Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Cover Letter, Catherine Meade Gray

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The Richmond Journal of Law and Technology is proud to present its third issue of the Twenty-First Volume, our Annual Survey. This issue is published in conjunction with JOLT’s Symposium, “Who’s Looking At Your Mobile Device? Data Security, Personal Privacy, and Information Governance in the Wireless World.” As one of the leading publications in the legal technology field, JOLT has the privilege of publishing articles that address topics at the forefront of the law. From the Journal’s inception in 1995, JOLT has strived to be a step ahead of these laws in an effort to help shape the …

Beyond Technophobia: Lawyers’ Ethical And Legal Obligations To Monitor Evolving Technology And Security Risks, Timothy J. Toohey

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

Lawyers and technology have an uneasy relationship. Although some lawyers are early adapters, others take pride in ignoring technology because they believe it is alien to the practice of law. As Jody R. Westby observed, lawyers confronted with technology and security issues tend to have their “eyes glaze over” and “want to call in their ‘IT guy’ and go back to work.” But this technophobic attitude may no longer just be harmless conservatism. In the world of growing security risks, ignorance of technology may lead to violations of lawyers’ fundamental ethical duties of competence and confidentiality.

Discrimination Against Fashion Design In Copyright, Jacqueline Lampasona

Journal of International Business and Law

No abstract provided.

Living With Monsanto, 2015 Mich. St. L. Rev. 559 (2015), Daryl Lim

Faculty Scholarly Works

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. signaled the end of an era of seed saving. Farmers must buy new seed for replanting or risk patent infringement. The familiar rhetoric of oppressed farmers belies the fact that Monsanto’s success rests in part on farmers prizing its innovations. Current trends indicate that this reliance on Monsanto will continue. The Supreme Court correctly found for Monsanto. However, future cases must iron out the kinks in the Bowman decision. Despite the Court’s best intentions, inadvertence cannot shield farmers from patent infringement. The Court must also make it clear that patentees cannot use licensing restrictions to claw …

Living With Monsanto, Daryl Lim

Faculty Scholarly Works

Bowman v. Monsanto Co. signaled the end of an era of seed saving. Farmers must buy new seed for replanting or risk patent infringement. The familiar rhetoric of oppressed farmers belies the fact that Monsanto’s success rests in part on farmers prizing its innovations. Current trends indicate that this reliance on Monsanto will continue. The Supreme Court correctly found for Monsanto. However, future cases must iron out the kinks in the Bowman decision. Despite the Court’s best intentions, inadvertence cannot shield farmers from patent infringement. The Court must also make it clear that patentees cannot use licensing restrictions to claw …

Cover Letter, Laura M. Bedson

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

The Richmond Journal of Law and Technology is proud to present its second issue of the Twenty-First Volume. As one of the leading publications in the legal technology field, JOLT has the privilege of publishing articles that address topics at the forefront of the law. From the Journal’s inception in 1995, JOLT has strived to be a step ahead of these laws in an effort to help shape the emerging legal landscape. Additionally, JOLT recognizes the practical benefit that many of its articles have on legal professionals and we publish articles with this goal in mind. The following articles …

Some Speculation About Mirror Neurons And Copyright, Stephen M. Mcjohn

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

The internet, a world-wide copy machine, caused some rethinking of copyright law. Cognitive science increasingly suggests that humans are smaller scale, more adaptable, copy machines. Copyright law may again change. V.S. Ramachandran’s "The Tell-Tale Brain" discusses how mirror neurons may enable imitation, detection of others’ intention, and empathy. Ramachandran suggests that mirror neuron circuits could provide the neural substrate for cultural transmission, language, and even consciousness. This essay speculates on the implications for copyright law. It’s not news that people copy. But if cognition and culture depend on the bottom-up imitation by mirror neurons, perhaps some of the central tenets …

Foreword, Kathryn E. Wagner

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Legal Protection For Fictional Characters: Balancing Public And Private Interests, Amanda Schreyer

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

The Emperor’S New Digital Clothes: The Illusion Of Copyright Rights In Social Media, Mihajlo Babovic

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Exposure On The Ecology Of The Magic Industry: Preserving Magic In The Absence Of Law, Jared R. Sherlock

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Fair Use And Appropriation Art, Niels Schaumann

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Resale Royalties For Visual Artists: Promoting Equity And Expression, Alma Robinson

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

How Spotify Killed The Radio Star: An Analysis On How The Songwriter Equity Act Could Aid The Current Online Music Distribution Market In Failing Artists, Caitlin Kowalke

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Daniel L. Bruzzone, Brad D. Pedersen

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Adapting Alice: How To Formulate A Repeatable Test Based On Alice V. Cls Bank, Kelly Fermoyle

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

The Uspto Patent Pro Bono Program, Jennifer M. Mcdowell, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Copyright Trolling, An Empirical Study, Matthew Sag

Faculty Publications & Other Works

ABSTRACT: This detailed empirical and doctrinal study of copyright trolling presents new data showing the astonishing rate of growth of multi-defendant John Doe litigation in United States district courts over the past decade. It also presents new evidence of the association between this form of litigation and allegations of infringement concerning pornographic films. Multi-defendant

John Doe lawsuits have become the most common form of copyright litigation in several U.S. districts, and in districts such as the Northern District of Illinois, copyright litigation involving pornography accounts for more than half of new cases.

