Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Recent Supreme Court Patent Decisions: The Trend To Limit The Power Of Patent Holders, Peter O. Huang

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

One Size Does Not Fit All: A Framework For Tailoring Intellectual Property Rights, Michael W. Carroll

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The United States and its trading partners have adopted cultural and innovation policies under which the government grants one-size-fits-all patents and copyrights to inventors and authors. On a global basis, the reasons for doing so vary, but in the United States granting intellectual property rights has been justified as the principal means of promoting innovation and cultural progress. Until recently, however, few have questioned the wisdom of using such blunt policy instruments to promote progress in a wide range of industries in which the economics of innovation varies considerably.

Provisionally accepting the assumptions of the traditional economic case for intellectual …

A Hole In Need Of Mending: Copyright And The Individual Marking Of Advertisements Published In Collective Works, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Over 20 years ago, the United States brought its copyright law into sync with international norms through the adoption of the Berne Convention. As a result, copyright notice is no longer a prerequisite to copyright protection. But because Congress implemented the Berne Convention through amendments to the (rather than adoption of a wholly new) Copyright Act, litigants have argued and at least some courts have held that certain works still must be noticed. This Article is concerned to rebut that contention.

Imperfect Property Rights, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

In theory, property rights allow markets to achieve Pareto optimal allocations. But the literature on contracting largely ignores what happens when property rights are imperfectly defined and enforced. Although some models include weak enforcement or poorly defined rights or "anticommons," this paper develops a general model that includes all of these possibilities. I find that combinations matter: Policy prescriptions to remedy individual imperfections are sometimes inappropriate under other conditions. For example, stronger penalties for violating rights can decrease Pareto efficiency, contrary to a common view. Also, collective rights organizations, such as patent pools, sometimes worsen problems of overlapping claims.

Nonpatentability Of Business Methods: Legal And Economic Analysis, Peter Menell, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

In this brief filed in Bilski vs. Kappos, pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, we argue that the "useful Arts" limitation of the the Intellectual Property Clause of the U.S.Constitution restricts the scope of Congress's patent power to technological advances. Beyond this constitutional limitation, Congress has not extended patent protection to business methods. The subject matter provision of the 1952 Patent Act merely codified existing subject matter categories and limitations, including the exclusion of business methods. The First Inventor Defense Act of 1999 did not alter this limitation on patentable subject matter. It did not amend the subject matter provision. …

Vol. Ix, Tab 41 - Ex. 18 - Email From Baris Gultekin And Trademark Report (Google Product Manager Director), Baris Gultekin

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Vol. Ix, Tab 42 - Ex. 1 - Reporter's Transcript, Motions Hearing, September 18, 2009, United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Virginia

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Vol. Vi, Tab 38 - Ex. 28 - Email From Christopher Klipple, Christopher Klipple

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

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

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright Social Utility And Social Justice Interdependence: A Paradigm For Intellectual Property Empowerment And Digital Entrepreneurship, Lateef Mtima

West Virginia Law Review

While advances in digital information technology offer extraordinary possibilities for the exploration and exploitation of literary and artistic expres- sion, these advances also present unprecedented opportunities for intellectual property ("IP") empowerment and the achievement of singular milestones in copyright social justice. The ostensible conflict between copyright digital social utility and digital commoditization has engendered a reemphasis upon the social engineering obligations of the copyright law, and a search for copyright policies which will harmonize these corrivallous objectives. Doctrinal constructions of the copyright law which acknowledge the law's congenital social justice charac- teristics, however, can achieve this equilibrium. The revisualization of …

The Patent System's Relationship To Digital Entrepreneurship, Mark Chandler

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Burden Of Establishing Patent Invalidity: Maintaining A Heightened Evidentiary Standard Despite Increasing "Verbal Variances", Etan S. Chatlynne

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Law In Crisis: A Qualitative Empirical Contribution To The Compliance Debate, Michael P. Scharf

