Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Ongoing Royalties In Patent Cases After Ebay: An Empirical Assessment And Proposed Framework, Christopher B. Seaman

Scholarly Articles

While the Federal Circuit has authorized the award of ongoing royalties as an equitable alternative to a permanent injunction, numerous questions regarding such relief remain unresolved, including when ongoing royalties should be awarded, the structure and methodology for computing an award, and possible enhancement of the royalty rate for post-judgment willful infringement. Despite lower courts' attempts to grapple with these issues, a comprehensive methodology for determining ongoing royalties has yet to emerge.

This Article seeks to fill this void in two ways. First, it empirically assesses how courts have resolved claims for ongoing royalties by prevailing patentees. It does so …

Brief Of Thirty-Four Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Appellants: Altera Corp. V. Papst Licensing Gmbh, Christopher B. Seaman

Scholarly Articles

The amici curiae are law professors who teach and write on civil procedure and/or patent law and policy. As such, amici are interested in the effective functioning of the courts and the patent system in general. Amici believe that this Court’s rigid rule restricting personal jurisdiction in patent declaratory judgment actions both flouts Supreme Court precedent and frustrates the public policy of clearing invalid patents. Although amici hold different views on other aspects of modern patent law and policy, they are united in their professional opinion that this Court should overturn its inflexible jurisdictional rule.

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Neither Party: Halo Elecs. Inc. V. Pulse Elecs. Inc. And Stryker Corp. V. Zimmer, Inc., Christopher B. Seaman, Jason Rantanen

Scholarly Articles

This amicus brief was filed on behalf of several intellectual property law professors in Halo v. Pulse and Stryker v. Zimmer regarding the appropriate standard for enhancing (increasing) damages under section 284 of the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 284. It advances three primary arguments. First, it asserts that in light of the history of the statutory text and judicial precedent, willful infringement is the appropriate standard (and thus the only valid basis) for awarding enhanced damages under § 284. Second, it contends that Federal Circuit’s two-part, objective/subjective test for determining willfulness articulated in In re Seagate Technology, LLC, …

Frank Miller’S Sin City College Football: A Game To Die For And Other Lessons About The Right Of Publicity And Video Games, Jordan M. Blanke

Washington and Lee Law Review

The challenge of finding a workable solution for applying the right of publicity is a formidable one because it implicates not only a delicate balance between First Amendment rights and the rights of publicity, but also the complications of varying state laws. The best of the tests developed by the courts so far—the transformative use test—was borrowed from copyright law and itself reflects a careful balance between First Amendment and copyright interests. Additionally, because of dramatic progress in technology, it is likely that in the near future this balancing will often involve not only the rights of publicity and the …

“Groove Is In The Hart”: A Workable Solution For Applying The Right Of Publicity To Video Games, R. Garrett Rice

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comment On “Groove Is In The Hart”: A Workable Solution For Applying The Right Of Publicity To Video Games, Christopher B. Seaman

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aereo And Filmon: Technology’S Latest Copyright War And Why Aereo Should Survive, Krista Consiglio

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Monopoly And Differential Pricing In The Market For Patents , Neel U. Sukhatme

Washington and Lee Law Review

Patents are limited-term monopolies awarded to inventors to incentivize innovation. But there is another monopoly that has been largely overlooked at the heart of patent law: the monopoly of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) over the granting of patents. This Article addresses this topic by developing the notion of a regulatory monopoly, where a single governmental actor has the power to set prices in a regulatory area. The Article explains how regulatory monopolists like the PTO could enhance social welfare via differential pricing—by charging regulated entities differing fees based on their willingness and ability to pay. In particular, …

Facing Down The Trolls: States Stumble On The Bridge To Patent-Assertion Regulation , David Lee Johnson

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cad’S Cradle: Untangling Copyrightability, Derivative Works, And Fair Use In 3d Printing, Kyle Dolinsky

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comment: 3d Printing, Sarah K. Wiant

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Indistinguishable From Magic: A Wizard’S Guide To Copyright And 3d Printing, James Grimmelmann

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unenforceability, Lee Petherbridge, Jason Rantanen, R. Polk Wagner

Washington and Lee Law Review

The patent doctrine of inequitable conduct—which allows a patent to be held unenforceable on the basis of misbehavior by the applicant during patent prosecution—has been the subject of intense criticism from the bench and bar alike. And yet to date there has been no systematic attempt to determine whether the doctrine is or is not working as theorized. This study fills that gap. We evaluate the performance of the inequitable conduct doctrine with a novel methodological approach: by empirically characterizing the differences between patents found unenforceable and several other types of patents (unlitigated, litigated, invalid, obvious, and underdisclosed), we use …

Is Your Itunes Playlist Worth Six Figures? Due Process, Statutory Damages, And Peer-To-Peer Copyright Infringement , Ryan M. Hrobak

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Illuminating Innovation: From Patent Racing To Patent War, Lea Shaver

Washington and Lee Law Review

Patent law assumes that stronger protection promotes innovation, yet empirical evidence to test this “innovation hypothesis” is lacking. This Article argues that historical case studies hold unique promise to provide an empirical foundation for modern patent policy. Specifically, this Article uses the history of patents surrounding the light bulb to examine a recently articulated theory of “patent racing” as a justification for patent protection. Thomas Edison’s experience confirms that Mark Lemley’s racing model has substantial descriptive merit. Yet this case study also reveals the limits of the patent racing model. Looking past the initial finish line of patent filings to …

A Case Against The Entire Market Value Rule, Anthony D. Raucci

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Developing And Diffusing Green Technologies: The Impact Of Intellectual Property Rights And Their Justification, Jonathan M.W.W. Chu

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

No abstract provided.

