Law Commons^™

Comments In Response To The Patent And Trademark Office's Proposed Examination Guidelines For Computer-Implemented Inventions, Robert R. Sachs

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Guidelines reflect a policy decision that computer-implemented inventions require both hardware and software elements. This policy decision and definition present several important issues. First, do the Guidelines accurately reflect and accommodate the practices of the software industry and software engineers? Second, do the Guidelines accurately reflect the current case law?

Sofware Patents And The Information Economy, Michael Perelman

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Modern economists universally acknowledge that information is an essential component of productivity. Moreover, as they begin to focus more and more on the nature of information, their conception of information widens considerably.

Software Patents--Just Make A Good Thing Better, David R. Syrowik

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Some have stated that software is somehow "different" from other technologies and must be treated differently. Others have gone so far as to advocate the abolition of patents for software-related technologies. I disagree with both propositions. I believe a heavy burden rests on those who advocate that a particular field of technology should be exempted from the patent system absent a statutory prohibition. Software-related technology should be treated under the U.S. patent laws as any other technology would be treated. Otherwise, investment in the software industry will be negatively impacted. The current patent system is vital to the protection of …

Impact Of The Human Genome Project At The Interface Between Patent And Fda Laws, Brian C. Cunningham

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Mr. Cunningham stresses the broad scope of biotechnological innovations. Besides endorsing the need for a new oversight commission to deal with potential social issues, he suggests, for example, that some products should be treated like biologics rather than new drugs.

Social Issues Of Genome Innovation And Intellectual Property, Elaine Alma Draper

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Draper's focus is the use of personal information derived from genome research. She identifies several potential problems, including access to and control of genetic information, employment discrimination and social stratification. She also recommends possible solutions.

Development Of Vaccines To Meet Public Health Needs: Incentives And Obstacles, Phillip K. Russell

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Russell explains how such matters as high 'costs of regulation, lack of an effective plan for delivery (particularly abroad) and politics can interfere with providing globally needed vaccines.

The Externalization Of Domestic Regulation: Intellectual Property Rights Reform In A Global Era, Paul N. Doremus

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Intellectual property rights (IPR) issues in the software, biotechnology, and semiconductor industries exemplify the pressure that new technologies and international competition are placing on domestic and international regulatory systems. Traditional patent and copyright rules cannot easily accommodate any of these technologies. At the same time, the high costs of research and development, relative ease of replication, and global markets characteristic of these technologies heighten the importance of both domestic and foreign IPR protection. In the context of rapidly changing technological conditions, borderless markets, and inflexible international regimes, national policymakers face a political dilemma: how to accommodate new technologies at home, …

Caught In The Net Of Copyright, Peter Jaszi

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

As an overture to this Comment, I'd like to begin with one of my favorite passages from the recent National Information Infrastructure (NII)Task Force Working Group Report on Intellectual Property and the NII-the so-called White Paper.' The passage is not one of the deceptively bland legislative proposals-nor one of the strategic half-truths in the purported summary of current copyright law. Rather, it is a passage from the section on copyright awareness, and it is an excellent example of a good idea gone wrong. The good idea is that our elementary and secondary schools could take a role in preparing students …

Graduate Students' Ownership And Attribution Rights In Intellectual Property, Sandip H. Patel

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Recent Litigation On Interlibrary Loan And Document Delivery, James S. Heller

Faculty Publications

Professor Heller discusses how two recent federal copyright law decisions, Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music in the United States Supreme Court and American Geophysical Union v. Texaco in the Second Circuit, may affect the interlibrary loan and document delivery services provided by libraries.

Reexamining Copyright's Incentives-Access Paradigm, Glynn S. Lunney, Jr., Glynn Lunney

Vanderbilt Law Review

For the past three centuries, defining the appropriate scope of copyright has entailed an examination of incentives and access.' Broadening the scope of copyright increases the incentive to produce works of authorship and results in a greater variety of such works. Broadening copyright's scope, however, also limits access to such works both generally, by increasing their price, and specifically, by limiting the material that others can use to create additional works. Given these competing considerations, defining copyright's proper scope has become a matter of balancing the benefits of broader protection, in the form of increased incentive to produce such works, …

Patent & Trademark Depository Library Association Newsletter

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

No abstract provided.

Legal Protection Of Trade Secrets In The People's Republic Of China, Yuan Cheng

Washington International Law Journal

The increasing need for an adequate legal framework for the protection of trade secrets in the People's Republic of China led to the 1993 promulgation of the Law for Countering Unfair Competition ("LCUC"). The LCUC has removed some of the barriers to obtaining effective remedies. Under the LCUC, the injured party can rely on a legal definition of "trade secrets," sue third parties, and expect that authorities will investigate violations. Nevertheless, barriers to adequate protection for trade secrets remain. In discussing the legal framework for trade secrets protection, this Article illustrates how the ambiguity of the LCUC's relationship with other …

Panel Ii: Censorship Of Cable Television’S Leased And Public Access Channels: Current Status Of Alliance For Community Media V. Fcc , Stuart W. Gold, Marjorie Heins, James N. Horwood, Robert T. Perry

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Changes In The Duration Of Copyright In The United States And European Union: Procedure And Policy, Lisa M. Brownlee

