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Full-Text Articles in Law
Introducing A Takedown For Trade Secrets On The Internet, Elizabeth A. Rowe
Introducing A Takedown For Trade Secrets On The Internet, Elizabeth A. Rowe
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article explores, for the first time, an existing void in trade-secret law. When a trade-secret owner discovers that its trade secrets have been posted on the Internet, there is currently no legislative mechanism by which the owner can request that the information be taken down. The only remedy to effectuate removal of the material is to obtain a court order, usually either a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction. When a trade secret appears on the Internet, the owner often loses the ability to continue to claim it as a trade secret and to prevent others from using …
Lessons From The Trademark Use Debate, Mark D. Janis, Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Lessons From The Trademark Use Debate, Mark D. Janis, Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In their response to our article Confusion Over Use: Contextualism in Trademark Law, Professors Dogan and Lemley discard more all-encompassing versions of the trademark use requirement. Instead, they seek to delineate and defend a "more surgical form" of trademark use doctrine. In this reply, we demonstrate that the language of the Lanham Act does not impose a trademark use requirement even when that requirement is defined "surgically" and sections 32 and 43(a) are read "fluidly," as Dogan and Lemley suggest. Moreover, their interpretation still renders section 33(b)(4) redundant and unduly limits appropriate common law development of trademark law. We also …
Saving Trade Secret Disclosures On The Internet Through Sequential Preservation, Elizabeth A. Rowe
Saving Trade Secret Disclosures On The Internet Through Sequential Preservation, Elizabeth A. Rowe
UF Law Faculty Publications
When an employee discloses an employer's trade secrets to the public over the Internet, does our current trade secret framework appropriately address the consequences of that disclosure? What ought to be the rule that governs whether the trade secret owner has lost not only the protection status for the secret, but also any remedies against use by third parties? Should the ease with which the Internet permits instant and mass disclosure of secrets be taken into consideration in assessing the fairness of a rule that calls for immediate loss of the trade secret upon disclosure? Given that trade secret law …
Confusion Over Use: Contextualism In Trademark Law, Mark D. Janis, Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Confusion Over Use: Contextualism In Trademark Law, Mark D. Janis, Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This paper tackles an intellectual property theory that many scholars regard as fundamental to future policy debates over the scope of trademark protection: the trademark use theory. We argue that trademark use theory is flawed and should be rejected. The adoption of trademark use theory has immediate practical implications for disputes about the use of trademarks in online advertising, merchandising, and product design, and has long-term consequences for other trademark generally. We critique the theory both descriptively and prescriptively. We argue that trademark use theory over-extends the search costs rationale for the trademark system, and that it unhelpfully elevates formalism …
The Rule Of Intellectual Property Law In The Internet Economy, Joel R. Reidenberg
The Rule Of Intellectual Property Law In The Internet Economy, Joel R. Reidenberg
Faculty Scholarship
This article argues that the technological attacks on intellectual property are a movement against democratically chosen intellectual property rules. They form a basic challenge to the rule of law and to the control of the rules wired into the network. In making this argument, the Article first maintains that intellectual property rights have an important public function in democracy in that they mark political, economic, and social boundaries. Next, the Article shows that the public law, as enacted by governments, has reallocated intellectual property rights to adapt to the information economy. While many aspects of this new allocation of rights …