Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Gideon At Fifty -- Golden Anniversary Or Mid Life Crisis, Kim Taylor-Thompson

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Driving While License Suspended - Third Degree, A Framework For Requesting Alternative Sentences, Sahar Fathi

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

About The Authors

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Gideon: Looking Backward, Looking Forward, Looking In The Mirror, Steven Zeidman

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Jacqueline Mcmurtrie

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Improving Access To Justice: Plain Language Family Law Court Forms In Washington State, Charles R. Dyer, Joan E. Fairbanks, M. Lynn Greiner, Kirsten Barron, Janet L. Skreen, Josefina Cerrillo-Ramirez, Andrew Lee, Bill Hinsee

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Reverse Payments, Perverse Incentives, Murat C. Mungan

Faculty Scholarship

Issuing and enforcing prescription drug patents requires courts and legislatures to strike a delicate balance. A patent gives drug manufacturers a legal, if temporary, monopoly on sales of a drug; this encourages manufacturers to engage in costly research and development of new medicines. But not all patents issued by the Patent Office are ultimately deemed valid – generic drug manufacturers can infringe the patent, and, when sued, attack its validity in court on a variety of grounds, including obviousness. In recent years, patent holders have begun to settle these suits (which they initiated) by paying the alleged infringer. Not surprisingly, …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, Jim Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Tom Folsom, Timothy Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank Pasquale, Elizabeth Reilly, Jeff Samuels, Kathy Strandburg, Kara Swanson, Andrew Torrance, Katharine Van Tassel

Akron Law Faculty Publications

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions.

Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Exclusivity Without Patents: The New Frontier Of Fda Regulation For Genetic Materials, Gregory Dolin

All Faculty Scholarship

Over the last twenty years, the legal and scientific academic communities have been embroiled in a debate about the patent eligibility of genetic materials. The stakes for both sides could not be higher. On one hand are the potential multi-billion dollar profits on the fruits of research (from newly discovered genes), and on the other is scientists' ability to continue and expand research into the human genome to improve patients' access to affordable diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. This debate is currently pending before the Supreme Court, which is considering a petition for certiorari in Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. U.S. …

Genomics Unbound: The Scientific And Legal Case Against Patents Based On Naturally Occurring Dna Sequences, Fazal Khan

Scholarly Works

While there have been mixed opinions as to whether gene patents were dead in light of Prometheus,this Article argues that a proper understanding of patent law, genomics, and public policy concerns should lead to no other result. The primary focus of this piece is to rebut certain vested interests in the biotechnology industry and affirm the normative claim that gene patents improperly fetter genomics research and development. First, through the lens of the Myriad case, we will recount why there was such a strong public interest movement against recognizing such patents. Specifically, we will show how patents on naturally occurring …

Genomics Unbound: The Scientific And Legal Case Against Patents Based On Naturally Occurring Dna Sequences, Fazal Khan, Lindsay Kessler

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Personalized Medicine, Genetic Exceptionalism, And The Rule Of Law: An Analysis Of The Prevailing Justification For Invalidating Brca1/2 Patents In Association Of Molecular Pathology V. Uspto, Kristen L. Burge

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

As medicine advances toward a more personalized model, the significance of genetic information is growing exponentially. While unlocking the genetic code has advanced the state of medicine, it has also reinvigorated the debate over the boundaries of patentable subject matter. The potential clash between having access to state-of-the-art medicine and protecting intellectual property investments came to a head in the case, Association of Molecular Pathology v. USPTO (“Myriad”). This Article analyzes the legal opinion rendered by the district court through the unique lens of genetic exceptionalism—a concept previously reserved to social science and public policy. Then, this Article …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, James Ming Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Thomas Folsom, Timothy S. Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank A. Pasquale Iii, Elizabeth A. Reilly, Jeffrey Samuels, Katherine J. Strandburg, Kara W. Swanson, Andrew W. Torrance, Katharine A. Van Tassel

Law Faculty Scholarship

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

The National Institutes Of Health, Patents, And The Public Interest: An Expanded Rationale Of Justice Breyer’S Dissent In Stanford V. Roche, Nida Shakir

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

In February 2010, the Alzheimer’s Institute of America (AIA) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Jackson Laboratory, the largest repository of research mice in the world. AIA sued Jackson Laboratory for infringing on AIA’s patent covering a DNA mutation linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Jackson Lab allegedly violated that patent by distributing mice especially bred for Alzheimer’s research. READ MORE, download the article.

Mapping Our Future: The Impact Of Gene Patents On Scientific Research And Health Care In The United States, Caitlin E. Lanning

Journal of Law and Health

In September, 2011, the Senate passed H.R. 1249, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”), which President Barrack Obama signed into law on September 16th. The AIA is the largest transformation to U.S. patent law since 1952. While the new legislation implements numerous, positive changes to the U.S. patent system, it fails to address any of the concerns raised by gene patent critics over the past few decades. Gene patents should be categorized as patentable subject matter within the AIA, but under a separate patent category with specifically engineered regulations designed to promote scientific research and collaboration that will in turn …

When Everyone Is An Orphan: Against Adopting A Us-Styled Orphan Drug Policy In Canada, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Putting aside whether diseases that affect only small numbers of people ("rare diseases") should be prioritized over diseases that are otherwise orphaned, in this paper I argue that a new approach to rare, orphan diseases is needed. The current model, first signaled by the United States’ Orphan Drug Act and subsequently emulated by several other jurisdictions, relies on a set of open-ended criteria and market-based incentives in order to define and encourage drug therapies for rare, orphan diseases. Given a) the biopharmaceutical industries’ growing interest in orphan diseases, b) progress in the sphere of personalized medicines enabling more and more …

