Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Halve The Baby: An Obvious Solution To The Troubling Use Of Trademarks As Metatags, 18 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 643 (2000), Dan Mccuaig

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

In this article, the author proposes a solution to decide when metatags of other companies' trademarked terms should be allowed. First the author begins by describing the nature and function of metatags. A brief discussion of the relevant aspects of trademark law as they apply to trademark-metatags are fully investigated. The author then provides two significant cases in this field to support his contention. Following this discussion, the author proposes a solution to the use of trademark-metatags. Finally, the author ends this article with a discussion of anticipated market reactions to the "trademarks" metatag.

Riaa V. Napster: A Window Onto The Future Of Copyright Law In The Internet Age, 18 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 755 (2000), Ariel Berschadsky

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article uses the Napster controversy as a stepping stone to discussing copyright law in the Internet age. Section II of the article discusses music piracy over the internet and MP3 files. Section III of the article discusses the birth of Napster and its functions. Section IV details the allegations against Napster by the RIAA. Section V. discusses Copyright Law in the digital age. Various forms of copyright infringement such as direct liability, contributory liability, vicarious liability are fully assessed. Furthermore, the author discusses the response of legislative efforts to emerging copyright challenges on the internet. Section VI examines Napter's …

Diana's Law, Celebrity And The Paparazzi: The Continuing Search For A Solution, 18 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 945 (2000), Richard J. Curry Jr.

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Celebrities and the media possess a unique relationship. Many celebrities skillfully use the media to market and advertise their movies, television shows, books, and records. They use the media to propel their careers and create a marketable celebrity image. Society is celebrity crazed and magazines, tabloids and other media forms such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood have combined to feed that craze. Our society's hunger for celebrities has spawned the existence of photographers known as the paparazzi. Armed with zoom lenses, high-powered microphones, and the promise of huge cash rewards for an exclusive celebrity expose, the paparazzi have become …

Ownership, Commercial Development, Transfer And Use Of Publicly Funded Research Results: The United States Legal Regime, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Other Publications

This report summarizes key provisions of the United States. legal regime concerning ownership, dissemination and commercialization of the results of publicly funded research as background for a study on the feasibility of improving access by developing countries and economies in transition to environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) developed in other parts of the world.

Complexity And Copyright In Contradiction, Michael J. Madison

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Software As Discourse: The Power Of Intellectual Property In Digital Architecture, Brian F. Fitzgerald

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

As software increasingly facilitates our living, we are drawn more and more to conceptualize software as discourse. While this may sound trite, it is a fundamental point to appreciate.

One of the most significant intellectual developments of the latter part of the twentieth century has been the poststrucoturalist writing of thinkers like Foucault, Derrida, and Baudril-lard, who explain the multitude of power relationships we experience in our daily lives, the indeterminacy of law, the construction of meaning, and the role of language, or discourse, in the construction of meaning and identity. According to the post-structuralists, we live in an environment …

The Promise And Perils Of Strategic Publication To Create Prior Art: A Response To Professor Parchomovsky, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Articles

In a provocative recent article in the Michigan Law Review, Professor Gideon Parchomovsky observes that a firm racing with a competitor to make a patentable invention might find it strategically advantageous to publish interim research results rather than risk losing a patent race. This strategy exploits legal rules limiting patent protection to technological advances that are new and "nonobvious" in light of the "prior art" or preexisting knowledge in the field. By publishing research results, a firm adds to the prior art and thereby limits what may be patented in the future. Parchomovsky posits that, before it is able to …

Proprietary Rights And Why Initial Allocations Matter, Clarisa Long

Faculty Scholarship

Initial allocations of proprietary rights matter because who starts out holding the rights helps determine who ends up holding the rights. In patent law, proprietary rights are granted to those who are first to invent. But entities who win the race to patent an invention are not necessarily the final, or best, or most efficient users of the technology. If proprietary rights, particularly patents on basic research results, could be traded efficiently so that downstream innovators could obtain them from initial rights holders easily, then initial allocations of proprietary rights would not matter so much. Transferring proprietary rights is costly, …

Owning The Secret Of Life: Biotechnology And Property Rights Revisited, Kojo Yelpaala

