec. 1, 2006, although a recent court order has stayed complete implementation. However, these PDMA requirements do not apply uniformly to all drug distributors in the United States. Moreover, since paper pedigrees can be forged, the pedigree …


The Role Of The Fda In Innovation Policy, Rebecca S. Eisenberg Jan 2007

The Role Of The Fda In Innovation Policy, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Article reexamines the role of FDA regulation in motivating investment in biopharmaceutical innovation. I begin by challenging the standard story that it is the patent system that makes drug development profitable, and drug regulation that makes it costly, by showing how patents add to costs and how drug regulation works in tandem with patents to protect profits. I then compare FDA-administered exclusive rights to patents as a means of fortifying drug development incentives, suggesting ways that FDA-administered rights might be preferable both from the perspective of policy makers and from the perspective of firms. In the remainder of the …


A Shadow Government: Private Regulation, Free Speech, And Lessons From The Sinclair Blogstorm, Marvin Ammori Sep 2005

A Shadow Government: Private Regulation, Free Speech, And Lessons From The Sinclair Blogstorm, Marvin Ammori

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Because of the economics of online information, thousands who do not know each other can band together in hours, without previous organizational coordination or any persistent central coordination, to affect others and conform society to their idea of the social good. This changes the dynamic of political action and the ability of unaffiliated, lone individuals to respond to social acts where government and the market have not. Through ad hoc volunteerism, the Sinclair participants produced regulatory action against a private party with whom they were not transacting--because they believed government failed to do so. Although ad hoc volunteerism has received …


Application Of The Public-Trust Doctrine And Principles Of Natural Resource Management To Electromagnetic Spectrum, Patrick S. Ryan Apr 2004

Application Of The Public-Trust Doctrine And Principles Of Natural Resource Management To Electromagnetic Spectrum, Patrick S. Ryan

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Electromagnetic spectrum is among our most valuable natural resources. Yet while the past few decades have seen a rich body of environmental law develop for other natural resources, this movement has largely passed over the electromagnetic spectrum. This Article argues that to remedy that situation, the public-trust doctrine, which is now a cornerstone of modern environmental law, should be extended to the electromagnetic spectrum. This extension would not be a leap: the public-trust doctrine has already been used to guarantee the public access to various bodies of water (not just navigable water), and to protect recreational lakes and beaches, …


Key Disclosure Issues For Life Sciences Companies: Fda Product Approval, Clinical Test Results, And Government Inspections, William O. Fisher Jun 2002

Key Disclosure Issues For Life Sciences Companies: Fda Product Approval, Clinical Test Results, And Government Inspections, William O. Fisher

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The government, particularly the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"), heavily regulates the life sciences industry. FDA actions can have an extraordinary influence on the fortunes of biotechnology companies. Timely FDA approval of a drug or medical device can permit a company to exploit an inviting market window. FDA product approval is, in turn, tied to clinical test results which demonstrate "efficacy" and safety. Delayed approval, unfavorable test results, or the denial of an FDA application may ruin a company. Beyond the FDA product approval process and related testing lie FDA inspections and the possibility that the government will investigate charges …


Legacy Of Lost Opportunity: Designated Entities And The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Pcs Spectrum Auction, A, Mark W. Munson Jun 2001

Legacy Of Lost Opportunity: Designated Entities And The Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Pcs Spectrum Auction, A, Mark W. Munson

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") designated entity policy has challenged the efficiency of the use of auctions to allocate spectrum licenses. As an alternative to comparative hearings and lotteries, auctions provide an effective solution to the costs, administrative burdens, and delays associated with apportioning spectrum. Congress required the FCC to allow firms to participate in the auctions even if they had difficulty in obtaining financing. The FCC gave these firms, known as "designated entities," set-asides and other preferences to assist them in the competitive bidding process. In the broadband Personal Communications Services ("PCS") auctions, however, designated entities frequently were unable …


Antitrust Enfocement And High-Technology Markets, William J. Baer, David A. Balto Jun 1999

Antitrust Enfocement And High-Technology Markets, William J. Baer, David A. Balto

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Although the antitrust laws apply to all industries, the application must be tempered in each case by the myriad ways in which competition can be modified by structural, behavioral, technological, regulatory, and other characteristics. The Commission applies the antitrust laws with sensitivity to the special characteristics of high-tech industries and of intellectual property, but also with the recognition that--as in other industries--competition plays an important role in spurring innovation and in spreading the benefits of that innovation to consumers. This focus is not new. This balanced approach has roots that go back at least to the 1977 Antitrust Guide to …


"Chilling" The Internet? Lessons From Fcc Regulation Of Radio Broadcasting , Thomas W. Hazlett, David W. Sosa Jun 1998

"Chilling" The Internet? Lessons From Fcc Regulation Of Radio Broadcasting , Thomas W. Hazlett, David W. Sosa

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Congress included the Communications Decency Act (CDA) in the Telecommunications Act signed into law on February 8, 1996. The bill seeks to outlaw the use of computers and phone lines to transmit "indecent" material with provisions of jail terms and heavy fines for violators. Proponents of the bill argue it is necessary to protect minors from undesirable speech on the Internet. The CDA was immediately challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union, and the special 3-judge federal panel established to hear the case recently declared the Act unconstitutional. Yet, its ultimate adjudication remains in doubt. Ominously, the federal …


Schizophrenia Among Carriers: How Common And Private Carriers Trade Places, Rob Frieden Jun 1997

Schizophrenia Among Carriers: How Common And Private Carriers Trade Places, Rob Frieden

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This article will examine court cases and actions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that distort the traditional concepts of common and private carriage by establishing new rights and responsibilities previously applicable to the other category of carrier. This article will also consider the feasibility of (a) maintaining the traditional common carrier regulatory model and (b) continuing the application of that model to basic services provided by local exchange carriers (LECs). This is especially important as LECs qualify to become private carriers tapping new market opportunities, even within the same geographical region where they provide basic services. Finally, this article …


The Information Highway Must Pay Its Way Through Cities: A Discussion Of The Authority Of State And Local Governments To Be Compensated For The Use Of Public Rights-Of-Way, Clarence A. West Jun 1995

The Information Highway Must Pay Its Way Through Cities: A Discussion Of The Authority Of State And Local Governments To Be Compensated For The Use Of Public Rights-Of-Way, Clarence A. West

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

In the ever-changing telecommunications industry there appears to be an enormous amount of confusion not only as to the appropriate amount of compensation chargeable to the users of public rights-of-way, but also as to the very authority of state and local governments to require compensation. This was not always the case. It has long been a well-settled legal principle that local governments may receive reasonable "rental" compensation from private commercial entities for their use of local public property for private economic gain, even where federal statutory law restricts local governments from denying access to rights-of-way for telecommunications services. For example, …