Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Trademark Dilution In Japan, Kenneth L. Port

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Rule 37(F) Meets Its Critics: The Justification For A Limited Preservation Safe Harbor For Esi, Thomas Y. Allman

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

A New Economics Of Trademarks, David W. Barnes

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

Conventional wisdom holds that trademarks are nothing like other intellectual property. Copyright and patent law are theoretically based in public goods theory and are designed to promote creation and disclosure of original expressions and novel, useful innovations. By contrast, trademarks are private goods and trademark law is designed to promote trade and encourage competition.

This article challenges conventional wisdom by demonstrating that trademarks are a type of public good that contributes to the public stock of useful ideas just as patented and copyrighted works do. This economic perspective suggests, again contrary to conventional trademark theory, that competitive markets fail to …

Identification Of Trade Secret Claims In Litigation: Solutions For A Ubiquitous Dispute, Charles Tait Graves, Brian D. Range

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

A New Tool For Analyzing Intellectual Property, Stephen M. Mcjohn

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

"Consumer Protection:" Consumer Strategies And The European Market In Genetically Modified Foods, Johanna Gibson

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Easing The Claim Construction Blow With Early-Discovery Markman Hearings That Are Appealable To The Federal Circuit On An Interlocutory Basis, Srikanth K. Reddy

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

A Realist Approach To Merck Kgaa V. Integra, Daniel A. Lev

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer V. Grokster: Unpredictability In Digital Copyright Law, Kent Schoen

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Internet Trademark Suits And The Demise Of "Trademark Use", Margreth Barrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What Is Dilution, Anyway?, Stacey Dogan

Faculty Scholarship

Ever since the Supreme Court decided Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. in 2003, an amendment to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (“FTDA”) has appeared inevitable. Congress almost certainly meant to adopt a “likelihood of dilution” standard in the original statute, and the 2006 revisions correct its sloppy drafting. Substituting a “likelihood of dilution” standard for “actual dilution,” however, does not resolve a deeper philosophical question that has always lurked in the dilution debate: what is dilution, and how does one prove or disprove its probability? The statutory definition notwithstanding, this issue remains largely unanswered, leaving the courts with the …

My Library: Copyright And The Role Of Institutions In A Peer-To-Peer World, Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Today's technology turns every computer - every hard drive - into a type of library. But the institutions traditionally known as libraries have been given special consideration under copyright law, even as commercial endeavors and filesharing programs have begun to emulate some of their functions. This Article explores how recent technological and legal trends are affecting public and school-affiliated libraries, which have special concerns that are not necessarily captured by an end-consumer-oriented analysis. Despite the promise that technology will empower individuals, we must recognize the crucial structural role of intermediaries that select and distribute copyrighted works. By exploring how traditional …

Remembering The Public Domain, Christine Galbraith Davik

Faculty Publications

Rapid advances in communication technology over the past decade have resulted in the previously unimaginable ability to seamlessly exchange ideas and data on a global basis. Nonetheless, despite the undeniable progress that has been made, access to information is ironically becoming progressively more. This is due in large part to the fact that resources which belong in the public domain are increasingly being transformed into private property. The carefully balanced provisions of copyright law are gradually becoming displaced by contractual, technological, and legislative constraints that allow for the tight control of access to and use of the materials in question. …

Paper Dragon: Inadequate Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In China, Omario Kanji

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note will explore the extent to which China is in violation of its obligations under TRIPs. Section I surveys the current state of IPR infringement in China. Section II analyzes relevant TRIPs provisions, case law, and treaties that supplement TRIPs provisions. Section III analyzes Chinese criminal law, the December 2004 Judicial Interpretation of Chinese criminal law, and Chinese IP law as they pertain to IPR infringement. Section IV outlines enforcement efforts in China against the backdrop of the law analyzed in the previous section. Section V evaluates these enforcement efforts given China's capabilities and obligations, and Section VI concludes …