Efficient Uncertainty In Patent Interpretation, Harry Surden

Washington and Lee Law Review

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 …

Lost In Translation: Repairing Rosetta Stone V. Google’S Indecipherable Functionality Holding, A. J. Frey

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Remix Artist’S Catch-22: A Proposal For Compulsory Licensing For Transformative, Sampling-Based Music, Robert M. Vrana

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright And The First Amendment: Comrades, Combatants, Or Uneasy Allies?, Joseph P. Bauer

Washington and Lee Law Review

The copyright regime and the First Amendment seek to promote the same goals. Both seek the creation and dissemination of more, better, and more diverse literary, pictorial, musical and other works. But, they use significantly different means to achieve those goals. The copyright Laws afford to the creator of a work the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, transform, and perform that work for an extended period of time. The First Amendment, on the other hand, proclaims that Congress "shall make no Law... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, " thus at least nominally indicating that limitations on …

Sticky Copyrights: Discriminatory Tax Restraints On The Transfer Of Intellectual Property, Bridget J. Crawford, Mitchell M. Gans

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article focuses on the federal estate and gift tax treatment of copyright termination rights. The ability of a creative individual to terminate prior copyright transfers serves to protect against economic exploitation. Once a copyright's value has been established in the marketplace, the author (or the author's heirs) enjoys a "second look" at the gi, sale, license or other transfer of a copyright. But copyright termination rights-intended to enhance the economic well-being of authors and artists-undermine estate planning strategies available to owners of other types of property. There is no policy justification for such discrimination, and so this Article proposes …

The Second Kind Of Sin: Making The Case For A Duty To Disclose Facts Related To Genericism And Functionality In The Trademark Office, Susan M. Richey

Washington and Lee Law Review

Fraud jurisprudence in the federal Trademark Office encourages trademark holders to remain ignorant-or worse, silent-regarding facts that may reveal the generic or functional nature of their marks. If that failure to investigate or to voluntarily disclose relevant information results in the award or maintenance of afederal trademark registrationfo r invalids ubject matter, the public suffers an injury. The injury is particularly acute because numerous amendments to the 1946 Lanham Act in the decades since its passage have substantially increased the evidentiary utility and power of a federal registration. Although Procedures exist to allow a challenger to oppose or cancel an …

The God Paradox, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

The End Of The (Virtual) World, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

Virtual worlds have been the next big thing for some time now. In 2008, more than 100 public virtual worlds received venture capital funding - a significant increase over previous years. Yet virtual worlds have been going bankrupt faster than ever, including several high-profile firms and worlds. Every technology goes through a shakedown phase, and for virtual worlds the current recession has served as a catalyst for a downturn that, although not unexpected, is nevertheless startling in both numbers and rapidity.

This article examines the intimate relationship between how a virtual world begins life and how it ends. The amount …

Celebrity In Cyberspace: A Personality Rights Paradigm For Personal Domain Name Disputes, Jacqueline D. Lipton

Washington and Lee Law Review

When the Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts fought for control of the domain name, what was her aim? Did she want to reap economic benefits from the name? Probably not, as she has not used the name since it was transferred to her. Or did she want to prevent others from using it on either an unjust enrichment or a privacy basis? Was she, in fact, protecting a trademark interest in her name? Personal domain name disputes, particularly those in the space, implicate unique aspects of an individual's persona in cyberspace. Nevertheless, most of the legal rules developedfor these disputes are …

Filtering Through A Mess: A Proposal To Reduce The Confusion Surrounding The Requirements For Standing In False Advertising Claims Brought Under Section 43(A) Of The Lanham Act, Peter S. Massaro, Iii

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trademark Extortion: The End Of Trademark Law, Kenneth L. Port

Washington and Lee Law Review

Trademark litigation in America today is undergoing a profound change. Based on a review of all trademark cases reported since the Lanham Act took effect, this Article concludes that this profound change is due to "trademark extortion," the use of strike suits and the like to deter market entrants. All 7,500 reported trademark decisions between 1947 and 2005 were read. Of those, 2,659 were truly substantive cases that terminated a trademark law suit. The claimant of a trademark right prevailed only 51% of the time. They prevailed in getting an injunction in only 55% of those cases demanding one. Only …

Inequitable Conduct Inequitably Inferred: When Do Patent Applicants' Actions Intend To Deceive?, Chris Henry

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tearing Fashion Design Protection Apart At The Seams, Lisa J. Hedrick

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.