Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Technological Innovation, International Competition, And The Challenges Of International Income Taxation, Michael J. Graetz, Rachael Doud

Faculty Scholarship

Because of the importance of technological innovation to economic growth, nations strive to stimulate and attract the research and development ("R&D") that leads to that innovation and to make themselves hospitable environments for the holding of intellectual property ("IP"). Tax policies have taken center stage in their efforts to accomplish these goals and to capture a share of the income from technological innovations.

Designing cost-effective methods of supporting technological innovations has, however, become substantially more difficult as the world economy has become more interconnected. Where R&D is performed and where income is earned change in response to the nature and …

The Corporate Preference For Trade Secret, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Many inventions can be legally protected either by patent or by trade secrecy, and a conventional wisdom exists on how to select between them. This Article adds to that literature by showing that corporations should have an inherent preference for trade secret over patent for reasons relating to their legal form. Among them is the idea that corporations are perpetual entities and therefore perfectly suited to reap the perpetual returns that only a trade secret can offer. The Article also addresses the potential for a conflict between the inherent corporate preference for trade secret and the preferences of corporate managers, …

Beyond Confusion?, Stacey Dogan

Shorter Faculty Works

Trademark law is in the midst of an identity crisis. The prevailing economic account of the law has come under sustained attack by scholars, who have both challenged its descriptive accuracy and blamed it for many of the expansions of trademark rights in recent decades. The likelihood of confusion test – long the nucleus of infringement analysis – has been roundly condemned as indeterminate, incoherent, and normatively empty. No one seems to agree about why we have trademark law and how best to implement it. Scholars have cast about for explanations of how we got here and ideas of how …

Why Copyright Falls Behind The Requirement For Protecting Graphic User Interfaces: Case Studies On Limitations Of Copyright Protection For Guis In China, Ling Jin, Yihong Ying

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

The Private Costs Of Patent Litigation, James Bessen, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

This paper estimates the total cost of patent litigation to alleged infringers. We use a large sample of stock market event studies around the date of lawsuit filings for US public firms from 1984-99. We find that the total costs of litigation are much greater than legal fees and costs are large even for lawsuits that settle. Lawsuits cost alleged infringers about $28.7 million ($92) in the mean and $2.9 million in the median. Moreover, infringement risk rose sharply during the late 1990s to over 14% of R&D spending. Small firms have lower risk relative to R&D.

“Advancing With The Times: Industrial Design Protection In The Era Of Virtual Migration”, Horacio E. Gutiérrez

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Misappropriation And Patenting Of Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge And Genetic Resources, Maxim V. Gubarev

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Four-fifths of all pharmaceuticals have been developed from natural plant resources, and native plant resources similarly play a significant role in the development of new and improved crops.

Economics Of The Independent Invention Defense Under Incomplete Information, Murat C. Mungan

Scholarly Publications

Patents lead to ex post deadweight loss arising from a noncompetitive market structure for the invention. Many have argued that introducing independent invention as a defense (IID) to patent infringement can increase social welfare by decreasing such deadweight loss at the price of a modest decrease in the number of inventions. This paper considers the effects of IID in a setting where R&D firms have incomplete information about their rivals. Four main results follow under incomplete information: (i) fewer things are invented under an IID regime; (ii) IID’s effects on welfare are ambiguous; (iii) IID is more likely to increase …

A New Institutional Economics Perspective On Trademarks: Rebuilding Post Conflict Zones In Sierra Leone And Croatia, 11 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 745 (2012), Roya Ghafele, Benjamin Gibert

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This paper evaluates the role of collective trademarks in enhancing the ability of tourism clusters to stimulate economic growth, local ownership and innovative governance. Illustrating how intellectual property (IP) law can be leveraged to achieve this, we offer a new economic rationale for trademarks in the context of tourism. Two post-conflict case studies of Sierra Leone and Croatia provide a crash test for this approach. By emphasizing the role of law, institutions and infrastructure in stimulating tourism in post-conflict zones, this paper echoes new institutional economics perspectives that highlight the impact of legal structure on development. Despite widespread acknowledgement of …

The Criminalization Of The Theft Of Trade Secrets: An Analysis Of The Economic Espionage Act, Nicola Searle

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

The End Of Forgetting And "Administrative Rights" To Our Online Personas, Jamie R. Lund

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Standards: Economics Applied To Patent Law’S Fluctuating Utility Requirement, Brian A. Harris

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Pangloss's Copyright, Derek E. Bambauer

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Accentuate The Normative: A Response To Professor Mckenna, Jeremy N. Sheff

Faculty Publications

In his article, “A Consumer Decision-Making Theory of Trade-mark Law,” 98 Va. L. Rev. 67 (2012), Professor Mark McKenna makes two significant claims. The first is that the dominant Law and Economics theory of trademark law—the search-costs theory of the Chicago School—is in some way connected to recent undesirable expansions of trademark rights. The second is that a preferable theory of trademark law—one that would result in more tightly circumscribed and socially beneficial notions of trademark rights—would take consumer decision making, rather than search costs, as its guiding principle. I find myself sympathetic to these arguments, and yet I believe …

