Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Serious Flaw Of Employee Invention Ownership Under The Bayh-Dole Act In Stanford V. Roche: Finding The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle In The German Employee Invention Act, Toshiko Takenaka

Articles

This article argues that the current Bayh-Dole Act is incomplete because the Act fails to provide a mechanism for contractors to secure the ownership of federally funded inventions from their employees. Part I of this Article discusses this flaw in the current Bayh-Dole Act, highlighted by Stanford v. Roche, and argues that a historical accident resulted in this flaw due to Congress's failure to pass a series of bills based on the German EIA. Passages in the Bayh-Dole Act suggest that the Act assumes a transfer by operation of law to secure the ownership of federally funded inventions through …

The Elusive "Marketplace" In Post-Bilski Jurisprudence, Andrew Chin

Campbell Law Review

The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Bilski v. Kappos appears to have provided inadequate guidance to the courts and the Patent Office regarding the scope of the abstract-ideas exclusion from patentable subject matter. Federal Circuit Chief Judge Randall R. Rader, however, appears to have found in that decision a clear vindication of his own view that the machine-or-transformation test is incorrectly grounded in “the age of iron and steel at a time of subatomic particles and terabytes,” and thus fails, for example, to accommodate advances in “software [that] transform[] our lives without physical anchors.” Chief Judge Rader has subsequently authored …

Should Foreign Patent Law Matter?, Timothy R. Holbrook

Campbell Law Review

One of the most controversial issues in American law today is the extent to which it is appropriate for courts to consider foreign law when deciding issues of United States law. The debate has engaged the courts, Congress, and commentators, leading to discussions about completely banning references to non-United States law by courts. The reality is, however, that the United States courts often have to address or apply foreign law.

Chinese Patents As Copyrights, Benjamin Piwei Liu

Campbell Law Review

Although harmonization efforts such as the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Patent Corporation Treaty regime have brought national patent systems closer, differences among them remain a continuing challenge to innovators in an interconnected global marketplace. The recent development of the Chinese patent system is of particular interest because China is the factory of the world, the most populous market, the home of the patent office that handles the most patent application filings, and the number one source of imports that violate intellectual property rights (IPR). Its patent system affects every company whose supply …

Change To The Best Mode Requirement In The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act: Why Congress Got It Right, Andrew R. Shores

Campbell Law Review

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), signed into law on September 16, 2011, represents the most significant overhaul of the United States Patent system since the Patent Act of 1952. In addition to making the United States a “first-to-file” system, which is more in line with the patent law of other countries, the act institutes numerous other changes aimed at ensuring that the United States “maintains its competitive edge in the global economy.” One of these changes eliminates failure to disclose the best mode as a defense in patent infringement litigation. Proponents applaud the change for the positive effect it …

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind? Why The Lanham Act Needs To Be Brought Into The Digital Millennium, M. Lee Taft

Campbell Law Review

This Comment provides a brief overview of trademark law as specifically applied in the context of the Internet, and also looks at the substantial differences in how that law is applied in various jurisdictions. Part I of the Comment briefly discusses the protections offered by the Lanham Act. Part II discusses the Lanham Act as applied to the Internet, specifically in the context of website meta tags. Part III discusses how recent decisions have ruled on the buying and selling of keywords. Part IV discusses recent rulings on using trademarked terms as meta tags. Finally, Part V discusses potential changes …

Value Divergence In Global Intellectual Property Law, J. Janewa Oseitutu

Faculty Publications

It is a challenge for the United States to adequately protect the interests of its intellectual property industries, especially when U.S. interests are not in line with the social, cultural, and economic goals of other nations. Yet, as a major exporter of intellectual property protected goods, the U.S. has an interest in negotiating effective international intellectual property agreements that are perceived to be legitimate by the state signatories and their constituents. Focusing on value divergence, this article contributes to the growing body of literature on developing a robust but flexible global intellectual property system, arguing that the trade-based approach to …