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing The Fair Use Doctrine: The Cost Of Personal And Workplace Copying After American Geophysical Union V. Texaco, Inc., Nicole B. Cásarez

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Communication Breakdown: Developing An Antitrust Model For Multimedia Mergers And Acquisitions, H. Peter Nesvold

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Speaking Frankly About Copyright Infringement On Computer Bulletin Boards: Lessons To Be Learned From "Frank Music, Nctcom" And The White Paper, Joseph V. Myers, Iii

Vanderbilt Law Review

Copyright law operates primarily as a strict liability, regime whenever infringing behavior constitutes a direct infringement of copyright. When behavior qualifies as an indirect infringement, gaps in copyright protection are filled by principles of contributory and vicarious liability. Although the application of these liability constructs has never been a simple matter, recent growth in the on- line industry has resulted in a dramatic confusion and divergence of views. In particular, the law is currently unclear in two important respects. First, opinions differ greatly as to whether computer bulletin board operators ("sysops") should incur liability for the infringing misdeeds of individual …

How Modern Treatment Of 35 U.S.C. § 112(6) Has Caused Confusion: Hilton Davis V. Warner-Jenkinson And The Right To A Jury On The Issue Of Patent Infringement Under The "Equitable" Doctrine Of Equivalents, David R. Todd

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rhetoric And Reality In Copyright Law, Stewart E. Sterk

Michigan Law Review

My first objective in this article is to explore the gulf between copyright rhetoric and copyright reality. After examining copyright rhetoric, the article demonstrates how neither the need to generate creative activity nor the desire to reward deserving authors provides a plausible justification for current copyright doctrine.

Why, then, does copyright doctrine continue to expand? The concluding section suggests some answers. Interest-group politics provides an obvious answer and one well-substantiated by the history of copyright legislation. But the story does not end with interest-group politics. Instead, I suggest that the nation's elite, including its lawmakers, has a stake in believing …

Panel I: The Changing Landscape Of Jurisprudence In Light Of The New Communications And Media Alliances, Creighton O'M. Condon, Robert D. Joffe, Nicholas J. Jollymore, John R. Tyler

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Panel Iii: Implications Of The New Telecommunications Legislation , David E. Bronston, Antoinette Cook Bush, J. Richard Devlin, Theodore C. Hirt

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Childporn.Gif: Establishing Liability For On-Line Service Providers, Joseph N. Campolo

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rosenberger V. Rector & Visitors Of The University Of Virginia: The Myth Of The Content Neutral Establishment Clause, Mark Daniel Salzberg

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Copyright Act Of 1976 And Prejudgment Interest, Jon M. Powers

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that prejudgment interest should be presumptively available on damages-plus-profits awards under section 504(b) but should not be available for statutory damages under section 504(c). Part I argues that Supreme Court precedent suggests that the explicit reference to interest found in the Patent Act does not prevent courts from awarding prejudgment interest under the 1976 Copyright Act. Part II asserts that the 1976 Copyright Act's silence regarding prejudgment interest does not represent a congressional choice to exclude this remedy and that, in the face of this silence, the underlying purposes of section 504 should determine the propriety of …

Re-Tailoring Jury Trial Rights, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

The debate over improving the civil justice system has gone through many permutations over the years. Discovery, punitive damages and alternative dispute resolution are but a few of the paths that have been pursued. A case argued to the U.S. Supreme Court in January addresses the question from yet another-and potentially a more fundamental direction: the reach of the Seventh Amendment's guarantee of a jury trial in civil cases in federal court.

The Lecture Series, Mary Kay Kane

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Patent Protection For Computer-Related Inventions: The Past, The Present, And The Future, Nancy J. Linck, Karen A. Buchanan

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Intellectual property protection is important to the United States' economic welfare, in particular to the computer industry. This Article briefly overviews the underlying purpose of the United States' patent laws and the confusion present in the law regarding patent protection for computer software and computer-related inventions. It begins its discussion of this confusion with a review of the history of patent protection for these inventions, characterizing the history as "marked by 'stops and starts.'" The initial "starts" are numerous cases from the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals reversing the Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO's) refusal to issue a patent …

Utilitarian Design Features And Antitrust Parallels: An Economic Approach To Understanding The Funtionality Defense In Trademark Litigation, M. A. Cunningham

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In this Article, the author addresses an issue of continuing significant concern to trade dress owners by examining the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision on the role of the functionality defense in trademark litigation. He traces the development of the functionality doctrine in the courts and identifies the convergence of the principles underlying the doctrine with the competition concerns of antitrust law. The Article concludes with recommendations for ways of employing the economic analysis used in antitrust litigation as an effective tool to resolve disputes over whether a particular combination of design features is functional.

Impact Of The Communications Decency Act Of 1996 On Federal Prosecutions Of Computer Dissemination Of Obscenity, Indecency, And Child Pornography, William P. Keane

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the passage of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Congress provided federal prosecutors with a potentially powerful new tool for combating "indecent" communications sent or made available to minors through computer networks. The author offers an early examination of the CDA on the use of computer and computer networks as instrumentalities of federal obscenity, indecency, and child pornography crimes, as well as the possible Constitutional challenges that are likely to emerge. He also outlines anticipated problems with enforcement, proof, and various defense strategies.