Power, Norms, And International Intellectual Property Law, Tai-Heng Cheng

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article begins with the premise that international law is the net result of global processes of interactions among state and non-state participants in the international system. The Article builds on the author’s previous work by proposing a theory of international law that fills the interstices between private and public international law. Participants generally deploy power and invoke legal and social norms in pursuit of interests and in response to the strategies of other participants. Eventually, outcomes that reflect both power and norms result, and these outcomes in turn modify norms and reallocate power. New outcomes then follow in future …

Ending The Circuit Split Over Use Of A Competing Mark In Advertising—The Blackstone Code, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 157 (2006), Douglas L. Rogers

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

In KP Permanent, the Supreme Court recently confirmed that plaintiffs in trademark infringement cases under the Lanham Act have the burden of proving likelihood of confusion. As such, this article argues that lower courts do not have the authority to switch that burden of proof for such claims, even though they involve nominative uses (in which defendant is using the actual mark of plaintiff as plaintiff’s source identifier and not as a description of the defendant's products or services). This article also argues that because Congress created affirmative fair use defenses for descriptive uses of marks and for trademark dilution, …

Has The Supreme Court Incorrectly Expanded § 271(E)(1) To Risk A Regulatory Taking?, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 216 (2006), Tara Stuart

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The U.S.S.C. expanded the scope of the Hatch-Waxman Act’s safe harbor provision in Merck III to include protection for infringing use of any type of invention as long as a researcher intended to perform research reasonably relevant to FDA approval. This broad interpretation is inconsistent with the legislative intent of the Hatch-Waxman Act, and the policies of the U.S. patent system. Many patent owners may unnecessarily experience such a reduction in their property rights as to constitute a regulatory taking. The proposed narrow interpretation would rectify the constitutional problems and inconsistencies in infringement exemptions. Section 271(e)(1) should apply only to …

Redefining Utility In Determining The Patentability Of Dna Sequences, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 238 (2006), Diana A. Villamil

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

On September 7, 2005, the Federal Circuit in In re Fisher upheld the PTO’s final rejection for lack of utility of a patent application for certain DNA sequence fragments generated from maize plants. The court, supporting a heightened utility standard, adopted the “real-world” test for establishing substantial and specific utility required by the PTO. This decision severely limits the granting of patent rights to DNA sequence fragments, which are capable of having value within the biotech community as research tools. This comment proposes the restoration of a less stringent utility standard to more correctly reflect the purposes of patent law …

The Metes And Bounds Of The Defendant Class Action In Patent Cases, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 292 (2006), Donald E. Burton

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Despite significant hurdles, the defendant class action in a patent infringement case is a potentially useful alternative to multiple lawsuits in many jurisdictions because a patentee who emerges from the class action proceeding with a favorable Markman ruling and a declaration of validity should normally be in a very strong position to collect damages. While nothing on the face of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 precludes its application to defendant classes in patent infringement cases, the 23(b) requirements will be a major obstacle in convincing a court to certify a class of alleged infringers. Other practical considerations include personal …

The Ip Asset Class: Protecting And Unlocking Inherent Value, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 402 (2006), Stephen Bennett

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Intangible inputs are as important, or more important, to wealth creation than tangible assets and corporate leaders are beginning to recognize the value of their intangible assets. Investors are also focusing on companies whose primary property value is largely intangible intellectual property. IP investment strategies involve either attempts to raise and employ immediate capital through securitization or to protect the value of IP through insurance. The nexus between finance and IP presents a revenue opportunity for law firms. There is already a contingent of the legal community that services clients concerning IP issues but only a much smaller niche segment …

Why Are Competitor's Advertising Links Displayed When I Google My Product? An Analysis Of Internet Search Engine Liability For Trademark Infringement, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 431 (2006), Isaiah A. Fishman

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Traditional federal trademark law is being challenged in the current case of Google v. AmericanBlind. When internet issues clash with trademark infringement, courts are often faced with the dangerous task of either refusing to stretch not specifically internet tailored trademark law to grant remedy to a perceived wrong or refusing to grant remedy because of the chilling effect the remedy may have on traditional trademark. By analyzing the history of trademark law in relation with internet issues, focusing on domain name cases, pop-up advertising cases, and search engine cases, it becomes clear that specific congressional action is the most viable …

