Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Permanent Establishment In The Digital Age: Improving And Stimulating Debate Through An Access To Markets Proxy Approach, Benjamin Hoffart

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Should Fashion Design Be Copyrightable?, Brandon Scruggs

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Importing Western Style, Exporting Tragedy: Changes In Indian Patent Law And Their Impact On Aids Treatment In Africa, Pooja Van Dyck

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Structural Rights In Privacy, Harry Surden

Publications

This Essay challenges the view that privacy interests are protected primarily by law. Based upon the understanding that society relies upon nonlegal devices such as markets, norms, and structure to regulate human behavior, this Essay calls attention to a class of regulatory devices known as latent structural constraints and provides a positive account of their role in regulating privacy. Structural constraints are physical or technological barriers which regulate conduct; they can be either explicit or latent. An example of an explicit structural constraint is a fence which is designed to prevent entry onto real property, thereby effectively enforcing property rights. …

The Value Of U.S. Patents By Owner And Patent Characteristics, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

This paper uses renewal data to estimate the value of U.S. patents, controlling for patent and owner characteristics. Estimates of U.S. patent value are substantially larger than estimates for European patents, however, the ratio of U.S. patent value to R&D for firms is only about 3%. Patents issued to small patentees are much less valuable than those issued to large corporations, perhaps reflecting imperfect markets for technology. Litigated patents are more valuable, as are highly cited patents. However, patent citations explain little variance in value, suggesting limits to their use as a measure of patent quality.

The Temporal Dynamics Of Capable Of Substantial Noninfringing Uses, R. Anthony Reese

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The copyright issues raised by "dual-use" technologies--equipment that can be used both in ways that infringe copyright and in ways that do not--first gained prominence in connection with the litigation over videocassette recorders that culminated in the Supreme Court's decision in Sony in 1984. Copyright owners had asserted that Sony's manufacture and distribution of VCRs rendered it liable for copyright infringement committed by customers using their Sony VCRs. The Supreme Court in Sony concluded that copyright law did not impose such secondary liability where the device in question was capable of substantial noninfringing uses (and that the VCR was such …

The Intent Element Of Inducement To Infringe Under Patent Law: Reflections On Grokster, Lynda J. Oswald

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

In June, 2005, the United States Supreme Court set forth an "inducement" rule in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. that imposes secondary liability on "one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement." The Court emphasized the limitations of the liability standard it was setting forth, stating that the target was only "purposeful, culpable expression and conduct, and thus does nothing to compromise legitimate commerce or discourage innovation having a lawful promise." Yet, the liability standard set forth in Grokster …

21st Century Copyright Law In The Digital Domain Symposium Transcript, Symposium Panelists

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

21st Century Copyright Law in the Digital Domain Symposium held at Universtiy of Michigan Law School Friday, March 24, 2006

Stealing What's Free: Exploring Compensation To Body Parts Sources For Their Contribution To Profitable Biomedical Research, Jo-Anne Yau

ExpressO

It is undisputed in the biotechnology industry that human body parts play a vital role in research. The body parts donors, referred to as "Sources" in this article, are subjected to physical and financial exploitation. Forbidding the explosion of profits from trickling down to the Source presents an irrational inequity. Despite established law, it is evident from case analysis, prevailing social practices, and constitutional interpretation that Source compensation is a plausible solution.

This article proposes a model of compensation for Sources, whereby Sources are compensated based on a proportionate share of the research profits set aside for the Source as …

The Expressive Impact Of Patents, Timothy R. Holbrook

ExpressO

Patents represent a quid pro quo between the public and the inventor: in exchange for disclosing the invention, the inventor receives the right to exclude others from practicing her invention. They therefore serve as a source technical information. Patents also communicate information to markets and companies that serve to reduce various transaction costs, allowing more efficient transactions and investment. Patents consequently communicate various types of information beyond the technical.

There is no reason, however, that such messages must be limited to the technical or the pecuniary. This Article explores whether patents, like other governmental acts such as legislation, can create …

Piracy: Twelve Year-Olds, Grandmothers, And Other Good Targets For The Recording Industry's File Sharing Litigation, Matthew Sag

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Injunctive Relief: A Charming Betsy Boomerang, Harold C. Wegner

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Electronically Stored Information: The December 2006 Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Kenneth J. Withers

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Proposed Changes To Federal Rule Of Civil Procedure 37: Spoliation, Routine Operation And The Rules Enabling Act, Nathan D. Larsen

Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

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.