Cardozo Law Review

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Professors Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner published The Limits of International Law, a potentially revolutionary book that employs rational choice theory to argue that international law is really just "politics" and does not render a "compliance pull" on State decision-makers. Critics have pointed out that Goldsmith and Posner's identification of the role of international law in each of their case studies is largely conjectural, and that what is needed is qualitative empirical data that identifies the international law-based arguments that were actually made and the policy-makers' responses to …

Commercial Skipping Technology And The New Market Dynamic: The Relevance Of Antitrust Law To An Emerging Technology, Jesse Haskins

Duke Law & Technology Review

Commercial-skipping technology can liberate the consumer and make the television business more competitive. It rose to prominence with the advent of the digital video recorder (DVR), also known as the personal video recorder (PVR). PVRs have helped advertisers reach their target audience more effectively through personalized advertisements, and it has successfully pressured television networks and advertisers to innovate more appealing ways to induce consumers to buy advertised products. But even if this technology fails to enhance the business of television, television networks can still outpace commercial-skipping technology in an arms race. Through competitive pressure, such technology promotes innovation, progress, and …

Trademarks And Human Rights: Oil And Water? Or Chocolate And Peanut Butter?, Megan M. Carpenter

Law Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, there has been a growing discourse at the intersection of intellectual property and human rights, including whether or not individual intellectual property rights are, or can be, human rights. In 2007, this debate began to focus on the area of trademarks. That year, the European Court of Human Rights determined that it had jurisdiction over a trademark dispute, by virtue of the property rights provision found in Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. This paper seeks to explore the connection between trademarks and human rights. The first part of the article …

The Copyright Revision Act Of 2026, Jessica Litman

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

American copyright law is broken. In fact, its failings are leading lawyers and scholars to find resourceful strategies to work around the deficiencies in the current state of the law. These strategies, the lecturer argues, indicate that a fundamental overhaul of copyright law is imminent. After lamenting the disconnect between academia and the practicing bar and examining the present laws' shortcomings felt by authors, distributors, and consumers alike, the lecturer provides three goals a new copyright regime should meet. First, copyright law should be more easily accessible and, likewise, understandable for non-lawyers. Second, the new copyright laws should reduce the …

Rethinking Patent Fraud Enforcement In A Reform Era, Kali Murray, Dmitriy Vinarov

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This Article contends that, while the defense of inequitable conduct offers an avenue to combat fraudulent patent applications, the doctrine suffers from shortcomings that spring from two compromises. First, the amorphous nature of the equitable defense prompts institutional conflict between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Federal Circuit. Second, by relegating enforcement solely to a patentee's market competitors, the defense fails to protect the public interest adequately. In light of these compromises, the authors propose two goals to guide current reform efforts in Congress. Initially, Congress's attempt to reform patent fraud enforcement should relieve the aforementioned institutional …

Trademark Fair Use: Braun® Versus The Bunny, Vanessa P. Rollins

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Nominative fair use is a contentious issue in the field of trademark law. Manufacturers of original products who oppose the use of their actual products in advertisements for complementary goods often resort to the Lanham Act to prevent such practices. Courts have found the use of another's product in the advertising of complementary goods falls outside the nominative fair use defense. This article examines the nominative fair use defense and whether nominative fair use should encompass such uses.

Toward A More Reliable Fact-Finder In Patent Litigation, Amy Tindell

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Juries have been perceived as a blessing and a curse. They are perceived differently in different areas of law. For example, practitioners in patent law view juries in a negative light as the fact finders. In accordance with this view, Federal Courts of Appeals have begun to narrow the role of juries in patent trials. This paper follows the development of the Seventh Amendment in the patent context and its current status. This paper then proposes a system similar to peer-review to replace the traditional jury in patent trials.

