Law Commons^™

Coding For Life--Should Any Entity Have The Exclusive Right To Use And Sell Isolated Dna, Douglas L. Rogers

Douglas L. Rogers

Myriad Genetics, Inc. ("Myriad") obtained patents in the 1990's on two "isolated" human breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes ("BRCA"). Myriad did not list all the isolated sequences it claims to have a right to monopolize, but instead claims a patent on the physical phenomena itself -- all DNA segments that code for the BRCA1 polypeptide, even the sequences Myriad has not identified and even someone else in the future creates or isolates the sequences through a method or methods not contemplated by Myriad.

An impressive array of non-profit medical societies, doctors and patients sued to have the Myriad patents …

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 …

Warranting Rightful Claims, Karen E. Sandrik

Karen E. Sandrik

Damage awards for patent infringement have sky-rocketed and sparked significant debate in recent years. A part of this patent damage debate focuses on non-practicing entities, or so-called “patent trolls.” A patent troll is a patent owner that demands a royalty based on patented technology, yet does not actually make use of the technology to provide an end product or service. Patent trolls are known for their aggressive and opportunistic behavior. Their strategy is simple: create nuisance and inflict fear. Often, patent trolls employ this strategy against the buyers of goods that use the patented technology. Increasingly, those buyers are availing …