Pluralism On Appeal, Paul Gugliuzza

Faculty Scholarship

In a thoughtful response to my article, Rethinking Federal Circuit Jurisdiction, Ori Aronson notes that judges “work in context, be it social, cultural, or...institutional,” and that “context matters” to their decisions. Indeed, the primary aim of my article was to spur a conversation about the context in which the judges of the Federal Circuit — who have near plenary control over U.S. patent law — decide cases. That context includes many matters in narrow areas of law that bear little relation to the innovation and economic concerns that should animate patent law. To inject those concerns into the court’s province, …

Samuel Roth: Discourteous Reprinter, Robert Spoo

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Mark Of A Resold Good, Yvette Joy Liebesman, Benjamin Wilson

All Faculty Scholarship

Over the past ten years, the Internet has revolutionized the resale market ― casual resellers have migrated from garage sales, swap meets, and classified ads, to eBay and Craigslist, turning hobbies into lucrative businesses. This has affected the sales of new goods and troubled manufacturers, who seek to curtail the growth of this secondary market.

Most of these on-line resales should be protected by the first-sale doctrine, a well-known defense to infringement claims that applies across patent, copyright, and trademark law. Simply stated, once a manufacturer sells a product, it may not interfere with secondary sales of that product. Yet …

Plugging The Leak In § 1498: Coercing The United States Into Notifying Patent Owners Of Government Use, Steven Rushing

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

When the United States uses a patent for public, noncommercial purposes, it is required under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to provide notification to the patent owner. However, the United States has never implemented legislation to conform with its obligation and is therefore in violation of TRIPS. This Note argues that by permitting obvious and smaller violations--such as lack of notification--to fester, the United States has left the door open for other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to weaken the United States' overall trade policy. Members could likely accomplish this goal by first …

Reconsidering The U.S. Patent System: Lessons From Generics, Molly F.M. Chen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Scholars and pharmaceutical industry representatives consider the United States a worldwide leader in pharmaceutical innovation. However, the recent expansion of the international generics market has threatened the strength of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The pressure has led to the U.S. market's overreliance on a patentability standard that blocks generics competition without contributing substantially to the state of the art. This Note contrasts the U.S. nonobviousness standard and patent linkage regime with those of generics giants India and Israel and considers the effects of these policies on the relevant national and international generics industries. This Note proposes that the United States …

The Evolution Of Consumer Privacy Law: How Privacy By Design Can Benefit From Insights In Commercial Law And Standardization, Muharem Kianieff

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article considers the effectiveness of the present privacy regimes in North America as it relates to the protection of consumer information that is gathered in the ordinary course of business. It is argued that the present moves towards a Privacy by Design approach shows great potential and can gain valuable insights from established doctrines in commercial and consumer protection law. Moreover, it is proposed that the aims of such an approach can be achieved by deeming personal information and behavioral data to be the property of the individual that it pertains to. It is then suggested that a regulatory …

Regulating The Cloud: A Comparative Analysis Of The Current And Proposed Privacy Frameworks In Canada And The European Union, David Krebs

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Cloud computing is a growing phenomenon and promises greater efficiency and reduced-cost computing. However, some of the basic technological and business-related features of the Cloud are at odds with personal data protection laws. Canada and the European Union share similar core values related to privacy/data protection, and both regions aim to increase their competitiveness regarding cloud computing. Having these two similarities in mind, this paper explores the current legal and stakeholder landscape in Canada and the European Union with respect to cloud computing, data protection and how adoption of the model can be advanced. The analysis shows that neither of …

International And Canadian Law Rules Applicable To Cyber Attacks By State And Non-State Actors, Matthew E. Castel

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This essay, which contains a broad ranging overview of several important issues raised by the recent number of cyber attacks in Canada and elsewhere, begins with a definition of cyberspace and cyber war. It is followed by a brief survey of some cyber attacks that have occurred in Canada and elsewhere in recent years. The first part addresses the question whether present rules of international law applicable to armed attacks using kinetic weapons apply to the wide notion of cyber attacks by a state actor against the government and critical civilian infrastructures of another state and concludes that they do. …

