Law Commons^™

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.

Cost Shifting In E-Discovery: A Comparative Analysis Between America And Europe, Umar Bakhsh

Umar Bakhsh

E-discovery is quickly becoming a prominent consideration when dealing with traditional discovery requests. The costs of producing e-discovery, however, have grown exponentially due to the voluminous and fragmented nature of electronically stored information. The current standard used by courts, in UBS v. Zubulake, has mistakenly and non-uniformly been applied by courts in spite of Congress’ attempt to create its own standard via FRCP Rule 26. In comparison, Europe’s “loser of litigation pays all court costs” has not adequately met the particular problem created by e-discovery. My article proposes a more manageable alternative standard to Zubulake, FRCP 26, and the European …

Harvesting Intellectual Property: "Inspired Beginnings" And "Work Makes Work," Two Stages In The Creative Processes Of Artists And Innovators, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

This Article is part of a larger empirical study based on face-to-face interviews with artists, scientists, engineers, their lawyers, agents, and business partners. The book-length project involves the collecting and analysis of stories from artists, scientists, and engineers about how and why they create and innovate. It also collects stories from their employers, business partners, managers, and lawyers about their role in facilitating the process of creating and innovating. The book’s aim is to make sense of the intersection between intellectual property law and creative and innovative activity, specifically to discern how intellectual property intervenes in the careers of the …

Vut V Wilson, Uwa V Gray And University Intellectual Property Policies, William Van Caenegem

William Van Caenegem

In Wilson and Gray the respective university intellectual property policies were held to be ineffective. The Federal Court therefore had to examine the default law concerning academic ownership of inventions. The trial judge in Wilson accepted that inventions that were a normal incident of the kind of research a particular academic was engaged to perform may belong to the employing university. However, French J and the Full Court in Gray emphasised that academic autonomy, duty to publish and freedom to collaborate with outsiders set academics apart. Employer ownership of inventions is therefore not to be implied into standard academic employment …

The Giants Among Us, Robin Feldman, Thomas Ewing

Robin C Feldman

The patent world is undergoing a change of seismic proportions. A small number of entities have quietly amassed vast treasuries of patents. These are not the typical patent trolls that we have come to expect. Rather, these entities have participants such Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony, the World Bank, and non-profit institutions. The largest and most secretive of these has accumulated a staggering 30,000-60,000 patents.

Investing thousands of hours of research and using publicly available sources, we pieced together a detailed picture of these giants and their activities. We consider the potential positive effects, including facilitating rewards for forgotten inventors, creating …

Better Mistakes In Patent Law, Andres Sawicki

Andres Sawicki

This Article analyzes patent mistakes—that is, mistakes made by the patent system when it decides whether a particular invention has met the patentability requirements. These mistakes are inevitable. Given resource constraints, some might even be desirable. This Article therefore evaluates the relative costs of patent mistakes, so that we can make better ones. The Article identifies three characteristics that drive the costs of mistakes: their type (false positive or false negative), timing (early or late), and doctrinal basis (utility, novelty, nonobviousness, and so on). These characteristics make some mistakes more troubling than others. Consider, for example, the disclosure rules, which …

The Ftc’S Proposal For Regulating Ip Through Ssos Would Replace Private Coordination With Government Hold-Up, F. Scott Kieff, Richard Epstein, Daniel Spulber

F. Scott Kieff

In its recent report entitled “The Evolving IP Marketplace,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advances a far-reaching regulatory approach (Proposal) whose likely effect would be to distort the operation of the intellectual property (IP) marketplace in ways that will hamper the innovation and commercialization of new technologies. The gist of the FTC Proposal is to rely on highly non-standard and misguided definitions of economic terms of art such as “ex ante” and “hold-up,” while urging new inefficient rules for calculating damages for patent infringement. Stripped of the technicalities, the FTC Proposal would so reduce the costs of infringement by downstream …

Debtors Beware: The Expanding Universe Of Non-Assumable/Non-Assignable Contracts In Bankruptcy, Michelle Harner, Carl Black, Eric Goodman

Michelle M. Harner

No abstract provided.

Licensing Intellectual Property And Technology From The Financially-Troubled Or Startup Company: Prebankruptcy Strategies To Minimize The Risk In A Licensee's Intellectual Property And Technology Investment, Richard M. Cieri, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

No abstract provided.

Copyrightability Of Choreography, Shawn Patrick Nee

shawn nee

Many choreographers are unaware of the laws that protect their works. This ignorance is not unwarranted. Dance, one of the oldest forms of art, is also one of the most seldom discussed subjects in the court system. This paper aims to discuss the copyrightability of choreography and the current customs of the dance community that attempt to work around the law. This paper is written in hopes to educate choreographers on the laws that protect the works into which they put their whole lives.

Patent Assignments By Employees Demand Better Protections, Chuan Ai

Chuan D Ai

Two problems make it nearly impossible for a buyer of patent rights – either as an assignee or a licensee – to know if the title is clean. First, there is no single central registry where all economic rights to patents are stored and searched. Patent assignments and licenses may be recorded at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, merely as an option. More significantly, for the vast majority of inventors in the U.S. who are employed and obligated to assign their future patents invented on the job, there is no way to record such pre-invention assignments. To remedy this …

Book Review: Gene Patents And Collaborative Licensing Models: Patent Pools, Clearinghouses, Open Source Models And Liability Regimes (Ed. Geertrui Van Overwalle), Jonas Anderson

J. Jonas Anderson

Traditional Knowledge Under International Human Rights Law: Applying Standards Of Communitarian Property Over Ancestral Lands To Traditional Knowledge-Related Claims, Maria Dolores Mino Ms.

Maria Dolores Mino Ms.

The article intends to explore the possibility of protecting intellectual property right of indigenous peoples over their traditional knowledge under the existing norms and jurisprudence on the right to communitarian property to ancestral land, as developed by international human rights law, and in particular, the jurisprudence of the Inter- American System of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights. To do so, the article will explore the inadequacy of the currently existing Intellectual Property Regime to protect the rights of indigenous peoples over their traditional knowledge, the existing international standards and jurisprudence on Intellectual Property Rights and International Human Rights Law, …

Concepts Of Intellectual Property In The Roman Tradition, Erin Guldiken, Marianina Demetri Olcott

Dr. Marianina Olcott and Erin Guldiken

The current study concerns concepts of intellectual property in the Roman tradition first century BCE through forth century CE. It complements a previous study published in the Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA (Summer 2002, vol.49, No.4) which dealt with ancient Athenian concepts of intellectual property. The current study as in the earlier study of the Athenian tradition shows that ancient concepts of intellectual property are remarkably similar to modern concepts, as embodied in American case law (Title 17) and guidelines on plagiarism formulated by the modern academic establishment. Our plan of investigation is as follows: First we …

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.

Patent Law Handbook, 2011-2012 Edition, Lawrence Sung, Jeff Schwartz

Lawrence M. Sung

Helps attorneys discern what the courts may find, while providing immediate access to current law. Also alerts attorneys to new developments in the law and how they may impact an individual practice. Easy access to information on validity; inequitable conduct; defenses and counterclaims; infringement; willful infringement; remedies; appeal; pretrial and trial issues; Patent Office proceedings; licensing; patent proceedings in other forms, including ITC proceedings and claims court. Also analyzes Federal Circuit’s approach to statutory subject matter as it relates to computer software, its decision clarifying the role of judges and juries in interpreting claims, and its holdings in other opinions.

Towards A Pedagogy Of Fair Use For Multimedia Composition, Renee Hobbs, Katie E. Donnelly

Renee Hobbs

No abstract provided.