Not All Grace Periods Are Created Equal: Building A Grace Period From The Ground Up, Renee E. Metzler

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

The grace period for patent application filing is the amount of time a patent applicant has to file the application after the invention has been disclosed to the public. The rules and amount of time allowed vary greatly among countries. This comment explores the theoretical justifications for a grace period, the structural elements of a grace period, and other approaches to a grace period used in countries outside of the United States. The author proposes an ideal grace period model that would create international harmonization.

Fixing Continuing Application Practice At The Uspto, Kevin Rizzuto

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Controversy surrounds continuing application practice at the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Legal scholars highlight problems with continuing application practice and ways that applicants abuse the system. Patent practitioners admit that continuing application abuses exist, yet believe that establishing limits on continuing application practice would lead to an increase in appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. The USPTO attributes much of its continually growing backlog to the volume of continuing applications and requests for continued examinations, and published Proposed Rules to limit continuing applications. Legal scholars and the USPTO propose solutions that are too restrictive on …

Three Cases: A Practitioner's Life In Copyright, Mary Jane Sanders

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

In this speech, the lecturer highlights three influential Supreme Court decisions on copyright law and explains how these cases have influenced her career. The lecturer explains that the highlighted cases had a lasting impact on the intellectual property world and are still applicable to today's copyright practitioners. Even though intellectual property law now involves more cutting edge technology, issues such as copyright infringement, copyright ownership, and the award of attorney fees will always be fundamental to any copyright litigation.

Moving Beyond Conflict In Sri Lanka: The Economic Rights Dimension, Shareen Hertel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Much of the literature on transitional justice underplays the role of economic rights in shoring up peace. The case of Sri Lanka demonstrates the urgency of addressing them. Until a month ago, Sri Lanka was the country with Asia’s longest running civil war. Since independence in 1947, the island nation has been wracked by conflict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority—a conflict that has eroded political stability and aggravated internal inequalities. The struggle was marked not only by inter-ethnic and religious tensions but also by a fight for control over land and resources.

Mixed Signals: How Mixtapes Have Blurred The Changing Legal Landscape In The Music Industry, Meredith L. Schantz

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Has Ebay Spelled The End Of Patent Troll Abuses? Paying The Toll: The Rise (And Fall?) Of The Patent Troll, Gregory D'Incelli

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright Law And The Restoration Of Beauty, David Nimmer

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Memorial To Barbara Ringer, Peter Jaszi

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The story goes that in 439 BC the retired consul Cincinnatus was summoned from the plow by the Senate and people of Rome. One more time, he saw the Republic through a time of particular peril, resigning office immediately afterwards to return to his rural retirement - to be transmuted into a timeless emblem of selfless probity. Episodes of this kind are even rarer in the annals of the U.S. civil service than in the Roman history. But I had the good fortune to be a witness to one such - Barbara Ringer's return to the Library of Congress in …

Alternative Software Protection In View Of In Re Bilski, Charles Duan, Lauren Katzenellenbogen, James Skelley

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) en banc decision, In re Bilski, redefined the standard for patenting processes including business methods and computer software. In Bilski, the Federal Circuit departed from the "useful, concrete, and tangible result" test it had established in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. SignatureFinancialGroup,Inc., which had been the standard for the past ten years. The Federal Circuit returned to a test articulated nearly 40 years ago by the Supreme Court in Gottschalk v. Benson, and clarified that State Street was "never intended to supplant the Supreme Court's test.", Under …

The Tangled Web Of Ugc: Making Copyright Sense Of User-Generated Content, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Even as a mere conceptual cloud, the term "user-generated content" is useful to discuss the societal shifts in content creation brought about by the participative web and perhaps best epitomized by the remix phenomenon. This Article considers the copyright aspects of UGC. On the one hand, the production of UGC may involve both the right of reproduction and the right of adaptation-the right to prepare derivative works. On the other hand, defenses against claims of infringement of these rights typically rely on (transformative) fair use or the fact that an insubstantial amount (such as a quote) of the preexisting work …

A Tale Of (At Least) Two Authors: Focusing Copyright Law On Process Over Product, Laura A. Heymann

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.