Gene Patents No More? Deciphering The Meaning Of Prometheus, Fazal Khan, Lindsay Kessler

Scholarly Works

When Congress enacted the United States Patent Act in 1952, it specified that patentable subject matter included anything “under the sun that is made by man.” Three decades ago the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the first gene patent and ushered in a brave new gold rush. Some genes are associated with specific diseases, so being able to identify these sequences is an essential first step for developing genomic diagnostic tests and therapies. The problem with gene patents is that they allow modern-day prospectors to cordon off access to naturally occurring DNA sequences and exclude others from …

Renewing Healthy Competition: Compulsory Licenses And Why Abuses Of The Trips Article 31 Standards Are Most Damaging To The United States Healthcare Industry, Jon Matthews

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.

Updating The Patent System's Novelty Requirement To Promote Small-Molecule Medicinal Progress, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1151 (2012), Jason Brewer

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Property As Control: The Case Of Information, Jane B. Baron

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

If heath policy makers' wishes come true, by the end of the current decade the paper charts in which most of our medical information is currently recorded will be replaced by networked electronic health records ("EHRs").[...] Like all computerized records, networked EHRs are difficult to secure, and the information in EHRs is both particularly sensitive and particularly valuable for commercial purposes. Sadly, the existing federal statute meant to address this problem, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), is probably inadequate to the task.[...] Health law, privacy, and intellectual property scholars have all suggested that the river …

International Trademark Protection And Global Public Health: A Just-Compensation Regime For Expropriations And Regulatory Takings, Sam Foster Halabi

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Thousand Tiny Pieces: The Federal Circuit’S Fractured Myriad Ruling, Lessons To Be Learned, And The Way Forward, Jonathan R. K. Stroud

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

A Vaccine Approach To The Reverse Payment Illness, Scott Bergeson

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Big Brand Name develops and files a patent for a drug that kills bacteria in an innovative way. The drug is groundbreaking and potentially marketable, so Big Brand Name incurs the enormous cost (estimated at $868 million) and time of drug discovery research and safety determinations of clinical trials to bring the drug to market. Small Generic Company wants to sell the same drug but must wait until Big Brand Name’s patent expires or, in the alternative, Small Generic Company can file an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) with the FDA and allege Big Brand Name’s patent is invalid or …

Genes 101: Are Human Genes Patentable Subject Matter?, Andrew Bowman

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Genes are the fundamental building blocks of all living things. They dictate hair color, eye color, even susceptibility to cancer. As such, genes inherently possess untold power. The ability of a sole company to wield this omnipotence makes a human gene patent highly sought after.

Unlocking Health Canada’S Cache Of Trade Secrets: Mandatory Disclosure Of Clinical Trial Results, Matthew Herder

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Health Canada should publicly disclose information about the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices, and should especially disclose the designs and results of clinical trials. This disclosure is necessary to preserve public trust, address weaknesses in the evidence base, and protect Canadians from harm.

A prime example of the need for this disclosure involves selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Health Canada did not authorize SSRIs for sale to people younger than 19 years because of data from clinical trials showing risks of harm, including self-harm, associated with use of SSRIs in that age group. But Health Canada …

Causing Infringement, Mark Bartholomew, Patrick F. Mcardle

Vanderbilt Law Review

In its most recent contributory infringement pronouncement, the Supreme Court advised courts wrestling with these issues to consult tort law's own contributory liability framework, which it described as "well established."31 The conventional wisdom among legal scholars agrees with the Court. Most scholarship in this area contends that obeisance to traditional tort law principles of contributory liability will fill the void in infringement law with answers that are adequately calibrated to the balance between incentivizing creation and permitting downstream use. This Article challenges that conventional wisdom. Although we agree that tort law can shed some much-needed light on contributory infringement, we …

Dynamic Patent Governance In Europe And The United States: The Myriad Example, Kali Murray, Esther Van Zimmeren

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

This Article examines the emerging elements of a new model for patent governance. It is divided into four parts. In Section One, we develop a model of dynamic patent governance. This model extends the theoretical framework of network governance, to explain the emergence of networks in the decisionmaking infrastructure for the public and private actors in the patent system. Dynamic patent governance widens this theoretical framework in two key ways. First, dynamic patent governance, within its formal dimensions, is based on the idea that heterogeneous administrative actors regulate the grant and enforcement of patents. This challenges a perspective that sees …

Introduction: Cities And Sustainability

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

About Sdlp

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Can Law Improve Prevention And Treatment Of Cancer?, Roger Magnusson, Lawrence O. Gostin, David Studdert

O'Neill Institute Papers

The December 2011 issue of Public Health (the Journal of the Royal Society for Public Health) contains a symposium entitled: Legislate, Regulate, Litigate? Legal approaches to the prevention and treatment of cancer. This symposium explores the possibilities for using law and regulation – both internationally and at the national level – as the policy instrument for preventing and improving the treatment of cancer and other leading non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In this editorial, we argue that there is an urgent need for more legal scholarship on cancer and other leading NCDs, as well as greater dialogue between lawyers, public health practitioners …