Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Patent Landscape Of Helminth Vaccines And Related Technologies, Jon R. Cavicchi, Stanley P. Kowalski, John Schroeder, Rayna Burke, Jillian Michaud-King

Law Faculty Scholarship

Executive Summary This report focuses on patent landscape analysis of technologies related to vaccines targeting parasitic worms, also known as helminths. These technologies include methods of formulating vaccines, methods of producing of subunits, the composition of complete vaccines, and other technologies that have the potential to aid in a global response to this pathogen. The purpose of this patent landscape study was to search, identify, and categorize patent documents that are relevant to the development of vaccines that can efficiently promote the development of protective immunity against helminths. The search strategy used keywords which the team felt would be general …

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, James Ming Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Thomas Folsom, Timothy S. Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank A. Pasquale Iii, Elizabeth A. Reilly, Jeffrey Samuels, Katherine J. Strandburg, Kara W. Swanson, Andrew W. Torrance, Katharine A. Van Tassel

Law Faculty Scholarship

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Safe Harbor For The Innocent Infringer In The Digital Age, Tonya M. Evans

Law Faculty Scholarship

The primary goal of this Article is three-fold: (1) to explore the role of the innocent infringer archetype historically and in the digital age; (2) to highlight the tension between customary and generally accepted online uses and copyright law that compromise efficient use of technology and progress of the digital technologies, the Internet, and society at large; and (3) to offer a legislative fix in the form of safe harbor for direct innocent infringers. Such an exemption seems not only more efficient but also more just in the online environment where unwitting infringement for the average copyright consumer is far …

Patent Law Revisionism At The Supreme Court?, Ted Sichelman

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The Supreme Court generally may overrule, revise, or disregard its precedent. However, the Court lacks such discretion when Congress codifies prior judicial precedent. Yet, the Court has repeatedly subverted Congress’s codification of scienter standards for indirect patent infringement. This Essay describes in detail the Court’s bungled—essentially revisionist—interpretations of its precedent in Aro Mfg. Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co. in 1964 and in Global-Tech v. SEB in 2011. Indeed, this Essay suggests that the Court in Global-Tech engaged in intentional obfuscation, very likely via a law clerk and unbeknownst the Justices. In the very least, the Justices abdicated their responsibility …

Patent Law's Disclosure Requirement, Jason Rantanen

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

The requirement that recipients of patents disclose information about their inventions is a fundamental attribute of patent systems. Yet, despite being a core element of patent law, the disclosure requirement is rarely thought of in those terms; rather, it is conventionally approached by first dissecting it in two ways: in terms of its doctrinal mechanisms (primarily enablement and written description) and in terms of its theoretical basis. While this dissection can be useful in understanding issues within the disclosure requirement, the resulting compartmentalization also imposes limits on this approach.

This Essay approaches patent law’s disclosure requirement from a more holistic …

The Written Description Gap, Timothy R. Holbrook

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Within patent law, there are two primary mechanisms that attempt to afford the appropriate balance between patent owners and subsequent inventors. First are the disclosure doctrines: a patent applicant cannot claim more than what she has actually disclosed in the patent application. A claim that is overly broad because it lacks adequate support in the patent specification is invalid. There is a clear link between the extent of the patent disclosure and the permissible scope of the claims contained therein.

The second constraint on a patentee’s ability to obtain claim scope is the prior art. A claimed invention must be …

The Written Description Gap, Timothy R. Holbrook

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Within patent law, there are two primary mechanisms that attempt to afford the appropriate balance between patent owners and subsequent inventors. First are the disclosure doctrines: a patent applicant cannot claim more than what she has actually disclosed in the patent application. A claim that is overly broad because it lacks adequate support in the patent specification is invalid. There is a clear link between the extent of the patent disclosure and the permissible scope of the claims contained therein. The second constraint on a patentee’s ability to obtain claim scope is the prior art. A claimed invention must be …

