Law Commons^™

An Inquiry Into The Merits Of Copyright: The Challenges Of Consistency, Consent And Encouragement Theory, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Hostility to copyright has a long and honorable history. In the nineteenth century, for example, Lord Macaulay argued that while copyright might be necessary to ensure a "supply of good books," the monopoly that it imposed was at best a necessary evil.

"For the sake of the good we must submit to the evil; but the evil ought
not to last a day longer than is necessary for the purpose of securing the good."

A number of studies critical of intellectual property followed in our century. The most well known is probably the economically oriented 1970 study by Stephen Breyer …

The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act And Its Impact On The International Protection Of Chip Designs, Jay Erstling

Faculty Scholarship

The United States Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 (“SCPA”') has already had a profound impact on the creation of foreign legal systems of chip protection. The allure of reciprocity under the SCPA has motivated a host of nations, including Japan, the Member States of the European Communities (“EC”'), Sweden, Finland, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, to adopt or consider adopting chip protection legislation. The SCPA has also been the impetus for multilateral discussions within the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”') and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”') to establish an international standard of chip protection. The result has …

Comment, Section 337 And Gatt In The Akzo Controversy: A Pre- And Post-Omnibus Trade And Competitiveness Act Analysis, Mark C. Modak-Truran

Journal Articles

Section 337 of the United States Tariff Act of 1930 ("Section 337") protects intellectual property rights from international pirating and counterfeiting. It provides a mechanism for excluding infringing imports from the United States marketplace. Before the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (the "Omnibus Trade Act"), some argued that Section 337 should be amended to provide for further protection. Others maintained that Section 337 conflicts with United States obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT") or that further substantive amendments of Section 337 would conflict with GATT. A GATT Panel in Imports of Certain Automotive Spring …

Intellectual Property Rights And The Gatt: United States Goals In The Uruguay Round, Mark L. Damschroder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The pursuit of protection of IP rights is a valuable goal both for the United States and the rest of the world community. Such rights promote creativity and the advancement of knowledge, as well as fuel the domestic economy and improve the position of the United States vis-a-vis the other trading nations of the world. With the growing interdependence of the global economy, there is no time like the present to lay the foundation for a system of dispute settlement of such trade matters. Economic interdependence will continue to increase, and the problems of international trade in, and piracy of, …

Stealing Trade Secrets Ethically, Don Wiesner, Anita Cava

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutional Intellectual Property Power: Progress Of Useful Arts And The Legal Protection Of Semiconductor Technology, Kenneth J. Burchfiel

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property In Higher Life Forms: The Patent System And Controversial Technologies, Robert P. Merges

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Has Happened Since Chakrabarty, Jane M. Marciniszyn

Journal of Law and Health

It is conventional wisdom that the patent system is designed to undergrid the investment in pushing technology forward. The patent system is innovation-oriented. And (sic) it functions most effectively in the expensive, breakthrough technologies, where uncertainties of success or payback abound. If, in assessing the risk of commitment, the penalties of failure outweigh the prizes of success, the prudent money will go elsewhere. The patent system moves the equation to the right, not by better assuring success (for only public needs and market values can do that), but by aiding success through offering the innovator a temporary respite from non-innovative …

Reexamining Intellectual Property Concepts: A Glimpse Into The Future Through The Prism Of Chakrabarty, Monroe E. Price

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

One Hundred And Two Years Later: The U.S. Joins The Berne Convention, Jane C. Ginsburg, John M. Kernochan

Faculty Scholarship

In historic votes on October 5 and October 12, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation designed to bring U.S. law into compliance with the Berne Convention. The legislation was signed by President Reagan on October 31, 1988. Also signed by the President was a Senate Resolution of October 20 of Ratification of the Berne Convention. Following deposit of the requisite instruments with the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, U.S. adherence to Berne took effect on March 1, 1989.

For the U.S., this momentous step is the culmination of decades of struggle, including many failed attempts …

Copyright Compromise And Legislative History , Jessica D. Litman

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Computer Software Copyright Infringement: The Second Generation, Jeffrey A. Berkowitz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright Protection For Architectural Works, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

Architecture is the most commonly experienced and pervasive of all the arts. The creative efforts of architects culminate in structures used for shelter, pleasure, business, entertainment, and transportation.1 Architects express their design concepts in sketches, elevations, floor plans, working drawings, specifications, renditions, and three-dimensional models. Their labors in shaping the ideas for a building from rough conceptions into plans and then into completed structures are similar to the efforts of other creators. An architect is as much an author as is a sculptor or a dramatist. His plans, renditions, and the resulting structure will ordinarily show originality and will reflect …

How The Patent And Copyright Clauses Came To Be A Part Of Our National Charter, Roger J. Miner '56

Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Immunity: The Exception For Intellectual Or Industrial Property, Virginia Morris

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The doctrine of sovereign or state immunity exempts a state and its property from the judicial jurisdiction of any other state. The domestic courts of various nations have developed this doctrine over the years through cases in which private citizens have attempted to sue foreign states. Courts' enunciations of the principle of state immunity and their reasons for granting or denying the immunity are almost as numerous as the countries whose courts have faced this issue. The current work of the International Law Commission (the Commission) on the codification and the progressive development of the jurisdictional immunities of states and …

The Importance Of Intellectual Property In Trade Between Canada And The United States, Michael Cote Hon.