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Re-Examining The Role Of Patents In Appropriating The Value Of Dna Sequences, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Articles

As public and private sector initiatives race to complete the sequence of the human genome, patent issues have played a prominent role in speculations about the significance of this achievement. How much of the genome will be subject to the control of patent holders, and what will this mean for future research and the development of products for the improvement of human health? Is a patent system developed to establish rights in mechanical inventions of an earlier era up to the task of resolving competing claims to the genome on behalf of the many sequential innovators who elucidate its sequence …

Patent Rights And Licensing, Michael S. Baram, Ashley Stevens, Thomas Meyers, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

This panel will discuss intellectual property - the patent incentive, patentability issues, licensing, and litigation-related matters. It will be moderated by Dr. Ashley Stevens, the Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at Boston University. Ashley has multiple degrees, including a doctorate in physical chemistry from Oxford University. He has worked in the biotech industry for a number of years, mostly with startup companies and academic research organizations such as the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where he was also Director of Technology Transfer. Ashley was instrumental in the startup and operations of firms such as Biotechnica International, and started his …

Echoes Of Scientific Truth In The Halls Of Justice: The Standards Of Review Applied By The United States Court Of Appeals For The Federal Circuit In Patent-Related Matters , Lawrence M. Sung

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Publishers' Rights And Wrongs In The Cyberage, Thomas G. Field Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

The author argues in favor of a continued role for traditional publishing in the context of the rise of the Internet.

The Role Of Patent Law In Poland's Transitioning Science And Technology Policy, And A Comparison With The Patent Laws Of The United States, 17 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 381 (1999), Edward H. Sikorski

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

Poland is at a critical point in determining whether it will provide the type of intellectual property protection afforded in other countries. Based on its current programs, Poland clearly recognizes that it must improve its infrastructure. It is imperative for Poland to institute and develop new science and technology policies. As a result, Poland must pay attention to issues like privatization and intellectual property because newly privatized companies will lean on patents and other rights as footholds against their competitors. Poland must also address issues concerning physical access and communications and electronic access to the country. Poland's overall science and …

How Can Whelan V. Jaslow And Lotus V. Borland Both Be Right? Reexamining The Economics Of Computer Software Reuse, 17 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 511 (1999), Michael Risch

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The various circuit courts of appeal have been unable to agree on the appropriate method of determining when one computer program infringes the copyright in another computer program. This article traces the differences among the circuits, proposes a model to explain what courts are doing, asserts a set of factors that simplify the analysis of determining copyright infringement, and tests those factors against seemingly irreconcilable cases. Finally, the article applies the analysis to unresolved computer software issues of today in order to predict likely outcomes.

Yesterday's Love Letters Are Today's Best Sellers: Fair Use & The War Among Authors, 18 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L.141 (1999), Sonali R. Kolhatkar

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This Comment will analyze how courts should interpret the four statutory factors in determining a fair use defense for once private documents, such as love letters, and how the courts need to add First Amendment and public policy concerns in deciding whether to allow the fair use. First, this Comment addresses the current definition of the fair use doctrine and its impact on unpublished works. This Comment will also address the need to create a new fair use defense test to include the First Amendment concerns of secondary authors who cannot create their works without the copyrighted information. Secondly, this …

35 U.S.C. 103: From Hotchkiss To Hand To Rich, The Obvious Patent Law Hall-Of-Famers, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 437 (1999), George M. Sirilla

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Twenty-First Century Patent System Improvement Act: Is It Really An Improvement, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 725 (1999), Aimee Boss

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deleting The Bolar Amendment To The Hatch-Waxman Act: Harmonizing Pharmaceutical Patent Protection In A Global Village, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 751 (1999), Ned Milenkovich

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Licensed To Steal: Has Sovereign Immunity Gone Too Far, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 779 (1999), Sulaiman M. Qazi

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

It's A Wonderful Genome: The Written-Description Requirement Protects The Human Genome From Overly-Broad Patents, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 805 (1999), Emanuel Vacchiano

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judge Versus Jury On The Scales Of Justice: 35 U.S.C. 112, 6 Equivalents In The Balance, 32 J. Marshall L. Rev. 833 (1999), Robert N. Young

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Art And The Marketplace Of Expression, Marcie A. Hamilton