Smithkline V. Apotex: Broadening The Scope Of Inherent Anticipation And Its Impact On The Patentability Of Chemical Structures, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 456 (2006), Bryan William Jones

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

In SmithKline v. Apotex, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated the main patent on Paxil as inherently anticipated. In doing so, the court over-stepped the bounds of appellate review, and broadened the scope of the inherent anticipation doctrine to include chemical structures that are not measurably produced by strict practice of the prior art. This holding does not comport with well-settled precedent and could have dire consequences for the patentability of many chemical structures. A more equitable invalidity analysis would require a chemical structure to derive directly from a disclosed reaction in order to be anticipated; in …

The Conundrum Confronting Congress: The Patent System Must Be Left Untouched While Being Radically Reformed, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 268 (2006), Robert A. Armitage

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Patent systems reforms have been recommended by a variety of interests, including the Federal Trade Commission and the National Academies of Science and the private sector. Although calls for radical reforms have undeniable merit, the effectiveness of the existing patent system as an incentive to investment in innovation must be left untouched in the reform process. Unwise reforms include awarding patent injunctions only sparingly and limiting patent damages to nominal amounts for inventions relating to patentable combinations made of existing components. There are, however, “three pillars” that should guide reform: (1) introduce full transparency and objectiveness into the tests for …

Biotechnology's Prescription For Patent Reform, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 318 (2006), Christopher M. Holman

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

On June 8, 2005, Congressman Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 2795, the “Patent Reform Act of 2005,” aimed at improving the quality and certainty of issued patents, simplifying the patent procurement process, harmonizing U.S. law with international practice, and reining in abusive patent enforcement practices. Congress has set the legislation aside for the time being, but will likely revisit the issue again shortly. The biotechnology industry, one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States economy, strongly opposes many of the proposed reforms. This paper considers the Congressional testimonies of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (“BIO”) and other representatives of biotechnology’s …

Suppression Of Innovation Or Collaborative Efficiencies?: An Antitrust Analysis Of A Research & Development Collaboration That Led To The Shelving Of A Promising Drug, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 348 (2006), Saami Zain

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This article discusses antitrust issues present in research and development collaborations between competitors. In particular, it illustrates that, although often very beneficial, these collaborations may have the potential for considerable harm via suppression of innovation. The article examines a recent case involving a collaboration to develop drugs, which arguably resulted in the suppression of a promising drug.

Copyright Piracy In China, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 583 (2006), Ralph Oman

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Copyrights play a major role in promoting economic development and creating a national identity, and they have a tremendous impact on the social and economic well-being of nations. Within the past fifteen years, China has passed a strong copyright law, upgraded enforcement, and joined the Berne Convention. However, since then, the forward momentum has subsided and piracy has grown deep roots in China. If protecting their own citizens’ rights was not important enough, the threat of international trade sanctions for having inadequate intellectual property protection may force China to reevaluate their current situation and step up international protection.

Intellectual Property Rights In The Internet Era: The New Frontier, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 589 (2006), Lulin Gao

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

With the rapid development of information and Internet technologies, how to protect intellectual property (IP) rights in the Internet era became a new frontier for IP practitioners and scholars internationally. This article highlights some important IP protection issues related to copyright, patent, trademark, and domain names, as well as the impact of technological advances on IP protection in the Internet era. The author believes that in order to solve these new emerging issues, the most important principle is keeping the balance between different sides with stakes in the IP right. Finally, international cooperation must be enhanced with more technical assistance …

Some Remarks On The Limits Of Harmonization, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 596 (2006), Graeme B. Dinwoodie

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

Some Remarks on the Limits of Harmonization

The Intellectual Property Marketplace: Past, Present And Future, 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 605 (2006), James E. Malackowski

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This article provides an overview of the evolution of the intellectual property marketplace, describes existing mechanisms by which intellectual property value is transacted, and hypothesizes future marketplace mechanisms. A discussion of intellectual property value is also presented. Specifically, analyses of value indications as evidenced by the public and private equity markets are described. Finally, two future critical issues for intellectual property practitioners relating to intellectual property value are described: class action shareholder litigation and royalty stacking.