The Patent Litigation Explosion, James Bessen, Michael J. Meurer

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

This Article provides the first look at patent litigation hazards for public firms during the 1980s and 1990s. Litigation is more likely when prospective plaintiffs acquire more patents, when firms are larger and technologically close and when prospective defendants spend more on research and development (“R&D”). The latter suggests inadvertent infringement may be more important than piracy. Public firms face dramatically increased hazards of litigation as plaintiffs and even more rapidly increasing hazards as defendants, especially for small public firms. The increase cannot be explained by patenting rates, R&D, firm value or industry composition. Legal changes are the most likely …

Private Rights For The Public Good?, J. Janewa Oseitutu

Faculty Publications

The counterfeit medicines discussion is an example of how the use of a turbid rationale for greater intellectual property protections serves sophisticated private interests while potentially harming the public interest. The risk of harm created by counterfeit medicines provides a compelling counter-narrative to the access to medicines critique of intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property advocates and the pharmaceutical industry have portrayed poor global enforcement of intellectual property rights as contributing to the proliferation of dangerous counterfeit medications. Yet, the deliberate linkage in the literature between weak intellectual property rights and the harms caused by counterfeit medicines provides a justification for …

A Great Invisible Crashing: The Rise And Fall Of Patent Eligibility Through Mayo V. Prometheus, Scott Pierce

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Title 35 of the United States Code at Section 101 states that “[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” Despite the apparent simplicity of the statute and its predecessors, the boundaries of patent eligibility dictated by the term “process” and the term “art” that it replaced, along with the terms “machine,” “manufacture” and “composition of matter,” have become increasingly uncertain over the course of the last two-hundred years. Recently, the lack …

Fda Puffery: Smoking Out The Constitutionality Of Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels, Israel Klein

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Interpreting Biological Similarity: Ongoing Challenges For Diverse Decision Makers, Sarah M. Cork

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Similarity is an elusive and complicated concept facing comparisons of biological molecules, as even minute changes to a molecule's structure can dramatically affect its function in the body. Yet the flood of biologic drugs on the market will increasingly force these similarity comparisons. These concerns are particularly relevant to two groups of drugs: families of biologic drugs that closely resemble each other in structure and function, here termed "similar-impact biologics," and the biosimilars, which are intended to closely approximate generic forms of biologic drugs. In bringing biologic drugs to the market, manufacturers are likely to face dual obstacles: FDA approval …

Patenting Nature: A Problem Of History, Christopher Beauchamp

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Revolutionary Influence Of Low Enlightenment: Weakening Copyright In Developing Countries To Improve Respect For Human Rights And The Rule Of Law, Martin Skladany

Faculty Scholarly Works

Diverse groups have banded together to critique current intellectual property laws under the Access to Knowledge movement. The Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Access to Knowledge Treaty, and the Adelphi Charter on Creativity, Innovation and Intellectual Property call for an end to further growth in intellectual property protection and demand that the World Intellectual Property Organization be more cognizant of the needs of developing countries in terms of expanding access to textbooks and other educational materials. However, the movement has yet to appreciate the value of significantly weakening copyright law in developing countries …

Finding The Point Of Novelty In Software Patents, Bernard Chao

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The issue of patentable subject matter eligibility is in considerable flux. In 2012, the Supreme Court set forth a confusing new framework for determining patent eligibility. The decision in Mayo v. Prometheus cast serious doubt on the continued viability of many software patents. Indeed, a split quickly emerged in the Federal Circuit. As a result, it was unclear whether adding computer limitations to an otherwise unpatentable concept somehow renders the concept patent-eligible. In an attempt to settle this question, the Federal Circuit granted a petition to rehear the issue en banc. But in CLS Bank Int’l v. Alice Corp., the …

Reverse Engineering Ip, Tonya M. Evans

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

With the advent of the Internet and digital technology, the twenty-first century has ushered in a quantum increase in the ways to create, disseminate, and commercially exploit creativity. Digital technology allows anyone to create perfect digital copies of protected works in the comfort of their homes and to distribute them to tens, hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people with the click of a hyperlink via a handheld device. Indeed, copyright touches more ordinary people in substantial ways in this age of information than at any other time in American copyright history. READ MORE, download the article.