Book Review: R.L. Campbell, Legal Issues In Electronic Commerce, Robert J. Currie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The juncture of “law and technology” from a legal education point of view is an interesting one. Successfully engaging with law and technology requires stu- dents (of all ages and stripes) to absorb at least some of the substance of many discrete areas of law, as well as to assess how technology creates nexuses between them and challenges some of their underlying notions. As electronic commerce increasingly becomes the bread and butter of many law practices, this need comes into sharper relief — one has to grasp a large variety of fundamentals and simultaneously generate some insight as to where …

Resolving The Ip Disconnect For Small Businesses, Leah Chan Grinvald

Scholarly Works

Small businesses are an important component of the American economy. In fact, the jobs created by small businesses could assist the United States in overcoming its most recent economic downturn. Paradoxically, though, the failure rate of small businesses is quite high. Although various factors contribute to this high failure rate, one of the factors the U.S. government has focused on has been the disproportionate impact that intellectual property laws, policies, and their enforcement may have on small businesses. While the U.S. government has paid attention to the impact of domestic intellectual property laws on small businesses, the government has paid …

The Washington Declaration On Intellectual Property And The Public Interest, Sean Flynn

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest was drafted at the Inaugural Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest. The Inaugural Global Congress convened over 180 experts from 32 countries and six continents to re-articulate the public interest dimension in intellectual property law and policy. The Congress adopted a series of specific recommendations for action by a global network of public interest scholars and advocates, which are expressed below.

One Size Does Not Fit All, David Spratt

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The U.S. Proposal For An Intellectual Property Chapter In The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Sean Flynn, Brook Baker, Margot Kaminski, Jimmy Koo

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article takes advantage of the breach in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation’s secrecy to contribute to a new and growing collection of published scholarship on leaked proposals for international intellectual property agreements as they are being negotiated. We begin with the general provisions of the agreement, which define its relationship to the multilateral system. We then progress to analysis of some of the most important copyright, patent and data protection, and enforcement sections of the proposal, before providing some concluding observations. Our ultimate conclusion is that the U.S. proposal, if adopted, would upset the current international framework balancing the interests …

Beneficiaries Of Misconduct: A Direct Approach To It Theft, Andrew Popper

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Stolen information technology (IT) is a domestic and global problem. Theft of IT by upstream producers has a pernicious effect on the competitive market and violates fundamental policies designed to protect those who create and invent such assets. Companies profiting from stolen IT are not just free-riding on the successes of those who design and produce the products and ideas that are a driving force in the U.S. economy – they are destabilizing rational pricing and distorting lawful competition by virtue of outright theft. Current legal recourse is insufficient to address such misconduct; new approaches are needed at the state …

Libguide For Copyright, Paul Royster

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

I. Can I use this material in a paper/article/project ?

II. Can I use this material for teaching a course ?

III. How do I get/keep copyright protection for my work ?

Functionality In Design Protection Systems, Mark D. Janis, Jason J. Du Mont

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In comparison to functionality doctrine in trade dress cases, scholars have paid relatively little attention to the role of functionality doctrine in design protection systems such as the U.S. design patent system and the EU Community Design regime. Yet functionality considerations potentially affect many validity and scope determinations in the design protection area. In this Article, we critically evaluate judicial application of the functionality doctrine in design protection systems, focusing on the U.S. design patent and EU design protection regimes. We argue that the doctrine as applied in these settings is too often aimless and inconsistent. Some simple doctrinal refinements …

Tuning The Obviousness Inquiry After Ksr, Mark D. Janis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