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright Legislation For The "Digital Millennium", Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

In October 1998, Congress passed two major copyright bills, the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" [DMCA], and the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act." Moreover, the Senate ratified U.S. accession to the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties. The DMCA implements the obligations set forth in articles 11 and 12 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty [WCT] (and articles 18 and 19 of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty [WPPTI) to protect technological measures against circumvention, and to protect "copyright management information" against removal or alteration that facilitates infringement. The DMCA also includes a chapter on the liability of online service …

The Legal Infrastructure Of High Technology Industrial Districts: Silicon Valley, Route 128, And Covenants Not To Compete, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, scholars and policymakers have rediscovered the concept of industrial districts – spatial concentrations of firms in the same industry or related industries. In this Article, Professor Gilson examines te relationship between high-technology industrial districts and legal infrastructure by comparing the legal regimes of California's Silicon Valley and Massachusetts's Route 128. He contends that legal rides governing employee mobility influence the dynamics of high technology industrial districts by either encouraging rapid employee movement between employers and to startups, as in Silicon Valley, or discouraging such movement, as in Route 128. Because California does not enforce post-employment covenants not …

Lochner In Cyberspace: The New Economic Orthodoxy Of "Rights Management", Julie E. Cohen

Michigan Law Review

Ninety-three years ago, in Lochner v. New York, the Supreme Court struck down a maximum-working-hours law for bakers as an impermissible invasion of employer-employee liberty of contract and, by implication, of the employer's property rights in his business. Lochner came to symbolize, and was vilified for, a vision of state power as rigidly circumscribed by the operation of judicially-determined laws of social ordering. By the late 1930s, the Court had changed course and accepted that the states' police power - or, in the case of Congress, the commerce power - encompassed even protective regulation of the parameters of the private …

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Patented Monkey: Patentability Of Cloned Organisms, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 971 (1998), Timothy G. Hofmeyer

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The advent of patent protection for genetically engineered inventions occurred in 1980 with the landmark Supreme Court decision in Diamond v. Chakrabarty. Following the lead of the Supreme Court, the Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO"), in 1987, issued a new regulatory ruling that expanded the PTO's statutory interpretation of 35 U.S.C. § 101 patentable subject matter to include devices based upon nonnatural occurring manufacture or composition of matter resulting from some level of human intervention in the modification of nonhuman organisms. One year following the PTO proclamation, the first patent for a transgenic animal issue to Professors Leder and Stewart …

Lost In Cyberspace: The Digital Demise Of The First-Sale Doctrine, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 825 (1998), Keith Kupferschmid

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The Internet offers a means to create, copy and distribute copyrighted works of a quality and in a volume that was simply unknown before the World Wide Web was developed. A single Web page can be viewed by any of the millions of people with Internet access anywhere around the world, and "viewed" in terms of the Internet necessarily means "copied." This presents a problem when considered in the light of the First-Sale doctrine, which is part and parcel of § 109 of the Copyright Act. The doctrine allows a person to make a single copy of a copyrighted work …

Procd, Inc. V. Zeidenberg And Article 2b: Finally, The Validation Of Shrink-Wrap Licenses, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 439 (1998), Joseph C. Wang

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

In ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, the Seventh Circuit validated a licensor's shrink-wrap license. This court was one of the first courts to validate such licenses. The case involved a graduate student, Zeidenberg, who purchased ProCD's telephone directory software program which contained the shrink-wrap license at issue. After Zeidenberg took the software home, he downloaded the information in the software into his computer and put the information onto a website, despite the language on the computer screen prohibiting such dissemination of the software's contents. Then, Zeidenberg allowed Internet users to use his website to access the directory originally located on the …

Who Owns The Web Site?: The Ultimate Question When A Hiring Party Has A Falling-Out With The Web Site Designer, 16 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 857 (1998), Rinaldo Del Gallo Iii

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

The question is "Who owns your web site?" This question is difficult to answer absent a copyright assignment clause since no one knows who the owner of the web site is under current law. There are several problems that occur when a web designer is placed in a position against the hiring party in determining ownership rights to a web site. It is important to distinguish ownership rights to a web site, since most contractual agreements between a web site designer and a hiring party do not address this issue. Every day, hundreds of new web sites are appearing and …