The Immorality Of Strict Liability In Copyright, Steven Hetcher

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

I will argue for a fundamental reconceptualization of liability for copyright infringement. Specifically, I will argue that the essentially unchallenged orthodoxy that copyright infringement is a strict liability tort is false. From the Supreme Court on down, it does not even appear to be questioned that copyright infringement applies a strict liability standard. Upon reflection, this is peculiar, given that this is anything but an innocuous doctrine. It is just the opposite; it is a doctrine that strongly favors copyright owners who may more easily prevail in infringement suits, as it will always be easier to establish strict liability as …

The End Of Ownership?, Donald F. Jankowski Ii

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Imagine for a moment that you are in the market for a new car. You find a sports car that you like, talk with a salesperson and ultimately purchase a new automobile. This car is effectively the same as thousands of other cars. It is a copy. You were not under the impression that you were buying the rights to the design of the car or to reproduce the car to the exact specifications as your own copy. However, you believe that you can do with this car what you will. You can put bigger wheels on it, put stickers …

Free Fashion, Ashley M. Marshall

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Our current vision of fashion is viewed as a shared art form that may be enjoyed by all social classes. Fashion encourages a melting pot of collaboration from people that are influenced by creativity. At its core, fashion is innovative and it inspires people to foster that same self-expressive conduit. Traditionally, fashion was a privilege and greatly restricted from certain classes. Indeed, Georg Simmel has proposed that in an open class society, the high class seeks to distinguish itself by adorning distinctive forms of dress, and in turn, the middle class adopts this form of dress to identify with the …

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

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Almost a century ago, the United States Supreme Court declared that the prohibition against unfair competition serves to protect fundamental values and important rights. “[T]he right to acquire property by honest labor or the conduct of a lawful business is as much entitled to protection as the right to guard property already acquired. It is this right that furnishes the basis of the jurisdiction . . . of unfair competition.” The idea is simple: it is unfair to competitors and inconsistent with basic notions of market competition to allow market actors to steal the work or property of another and …

The National Institutes Of Health, Patents, And The Public Interest: An Expanded Rationale Of Justice Breyer’S Dissent In Stanford V. Roche, Nida Shakir

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

In February 2010, the Alzheimer’s Institute of America (AIA) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Jackson Laboratory, the largest repository of research mice in the world. AIA sued Jackson Laboratory for infringing on AIA’s patent covering a DNA mutation linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Jackson Lab allegedly violated that patent by distributing mice especially bred for Alzheimer’s research. READ MORE, download the article.

Copyright, Competition, And The First English-Language Translations Of Les Misérables (1862), Michael H. Hoffheimer

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

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International Intellectual Property Scholars Series: A Fundamental Critique Of The Law-And-Economics Analysis Of Intellectual Property Rights, Andreas Rahmatian

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

International Intellectual Property Scholars Series: European Union Patents: A Mission Impossible? An Assessment Of The Historical And Current Approaches, Mauricio Troncoso

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Federal Circuit V. Ninth Circuit: A Split Over The Conflicting Approaches To Dmca Section 1201, Robert Arthur

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Copyrightable Works In The Undergraduate Student Context: An Examination Of The Issues, Lisamarie A. Collins

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Eyes Wide Shut: Induced Patent Infringement And The Willful Blindness Standard, Kristin M. Hagen

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Internet Outlaws: Knowingly Placing Ads On Parked Domain Names Invokes Contributory Trademark Liability, Ariane C. Strombom

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

None.

Stretching Copyright To Its Limit: On The Copyrightability Of Yoga And Other Sports Movements In Light Of The U.S. Copyright Office's New Characterization Of Compilations, Alexander Bussey

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Whose Streets: California Public Utilities Code Section 7901 In The Wireless Age, Michael W. Shonafelt

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In 1850, cutting-edge communications infrastructure took the form of telegraph poles and wires. The first Transcontinental Railroad would not be completed until the Golden Spike joined the rail lines at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869. The railroad right of way afforded an important avenue, allowing the new nation to be linked from coast to coast by the miracle of the telegraph's new technology. Today, 162 years later, the new technology is wireless broadband. An important avenue for its expansion and goal of universal coverage are the roads and highways of the state of California.

To meet exponential demand, wireless …