One of the most important and delicate judicial tasks in patent law is to keep the obviousness doctrine in reasonable working order. There are several reasons why the obviousness doctrine has been the subject of frequent judicial tinkering. First, patentability doctrines interact with each other, so doctrinal alterations that seem to be entirely external to the obviousness doctrine frequently have ripple effects on obviousness. The interaction between the utility and obviousness doctrines provides one good example. Second, the obviousness doctrine is internally complex. Cases in the chemical and biotechnology areas over the past several decades have amply illustrated this point. …

Copyright Law And Pornography, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sex-for-hire is usually illegal, unless it is being filmed. Debates about pornography tread uneasily into legal terrain that implicates freedom of expression under the First Amendment, the specter of censorship, and genuine concerns about the function and role of pornography in persistent gender inequality. It is less common for conversations about pornography to include a discussion of copyright law. Yet copyright law is a powerful tool that operates to protect the financial interests of pornographers. Owners of copyrighted pornography frequently threaten public exposure of an alleged infringer’s consumption habits in order to force a financial settlement. Thus copyright law operates …

Better Mistakes In Patent Law, Andres Sawicki

Articles

This Article analyzes patent mistakes-that is, mistakes made by the patent system when it decides whether a particular invention has met the patentability requirements. These mistakes are inevitable. Given resource constraints, some might even be desirable. This Article evaluates the relative costs of patent mistakes, so that we can make better ones.

Three characteristics drive the costs of mistakes: their type (false positive or false negative), timing (early or late), and doctrinal basis (utility, novelty, nonobviousness, and so on). These characteristics make some mistakes more troubling than others.

This Article compares the costs of making mistakes of different types, at …

From Goods To A Good Life: Intellectual Property And Global Justice, Madhavi Sunder

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Most scholarship on intellectual property considers this law from the standpoint of law and economics. Under this conventional wisdom, intellectual property is simply a tool for promoting innovative products, from iPods to R2D2. In this highly original book Madhavi Sunder calls for a richer understanding of intellectual property law’s effects on social and cultural life. Intellectual property does more than incentivize the production of more goods. This law fundamentally affects the ability of citizens to live a good life. Intellectual property law governs the abilities of human beings to make and share culture, and to profit from this enterprise in …

Between Semiotic Democracy And Disobedience: Two Views Of Branding, Culture And Intellectualproperty, Sonia K. Katyal

Faculty Scholarship

Even though most scholars and judges treat intellectual property law as a predominantly content-neutral phenomenon, trademark law contains a statutory provision, section 2(a), that provides for the cancellation of marks that are “disparaging,” “immoral,” or “scandalous.” This provision has raised intrinsically powerful constitutional concerns, which invariably affect two central metaphors that are at war within trademark law: the marketplace of goods, which premises itself on the fixedness of intellectual properties, and the marketplace of ideas, which is premised on the very fluidity of language itself. Since the architecture of trademark law focuses only on how marks communicate information about a …

Opportunity Lost? Revisiting Recordtv V Mediacorp Tv, Warren B. Chik, Cheng Lim Saw

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Taking the Singapore Court of Appeal’s Decision in RecordTV Pte Ltd v MediaCorp TV Singapore Pte Ltd [2011] 1 SLR 830, this article seeks to argue that the copyright fair dealing defence would have been the more appropriate basis to exempt RecordTV, a digital recording service for recording television programmes, from primary copyright liability. This judicial approach towards legalising digital video recorder (“DVR”) services is more suitable taking into consideration the following: The role and objectives of copyright law in Singapore; the history and development of the fair dealing defence (including the latest amendments pursuant to the US-Singapore Free Trade …

Meaning, Purpose, And Cause In The Law Of Deception, Gregory Klass

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Laws designed to affect the flow of information take many forms: rules against misrepresentation, disclosure requirements, secrecy requirements, rules governing the formatting or packaging of information, and interpretive rules designed to give people new reasons to share information. Together these and similar rules constitute the law of deception: laws that aim to prevent or cure deception. One encounters similar problems of design, function and justification throughout the law of deception. Yet very little has been written about the category as a whole. This article begins to sketch a general theory. It identifies three regulatory approaches. Interpretive laws, such as common …