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Full-Text Articles in Law
Determining What’S Not Obvious: Should A Reasonable Expectation Of Success Invalidate Patent Applications?, Natalie Peters
Determining What’S Not Obvious: Should A Reasonable Expectation Of Success Invalidate Patent Applications?, Natalie Peters
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Patents are necessary to incentivize innovation because they grant owners the right to protect inventions. To be patentable, an invention must be useful, it must be novel, and it must not be obvious. But the judiciary has struggled to apply the latter requirement, non-obviousness, particularly for highly technical innovations subject to FDA regulations. For these innovations, the progression through the regulatory jungle can take ten to twenty years and millions of dollars (2.6 billion for a pharmaceutical drug). The complexities of the regulatory process can also render an innovation unprotected by patent rights because, by the end of the process, …
Dalliances, Defenses, And Due Process: Prosecuting Sexual Harassment In The Me Too Era, Kenneth Lasson
Dalliances, Defenses, And Due Process: Prosecuting Sexual Harassment In The Me Too Era, Kenneth Lasson
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Article will likewise examine the prosecution of sexual harassment in what has come to be called the Me Too Era, not only by analyzing the constitutional application and limitations of due process, the promulgation of Title IX policies4 on campuses and their effect on public students and employees, and the limited remedies available to workers in private entities, but to suggest as well ways by which academics can move their message beyond theory and into pragmatic solutions with greater impact.
Negative Portrayal Of Vaccines By Commercial Websites: Tortious Misrepresentation, Donald C. Arthur
Negative Portrayal Of Vaccines By Commercial Websites: Tortious Misrepresentation, Donald C. Arthur
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Commercial website publishers use false and misleading information to create distrust of vaccines by claiming vaccines are ineffective and contain contaminants that cause autism and other disorders. The misinformation has resulted in decreased childhood vaccination rates and imperiled the public by allowing resurgence of vaccine-preventable illnesses. This Article argues that tort liability attaches to publishers of commercial websites for foreseeable harm that results when websites dissuade parents from vaccinating their children in favor of purchasing alternative products offered for sale on the websites.
The Wicked Smaht Kids: Seeking An Adequate Public Education For Gifted Elementary And Secondary Students In Massachusetts, Brenna Ferrick
The Wicked Smaht Kids: Seeking An Adequate Public Education For Gifted Elementary And Secondary Students In Massachusetts, Brenna Ferrick
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Note argues that the Massachusetts legislature underserves highly intellectually gifted students by neither identifying nor supporting the unique needs of such a population. The legislature is both enabled by the state constitution and charged by the Education Reform Act to provide an adequate education to all elementary and secondary students. The stated intent of the Commonwealth’s education directive purports to provide every child “the opportunity to reach their full potential,” when in reality there are only statutory entitlements and procedural safeguards for those who qualify for federal mandates due to qualifying disabilities. This issue is ripe for judicial interpretation …
Out Of Balance: Wrong Turns In Public Employee Speech Law, Michael Toth
Out Of Balance: Wrong Turns In Public Employee Speech Law, Michael Toth
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Although scholars offer a variety of explanations for the modern Supreme Court’s public employee speech jurisprudence, they share a common presumption. According to the standard account, the modern era of public employee free speech law began in 1968, with the Court’s adoption of a balancing test in Pickering v. Board of Education. Contrary to this view, this Article argues that Pickering balancing is better characterized as a relic from a bygone era rather than the start of a new one. Balancing was once the Court’s standard method of judging First Amendment claims. When Pickering was decided, however, balancing was under …
The Legal Status Of Charter Schools In State Statutory Law, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph O. Oluwole
The Legal Status Of Charter Schools In State Statutory Law, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph O. Oluwole
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Given the recent increase in charter schools as an alternative to the traditional public education system, this Article explores the legal status and position of charter schools. Charter schools exhibit many characteristics of private schools, particularly in terms of management, but also retain many public school features. Thus, this Article explores areas of the law where charter schools were either classified as public or private in terms of state statutes or regulations, discussing recent and some pending litigation. First, this Article discusses whether charter schools, charter school boards and officials, or educational management organizations which manage charter schools are entitled …
Dual Rationality Of Same-Sex Marriage: Creation Of New Rights In The Shadow Of Incomplete Contract Paradigm, Saby Ghoshray
Dual Rationality Of Same-Sex Marriage: Creation Of New Rights In The Shadow Of Incomplete Contract Paradigm, Saby Ghoshray
University of Massachusetts Law Review
In an effort to reconcile the inconsistency between liberal ideals and inequitable adjudication of marriage rights amongst our citizens, this article will seek answers to these issues. By straddling the contractual confines of marriage via law and economic analysis, Part II of the article explores the contractual paradigm of marriage to examine whether the framework is independent of sexual orientation and it the deliberately incomplete nature of marriage can provide consistencies for all types of marriages. Part III examines whether the private aspiration of marriage should necessarily be linked with public consequences by evaluating the impact of marriage’s social cost …
Tactics, Strategies, & Battles – Oh My!: Perseverance Of The Perpetual Problem Pertaining To Preaching To Public School Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay
Tactics, Strategies, & Battles – Oh My!: Perseverance Of The Perpetual Problem Pertaining To Preaching To Public School Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Comment examines why a seemingly well-settled scientific issue, evolution through natural selection, continues to be the subject of so much legal controversy in public education. By exploiting misconceptions regarding the scientific method, religious special interest groups are able to persuade lawmakers to sneak religion into public school science classrooms across the country. This Comment considers the most recent incarnations of creationism and concludes by analyzing the impact the ongoing legal controversy has had on the American public’s understanding of science.
Resolving The Double Liability Problem: A Critique Of California's Mechanics Lien Statute, Terrence Nguyen
Resolving The Double Liability Problem: A Critique Of California's Mechanics Lien Statute, Terrence Nguyen
University of Massachusetts Law Review
California’s mechanics lien statute allows a sub-contractor to file a lien on a homeowner’s property when a direct contractor, for whom the sub-contractor worked, has failed to pay the sub-contractor. The statute compels the homeowner to pay the sub-contractor even when the homeowner has paid the direct contractor in full. This Note argues that California’s mechanics lien statute is too broad, because the statute does not provide any exception for a homeowner who has paid the direct contractor in full. Specifically, this Note argues that California’s mechanics lien statute violates public policy, as well as constitutional, and contract principles. This …
A Promising Beginning, Jeremiah A. Ho
A Promising Beginning, Jeremiah A. Ho
University of Massachusetts Law Review
When I began teaching at the University of Massachusetts in August 2012, one of my first encounters was with the newly-formed UMass Law Review. The editorial staff was wrapping up its initial preparations for publishing the inaugural volume. Now, over a year later, those nascent processes have since been refined; the inaugural year is over. We are excited to say that the UMass Law Review enters its sophomore year with this current issue, affectionately dubbed “9:1”.