This Article highlights a fundamental oversight in the …

Sovereignty Under Siege: Corporate Challenges To Domestic Intellectual Property Decisions, Cynthia M. Ho

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Countries face a new threat that strikes at their ability to balance protection of intellectual property rights against other priorities, such as public health. They may have to pay substantial compensation to companies that dislike domestic intellectual property laws. This threat is much more significant than the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS"), a landmark international agreement concluded twenty years ago, that for the first time required all countries to provide "minimum" levels of intellectual property rights; before that time, countries were not obligated to provide any such rights at all. Since the conclusion of TRIPS, policymakers …

The Changing Landscape Of Trademark Law In Tinseltown: From Debbie Does Dallas To The Hangover, John Tehranian, Mark Bartholomew

Contributions to Books

This Essay, a chapter published in the book Hollywood and the Law (Palgrave Macmillan / British Film Institute, 2015), explores how courts have sought to balance the competing interests at stake when filmmakers make unauthorized uses of trademarks in their work and brand owners threaten liability for infringement. Using the seminal Rogers v. Grimaldi decision as a key pivot point, the Essay traces the remarkable change in approaches that courts have taken to First Amendment defenses in trademark cases in the past few decades. In presenting case studies of two opinions -- Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Inc. v. Pussycat Cinema, Ltd. …

Innovation Worth Sharing: Seeking Balance Between Innovation Policy And National Security, Alexandra H. Katich

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the tension between promoting innovation and safeguarding national security, focusing on the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951. It argues that while the Act is designed to protect sensitive inventions, extending its secrecy powers to economically significant patents would be counterproductive, unconstitutional, and harmful to U.S. competitiveness. The analysis highlights the challenges of balancing economic security, intellectual property rights, and the constitutional mandate to promote scientific progress.

The Adventure Of The Shrinking Public Domain, Elizabeth L. Rosenblatt

University of Colorado Law Review

Several scholars have explored the boundaries of intellectual property protection for literary characters. Using as a case study the history of intellectual property treatment of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character Sherlock Holmes, this Article builds on that scholarship, with special attention to characters that appear in multiple works over time, and to the influences of formal and informal law on the entry of literary characters into the public domain. While copyright protects works of authorship only for a limited time, copyright holders have sought to slow the entry of characters into the public domain, relying on trademark law, risk aversion, …

Social Media, Sharing, And Intellectual Property Law, Leah Chan Grinvald

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Policing The Cease-And-Desist Letter, Leah Chan Grinvald

Scholarly Works

Americans are renowned for being litigious. But only less than three percent of all disputes end up in court, and a paltry one percent of all filed lawsuits end with a decision on the merits. The reason for this paradox is that most disputes take place outside of the judicial system, and further, most disputes start and end with a cease-and-desist letter. This is particularly the case in the intellectual property area, where seasoned attorneys admit that much of their practice revolves around cease-and-desist letters. Although there is much to favor in the private resolution of disputes, there are economic …

Are We Serious About Performers' Rights?, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

Do performers have rights in the expressive works they help to create? Historically, the rights of performers have received far less attention that the rights of traditional authors. The law has been reluctant to recognize performers as authors and, to the extent that performers’ rights are recognized, they are secondary to, and more limited than, the rights of traditional authors. Recent developments, however, have brought performers’ intellectual property rights to the forefront. For a number of reasons, performers in the United States have increasingly begun to assert authorship rights in the works they help to create. In addition, recent international …

Advancing National Intellectual Property Policies In A Transnational Context, Marketa Trimble

Scholarly Works

The increasing frequency with which activities involving intellectual property (“IP”) cross national borders now warrants a clear definition of the territorial reach of national IP laws so that parties engaging in the activities can operate with sufficient notice of the laws applicable to their activities. Legislators, however, have not devoted adequate attention to the territorial delineation of IP law; in fact, legislators rarely draft IP statutes with any consideration of cross-border scenarios, and with few exceptions IP laws are designed with only single-country scenarios in mind. Delineating the reach of national IP laws is actually a complex matter because the …

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.

Identity Property: Protecting The New Ip In A Race-Relevant World, Philip Lee

Journal Articles

This Article explores the relatively new idea in American legal thought that people of color are human beings whose dignity and selfhood are worthy of legal protection. While the value and protection of whiteness throughout American legal history is undeniable, non-whiteness' has had a more turbulent history. For most of American history, the concept of non-whiteness was constructed by white society and reinforced by law-i.e., through a process of socio-legal construction-in a way that excluded its possessor from the fruits of citizenship. However, people of color have resisted this negative construction of selfhood. This resistance led to the development of …

Stem Cell Patents After The America Invents Act, Jacob S. Sherkow, Christopher Scott

Articles & Chapters

Under the newly passed Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may hear new challenges to stem cell patents. Here, we explore how the new law affects challenges to stem cell patents, focusing on two recent cases, and discuss the future of stem cell patent disputes.