Beyond Abstraction: The Law And Economics Of Copyright Scope And Doctrinal Efficiency, Matthew Sag

Faculty Articles

Uncertainty as to the optimum extent of protection generally limits the capacity of law and economics to translate economic theory into coherent doctrinal recommendations in the realm of copyright. This Article explores the relationship between copyright scope, doctrinal efficiency, and welfare from a theoretical perspective to develop a framework for evaluating specific doctrinal recommendations in copyright law.

The usefulness of applying this framework in either rejecting or improving doctrinal recommendations is illustrated with reference to the predominant law and economics theories of fair use. The metric-driven analysis adopted in this Article demonstrates the general robustness of the market-failure approach to …

Estimates Of Patent Rents From Firm Market Value, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

The value of patent rents is an important quantity for policy analysis. However, estimates in the literature based on patent renewals might be understated. Market value regressions could provide validation, but they have not had clear theoretical foundations for estimating patent rents. I develop a simple model to make upper bound estimates of patent rents using regressions on Tobin's Q. I test this on a sample of US firms and find it robust to a variety of considerations. My estimates correspond well with estimates based on patentee behavior outside the pharmaceutical industry, but renewal estimates might be understated for pharmaceuticals.

Inducers And Authorisers: A Comparison Of The Us Supreme Court's Grokster Decision And The Australian Federal Court's Kazaa Ruling, Jane C. Ginsburg, Sam Ricketson

Faculty Scholarship

On June 27, 2005, the US Supreme Court announced its much-awaited decision in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster Ltd. A few months after this, the Federal Court of Australia handed down its decision at first instance in relation to parallel litigation in that country concerning the KaZaa file sharing system. Both decisions repay careful consideration of the way in which the respective courts have addressed the relationship between the protection of authors' rights and the advent of new technologies, particularly in relation to peer-to-peer networks.

In the Grokster case, songwriters, record producers and motion picture producers alleged that two popular …

War And Peace: The 34th Annual Donald C. Brace Lecture, Jessica D. Litman

Other Publications

I'd like to thank the Copyright Society and the Brace committee for inviting me to speak to you this evening. I am honored that you invited me to give this lecture. I want to talk a little bit about war - copyright war - and then I want to talk a little bit about peace. It's become conventional that we're in the middle of a copyright war.' I tried to track down who started calling it that, and what I can tell you is that about ten years ago, about the time that copyright lawyers everywhere were arguing about the …

Once And Future Copyright, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

Copyright is like a well-meaning but ultimately bothersome friend, eager to help but nearly impossible to get rid of. It attaches indiscriminately to the simplest acts of expression, without regard for whether the author needs or wants its protection. This automatic propertization made sense in the print era, when mass distribution of information was an expensive process rarely undertaken by those with no plans to profit from their creativity. It makes little sense today. The following article shows that copyright's overly solicitous nature is the source of several seemingly unrelated and intractable problems - e.g., closed code, copyright as censorship, …

Not All Bad: An Historical Perspective On Software Patents, Martin Campbell-Kelly

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Paper places the current debates about software patents in the historical context of patenting in the information technology industries. The first computer-program products were sold in the mid 1960s when software patents were not generally allowed; as a result, trade secrecy became endemic to the software industry. Software products were also protected by copyright, but in practice this offered little protection against most forms of appropriation by reverse engineering or cloning. By the early 1980s a series of landmark cases led to the acceptance of software patents. It is argued that this development was consistent with the patenting of …

An Umbrella Or A Canopy?: Why The 17 U.S.C. Section 512(A) Safe Harbor Should Be Read Broadly, Sven Skillrud

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

With technology constantly changing, the interaction between copyright law and technology is always at odds, especially since the evolution of the Internet. To keep up with the ever-changing Internet, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; specifically, it created four safe harbors that are intended to protect entities from copyright infringement that qualify as online service providers. However, it seems that the courts have had trouble interpreting who is covered under these safe harbors, namely, as to what entities qualify under the first safe harbor "Transitory Digital Network Communications." There are only a few cases where entities have qualified under …