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Full-Text Articles in Law
Practical Considerations In The Indirect Deployment Of Intellectual Property Rights By Corporations And Investors, Tom Ewing
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
Competitive pressures and rent-seeking behaviors have motivated companies and investors to develop indirect techniques for beneficially exploiting third-party intellectual property rights (IPRs) that qualitatively depart from the direct exploitation tools honed during the past thirty years of the ongoing pro-patent era. Companies and investors have learned that they do not even need to own IPRs in order to consequently benefit from their exploitation. This phenomenon is labeled here "IP privateering" because of its similarities to an historic method for waging war on the high seas. This Article probes certain practical limitations of this newly identified strategy. Specifically, this Article explores …
Bitcoin: An Innovative Alternative Digital Currency, Reuben Grinberg
Bitcoin: An Innovative Alternative Digital Currency, Reuben Grinberg
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
Bitcoin is a digital, decentralized, partially anonymous currency, not backed by any government or other legal entity, and not redeemable for gold or other commodity. It relies on peer-to-peer networking and cryptography to maintain its integrity. Compared to most currencies or online payment services, such as PayPal, bitcoins are highly liquid, have low transaction costs, and can be used to make micropayments. This new currency could also hold the key to allowing organizations such as Wikileaks, hated by governments, to receive donations and conduct business anonymously. Although the Bitcoin economy is flourishing, Bitcoin users are anxious about Bitcoin's legal status. …
Beyond Confusion - Survey Evidence Of Consumer Demand And The Entire Market Value Rule, Patricia Dyck
Beyond Confusion - Survey Evidence Of Consumer Demand And The Entire Market Value Rule, Patricia Dyck
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
The doctrine of apportionment serves to limit recovery for patent infringement to the economic value contributed by the infringed patent. However, the entire market value rule allows plaintiffs to base their recovery on the entire value of a product, if an infringing feature of the product is the basis for consumer demand for the product. Large damages awards produced by the application of the entire market value rule have prompted appeals for damages reform. In the recent America Invents Act, the legislature did not address damages reform, noting that the judiciary is currently reinvigorating the doctrine of apportionment. Indeed, the …
Finding A Fit: Gene Patents And Innovation Policy, Erica L. Anderson
Finding A Fit: Gene Patents And Innovation Policy, Erica L. Anderson
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
The district court's decision in Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (the Myriad litigation) that isolated DNA does not constitute patentable subject matter because the isolated DNA is not markedly different from the naturally occurring DNA sequence redrew the lines of patentable subject matter. The Federal Circuit has subsequently overturned that holding; however, it remains unclear whether gene patents serve the patent system's underlying objective to encourage innovation. For the most part, courts have defined what constitutes patentable subject matter, but as the Myriad litigation demonstrates, courts may not be the best institution to consider these …
Customers, Co-Workers And Competition: Employee Covenants In California After Edwards V. Arthur Andersen, David L. Simson
Customers, Co-Workers And Competition: Employee Covenants In California After Edwards V. Arthur Andersen, David L. Simson
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
California law is well settled that most contractual provisions prohibiting competing with or soliciting customers of a former employer are unenforceable under California Business and Professions Code 16600, unless the activity involves misappropriation of trade secrets or confidential information. Nonetheless, case law appears to hold that a restriction on one type of post-employment activityhiring away former co-workers-might still be permitted. In 2008, the California Supreme Court once again addressed the scope of section 16600. This Note examines employee nonsolicitation covenants in light of that decision, including whether they remain legally defensible, and whether they retain any value for the employer …
Induced Infringement As A Strict Liability Claim: Abolishment Of The Specific Intent Requirement, Soonbok Lee
Induced Infringement As A Strict Liability Claim: Abolishment Of The Specific Intent Requirement, Soonbok Lee
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
This Note argues that the specific intent requirement for § 271(b) should be abolished. It shows that the language of § 271(b) does not provide textual support for the specific intent requirement. Additionally, it argues that the specific intent requirement is contrary to early case law before the enactment of the 1952 Patent Act and is in conflict with many aspects of patent law including the utilitarian policies, the doctrine of equivalents and basic risk allocation. Finally, this Note demonstrates that the overlapping scope of § 271(b) and § 271(c) necessitates the specific intent requirement because Congress intended § 271(b) …
Fda Enforcement Of Criminal Liability For Clinical Investigator Fraud, Vandya Swaminathan, Matthew Avery
Fda Enforcement Of Criminal Liability For Clinical Investigator Fraud, Vandya Swaminathan, Matthew Avery
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
Clinical investigator fraud is a very real problem, and falls squarely within FDA's mandate to protect the public health. The Eighth Circuit has held that under this mandate, FDA has the authority to impose affirmative duties to protect the public health by promulgating relevant regulations. FDA did promulgate such regulations, and the Eighth Circuit held that a failure to follow these regulations is a violation of section 355(i) of the FDCA. A violation of section 355(i) is considered a violation of section 331(e), and a violation of 331(e) can result in criminal sanctions under section 333(a). Thus, this tenuous chain …
Open Source And The Age Of Enforcement, Heather J. Meeker
Open Source And The Age Of Enforcement, Heather J. Meeker
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
The last five years have seen the first serious enforcement efforts by licensors of open source software, so we are truly at the dawning of the age of enforcement. But open source claims are not like other claims. Understanding the distinctions between open source software claims and other intellectual property claims is key to reacting to open source claims gracefully, effectively, and with a minimum of embarrassment and cost. This Article provides a survey of where we stand today and demonstrates how this area of law has developed. We will be soon nearing the point where catalogs of open source …
The Medicines Patent Pool: Promoting Access And Innovation For Life-Saving Medicines Through Voluntary Licenses, Krista L. Cox
The Medicines Patent Pool: Promoting Access And Innovation For Life-Saving Medicines Through Voluntary Licenses, Krista L. Cox
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
Monopolies over many life-saving drugs have led to high prices that remain out of reach for patients in the developing world, leading to a crisis of access over these essential medicines. High intellectual property barriers harm not only access to medicines, but can also impact future innovation. In order to address this problem, a proposal for a "patent pool" emerged that would rely on voluntary licenses by patent holders to enable the production of more affordable generic medicines. This article briefly describes the history of patent pools before focusing specifically on the UNITAID-supported Medicines Patent Pool. It analyzes the specific …
Indirect Exploitation Of Intellectual Property Rights By Corporations And Investors: Ip Privateering And Modern Letters Of Marque And Reprisal, Tom Ewing
UC Law Science and Technology Journal
Competitive pressures and rent-seeking behaviors have motivated companies and investors to develop indirect techniques for beneficially exploiting third-party intellectual property rights (IPRs) that qualitatively depart from the direct exploitation tools honed during the past thirty years of the pro-patent era. Among other things, companies have realized that they do not even need to own IPRs in order to consequently benefit from their exploitation. This phenomenon is labeled here "IP privateering" because of its similarities to an historic method of waging war on the high seas. This Article classifies IP privateering as a species of aggressive non-practicing entities (NPEs). The parameters …