A Consumer Decision-Making Theory Of Trademark Law, Mark P. Mckenna

Journal Articles

The consumer search costs theory has dominated discussion of trademark law for the last several decades. According to this theory, trademark law aims to increase consumer welfare by reducing the cost of shopping for goods or services, and it accomplishes this goal by preventing uses of a trademark that might confuse consumers about the source of the goods with which the mark is used. This conceptual frame is wrong, and it is complicit in most of trademark law’s extraordinary expansion. “Search costs” is not sufficiently precise; many types of search costs are irrelevant to consumer behavior, and even when search …

Once More Unto The Breach: Some Thoughts On The Future Of The Eez, Guy Des Rosiers

Indonesian Journal of International Law

By public international law standards, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) maintains a relative newcomer, the product of State practice following the end of the Second World War and multilateral negotiations culminating with the entry into force, in November 1994, of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, In defining the EEZ, the Convention has created a sui generis legal regime over vast areas that were previously part of the high seas. Neither Grotian nor Seldenian in spirit, the EEZ regime forgoes the absolute language of territory and sovereignty in favor of discrete sets of rights and …

Principle Of Responsibilities And Sanctions In Pollutions Of The Marine Environment By Offshore Minning, Dina Sunyowati

Indonesian Journal of International Law

In a period of 5 (five) years of pollution of the marine environment caused by exploration and exploitation on the continental shelf and the area (the seabed) is increasing. Like the marine pollution in the Timor Sea which transnational pollution, because it involves three countries, namely Australia, Timor Leste, and Indonesia. Settlement efforts to revolve the impact caused by too have done well by the Australian Government nor by the Indonesian Government. Pollution of the marine environment also occurs in blasting offshore mining that pollute the Gulf of Mexico. As mentioned in the 1982 UNCLOS, Article 208 that one of …

The Right To A Fair Trial And Combatting Terrorism: The Case Of Indonesia, Amira Paripurna

Indonesian Journal of International Law

After the 9/11 attack, the US government called upon global war on terror (GWOT). Then terrorism has been considered as a threat of global security. It is, therefore, has led both national and international concern under US hegemony. Furthermore, it has affected the proliferation of many national counter-terrorism laws. The terrorist attacks have threatened Indonesia over years. Under the act No.15/2003 jo No.1/Prp/2002 the Indonesian government has successfully conducted prosecutions to the terrorism perpetrators. However, it is identified that there are such violations regarding to international human rights rules and standards. The concern in handling terrorism demands a balance concern …

Indonesia: Problem Encountered In Some Unresolved Boundaries And The Outermost Island Issues, Etty R. Agoes.

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Within the framework of national integrity the ocean possesses two key aspects that is, of security and prosperity. The demarcation of the outer limits of national mari- time territory and jurisdiction including delimitation of boundaries with neighboring countries will provide a legal basis for a number of marine activities such as defense, fisheries, navigation, seabed and subsoil exploration and exploitation, marine tourism and others. Boundary issues for Indonesia, whether on land, at sea even in the air, have always been a matter of national priority. At present, Indonesia still have some unresolved boundary delimitation with its neighboring countries. The completion …

From Bali To Copenhagen: Indonesia's Position And Role In International Negotiation To Establish A Post-Kyoto Protocol Agreement On Climate Change, Syamsul Hadi

Indonesian Journal of International Law

In the light of upcoming end of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, international society is in the urgent need to arrange a new international agreement to cope more with the issue that has been threatening both today and the future generation. In this context, Indonesia has attempted to contribute a positive role to seek international consensus on the climate change negotiations, including by becoming the host of Un Conference on Climate Change in Bali (2007), whoch resulted in the Bali Roadmap and Bali Action Plan, both of which has become important stepping stone for the Post-Kyoto Protocol international regime. However, …

Impact Of The Implementation Of Broder Crossing Area Agreement Between Indonesian And The Philippines At The Border Of Miangas Island Of North Celebes, Wulanmas A.P.G Frederik

Indonesian Journal of International Law

The existence of Border Crossing Area Agreement (BCA) in 1975 regulating the border agreement between Miangas Island of North Celebes and the Philippines created positive and negative impacts on border people in Miangas Island. The legal aspects, BCA is a legal regulation regulating the border crossing and commerce in that area; economic aspects; BCA has not accommodated border people’s interests maximally yet and it has a limiting impression rather than facilitating people’s interests, thus, illegal trades occur at the border of Miangas Island; social aspects, BCA is hard to implement in this area because it has limited the tradition practicing …

Geographical Indications Under International Intellectual Property Law: An Indonesian Perspective, Mariana Molnar Gabor Warokka