Canada-United States Law Journal

Canada-United States Economic Ties: The Technology Context, intellectual property, and trade

Intellectual Property Protection In Canada: The Technology Challenge, Jim Keon

Canada-United States Law Journal

Canada-United States Economic Ties: The Technology Context, protection of intellectual property in Canada

The Trademark Counterfeiting Act Of 1984: A Sensible Legislative Response To The Ills Of Commercial Counterfeiting, Brian J. Kearney

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This student note explores the recently passed Trademark Counterfeit Act of 1984, viewing it in the context of ever-growing counterfeiting of commercial, agricultural, and aeronautical trademarks. The author examines the history of US trademark regulation, beginning with the Lanham Act of 1946, and then predicts the effects the 1984 Act will have on commercial practice, antitrust law, the sale of goods on the "gray market," and due process implications. The author concludes that though ex parte remedies will be necessary to maintain trademark practices, the 1984 Act does not represent any sort of infringement on due process or commercial practice, …

Note On The Four Faces Of The "Sharing Benefits" Issue With Handwritten - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Any overall theory must first be capable of describing what it seeks to theorize about. This article will now do that. In giving a taxonomy, the article may be making its greatest contribution, Lockean theory will hardly be the last world in intellectual property unification theory. But I will have at lest set the terms for debate so we can finally speak clearly to each other, articulate the issues, see their implications.

Outline Of Green Bound - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Notes On "Natural Property Rights" In Products Of The Mind: Lock And Contemporary Controversies In Intellectual Property - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Notes On Natural Rights Of Intellectual Property - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

In many areas courts are giving new intellectual property rights for reasons they largely leave unarticulated. Noncopyrightable stock averages are being protected by state law. Merchandising emblems and symbols are being protected in non-trademark contexts by trademark law. The right of publicity has expanded to such an extent that judges and commentators al iKe bewail the imminent dangers to the First Amendment caused by the imprecision of the new right’s boundaries. Even in federal copyright law, which explicitly says that facts and ideas should be free of protection, and where inadvertent copying is supposed to be as actionable as intentional …

Renewal Of The Gsp: An Explanation Of The Program And Changes Made By The 1984 Legislation, Frank A. Hirsch, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note outlines the purpose, scope and operation of the GSP from 1976 until 1984. Both the initial authorizing legislation and the 1984 Trade Act are analyzed. The 1979 modifications made in the Trade Agreement Act are briefly discussed where they are relevant. The 1984 Trade Act changes are detailed, with commentary on the manner in which the renewed GSP differs materially from prior law, and with discussion of the underlying policies and significance of the changes. The Note concludes with comments on the diverse objectives of the United States GSP scheme, its evolving nature, and prospects for continuation of …

The Validity Of The Manufacturing Clause Of The United States Copyright Code As Challenged By Trade Partners And Copyright Owners, Annette V. Tucker

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Trade treaty partners recently have determined that the manufacturing clause violates United States obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). If the clause does violate GATT, sanctions may be imposed unless the clause is eliminated. Even so, two bills have been introduced in the United States Congress to make the clause a permanent feature of the copyright law, and to apply the manufacturing requirement to all printed materials. Meanwhile, a group of United States publishers and authors is challenging the clause in court, claiming it violates both the first and fifth amendments to the United States Constitution. …

Notes On Desert Theory: The No-Harm Notion - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

At first blush, the creation of i/p seems to meet this test of Locke’s proviso, namely, that strangers cannot complain of the ownership if after the appropriation, “there was as good left, as that already possessed, and more than he knew what to do with, or his industry could reach to.” There would seem to be a nearly infinite store of possible melodies, poems, novels, ideas; granting ownership over one variant which has been reduced to expression by a creator wouldn’t seem to interfere with the stranger’s ability to create his own.

Parallel Importation--Legitimate Goods Or Trademark Infringement?, W. Weldon Wilson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Conflicts in interpretations of section 42 of the Lanham Act and section 526 of the Tariff Act of 1930 have led to divergent results in several federal courts. Although advocates on each side of the controversy present valid arguments supporting their positions, the dispute should be resolved by analyzing the purpose of the Lanham Act and the Tariff Act. The goal of these acts is protection of consumers and United States industry. Strict application of these statutes would achieve this result. Parallel imports provide goods at lower prices but confuse the consumer as to the origin of the goods and …

Desert Theory: The No-Harm Notion - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

One has no right to complain about another’s appropriation of a plot of land. But we live interdependent lives today. If X were given a property right to pollute, Y might have quite a lot to complain about. If what we are looking for is conditions under which strangers have no right to complain about property being granted, then it would seem appropriate to broaden the proviso a bit and say, the stranger has no right to complain so long as he’s not harmed by the grant of property.

Notes On Nomenclature - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The ordinary linkage between "property" and "thing" can be seen in the most common name given to the set of intellectual products. They are called "intellectual property."

Outline Of Desert Theory: The No-Harm Notion - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

In seeking to understand what lies behind the court's apparent eagerness to grant property in intellectual products, a helpful starting place would seem to be the labour theory of property found in Locke's SECOND TREATIES OF GOVERNMENT. Speaking most generally, the theory suggests that a person who successfully uses his to her efforts to make useful those things which no one else has used or claimed may be rewarded with ownership of the things. The common law has long used a simpler variant of such a principle, awarding ownership to those who take possession of unclaimed physical resources. Creators of …

Notes On Demarcation And Other Issues - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Not only is there a problem with demarking the resource (e.g., the problem of larger and larger generality that Hand tries to deal with) but there's also a problem with demarking the TYPE OF USE. In DOW JONES, for example, the defendant was merely making reference to (not copying)the average; ditto the NFL case.