Indonesian Journal of International Law

There are currently two systems for the registration of GI and Appellations of Origin. First, the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration of 1958. Second, the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Madrid Protocol of 1989 for countries that protect GI under the trade mark regime. Indonesia has provided for GI protection under its Trade Mark Law No. 15 of 2001, and the appertaining Government Regulation No. 51 of 2007 concerning Geographical Indication. Several cases have been reported of Indonesian GI potential products, such as Kopi Toraja and Kopi …

The Abuse Of Guaranteed Pending Trial In The Chinese Criminal Process: A Violation Of International Human Rights Law, Li Enshen

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Guaranteed pending trial (Qubao Houshen) is one of the coercive measures used by the Chinese authorities to release suspects on bail in the criminal process. Unlike the western general practices, this instrument is not characterized as a legal right of suspects, but an effective means to circumvent the procedural requirements of investigation and prosecution in the laws. Further, the abuse of guaranteed pending trial is in fragrant violation of minimal international standards of human rights protection in the criminal justice system. The article first examines the procedural and practical deficiencies of this measure in the Chinese context. It then argues …

Testing As Commodification, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay, the author addresses criticism of the testing movement by education experts such as Jonathan Kozol. She explores the similarities in the discourses of philosophical discussions of commodification and behavioural economic discussions of intrinsic motivations. One conclusion that the author draws is that the comparison between the testing movement and commodification literature is not perfect, but they have both been counted, compared and measured, and flattened or thinned out of values.

Making Coasean Property More Coasean, Thomas W. Merrill, Henry E. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

In his pioneering work on transaction costs, Ronald Coase presupposed a picture of property as a bundle of government-prescribed use rights. Not only is this picture not essential to Coase’s purpose, but its limitations emerge when we apply Coase’s central insights to analyze the structure of property itself. This leads to the Coase corollary: in a world of zero transaction costs, the nature of property does not matter to allocative efficiency. However, as with the Coase theorem, the real implication is for our world of positive transaction costs: we need to subject the notion of property to a comparative institutional …

The Creativity Effect, Christopher Buccafusco, Christopher Jon Sprigman

Faculty Scholarship

This Article reports the first experiment to demonstrate the existence of a valua­tion anomaly associated with the creation of new works. To date, a wealth of social science research has shown that the least amount of money that owners of goods are willing to accept to part with their possessions is often far greater than the amount that purchasers would be willing to pay to obtain them. This phenomenon, known as the endowment effect, may create substantial inefficiencies in many markets. Our experi­ment demonstrates the existence of a related "creativity effect." We show that creators of works value their creations …

Efficient Uncertainty In Patent Interpretation, Harry Surden

Publications

Research suggests that widespread uncertainty over the scopes of issued patents creates significant costs for third-party firms and may decrease innovation. This Article addresses the scope uncertainty issue from a theoretical perspective by creating a model of patent claim scope uncertainty.

It is often difficult for third parties to determine the legal coverage of issued patents. Scope underdetermination exists when the words of a patent claim are capable of a broad range of plausible scopes ex ante in light of the procedures for interpreting patents. Underdetermination creates uncertainty about claim coverage because a lay interpreter cannot know which interpretation will …

Korea's Patent Policy And Its Impact On Economic Development: A Model For Emerging Countries?, Jay A. Erstling, Ryan E. Strom

San Diego International Law Journal

The purpose of this paper will be to examine Korean patent policy as exemplified by its patent legislation and the activities of KIPO. Part II will take a brief look at the rationale underpinning Korea’s confidence in the power of the patent system to stimulate economic growth. Part III of the paper will look at the Korean Patent Act as an example of strong, comprehensive patent legislation that fully complies with international standards and responds well to the perceived needs of patent applicants. Part III will examine one of the highlights of Korean patent legislation, the Korean Invention Promotion Act, …

Sequential Musical Creation And Sample Licensing, Peter Dicola

Faculty Working Papers

All musical creation builds on previous works. But using fragments of existing musical works in a new work can often constitute copyright infringement. Copyright law, in cases like Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films (6th Cir. 2005), has recently increased its restrictions on musicians who wish to engage in sampling, defined as the practice of using other creators' sound recordings to create new music. The paper describes a model of copyright holders' and samplers' incentives to create in light of the need to negotiate licenses for sample-based works to avoid violating copyright law. Even in the absence of traditional transaction costs …

The 8% Solution - Or How Good Are The Calculation Economics By The Federal Circuit In Lucent V. Microsoft?, 9 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 797 (2010), W. Lesser

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Lucent v. Microsoft brought to the fore again the complexity of infringement damage estimates. Differences in approaches were laid open in this case with the trial court jury settling $358 million in damages against Microsoft and the appeals court striking down the value as lacking substantial evidence. Damages were established on the “reasonable royalty” basis for a product which was neither licensed nor sold. This article contends that the appeals court took too narrow a view of economics in its analysis of the software sector. Specifically, the court seems to have applied a “perfect competition” model to a sector which …