Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Preserving The Royalty-Free Standards Ecosystem, Jorge L. Contreras, Rudi Bekkers, Brad Biddle, Enrico Bonadio, Michael A. Carrier, Bernard Chao, Charles Duan, Richard J. Gilbert, Joachim Henkel, Erik Hovenkamp, Martin Husovec, Kai Jacobs, Dong-Hyu Kim, Mark A. Lemley, Brian J. Love, Luke Mcdonagh, Fiona M. Scott Morton, Jason M. Schulz, Timothy Simcoe, Jennifer M. Urban, Joy Y. Xiang

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

It has long been recognized in Europe and elsewhere that standards-development organizations (SDOs) may adopt policies that require their participants to license patents essential to the SDO’s standards (standards-essential patents or SEPs) to manufacturers of standardized products (“implementers”) on a royalty-free (RF) basis. This requirement contrasts with SDO policies that permit SEP holders to charge implementers monetary patent royalties, sometimes on terms that are specified as “fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory” (FRAND). As demonstrated by two decades of intensive litigation around the world, FRAND royalties have given rise to intractable disputes regarding the manner in which such royalties should be calculated …

An Introduction To "Marshall Law", Ip Theory Volume 12 Editorial Board

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Amplifying The Washington Pro Bono Patent Network Through Legal Consults, Jennifer S. Fan

Presentations

The USPTO hosted a series of presentations related to patent pro bono work. This presentation discusses how the legal consult structure the University of Washington School of Law Entrepreneurial Law Clinic developed brings more visibility to the work of the Washington Pro Bono Patent Network.

The Social Value Of Intellectual Property, Alina Ng

Journal Articles

The focus of this paper is not on how intellectual property owners can misuse intellectual property rights in harmful ways in society. Much has already been written about that topic. Instead, this paper is about how to encourage intellectual property owners, especially corporate owners, to make decisions and implement strategies about their intellectual property rights that are socially valuable and positively impactful. This paper argues that if corporate and business owners of intellectual property understand the role that their intellectual property rights can have in creating a positive social impact, the influence that they can have in the market as …

Information Theory And Patent Documents, W. Michael Schuster

Akron Law Review

Recent scholarship has expanded the scope of analytical tools available to patent law researchers. The foundation of information theory published by Claude Shannon has been applied to textual analysis to determine the similarities of patents and to assess a patent’s value. This article presents a theoretical application of information theory to quantify lexical ambiguity and originality in innovation within patent law.

Revisiting The Justification Of Trademark Protection For Single Drug Compositions: A Critical Analysis From A Regulatory Perspective, Kuhu Tiwari, Dr. Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya

Akron Law Review

Trademarks, which are premised on product differentiation, are alleged to play a divergent role when used on pharmaceutical products: they tend to create an artificial product differentiation for the bioequivalent pharmaceutical products that are marketed as branded, generics, and branded-generic products. It is implied that the companies incorporate trademarks to market their products to different consumers at different prices. However, concerns arise when a company uses multiple trademarks for a single active pharmaceutical ingredient (API); sometimes, the company labels each trademark as treating a different medical condition.

This practice of brand proliferation may pose risks to patient safety by confusing …

Fair Use As A Market Facilitator, Miriam Marcowitz-Bitton, Dan Bombach

Akron Law Review

The Digital Age has enabled individuals worldwide to store, organize, and share everything from cherished memories embodied in photographs and videos to academic writing and correspondence. Yet, archived collections of academic, public, and private libraries are out of reach to many, and many books are now beyond reach because they are no longer in print. The high cost of digitization exacerbates these challenges.

In 2004, Google Inc. responded to these issues by announcing a project to scan and digitize the collections of several leading universities and public libraries (the “Google Books” project). The project offered users the opportunity to search …

Letting Anarchy Loose On The World: The Anarchist Cookbook And How Copyright Fails The Author, Debora Halbert

Akron Law Review

The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell remains one of the most controversial books in print, even 50 years after its first publication. The story to be told about its ongoing publication can teach us about the politics of authorship, ownership, publication, copyright assignments, the public domain, and the legacies our printed words leave behind. Later in life Powell regretted publishing the book and wished that it would be removed from publication and circulation but stated that he did not own the copyright and so could not control the book. However, even at his death the book remained in print and …

Infographic: Digital Copyright Laws And Online Teaching, Zoe Kaskamanidis

Teacher infographics

A new report has assessed whether copyright limitations for educational purposes are unfit for remote education through a legal analysis of copyright laws in 40 countries. This infographic shows the number of countries in the report for which the following online teaching scenarios are not legal.

A Potential Status Update For The Visual Artists Rights Act: The Role Of Social Media Response In Judicial Analysis Of Recognized Stature, Olivia Calamia

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In 2020, visual artists used the power and reach of social media platforms to share works of art inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, which experienced renewed vigor following the police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Many of these works have taken the form of murals painted on city streets, building faces, and other spaces that promote public viewing. Many artists hope that their works will endure long past this moment of social and political reckoning. Manhattan based artist Amir Diop expressed his wishes simply but eloquently: “My hope is that [my art] is a …

Towards Better Sharing Of Cultural Heritage — An Agenda For Copyright Reform: A Creative Commons Policy Paper, Brigitte Vézina, Susanna Ånäs, Carys Craig, Rebecca Giblin, Shanna Hollich, Revekka Kefalea, Paul Keller, Thomas Margoni, Ariadna Matas, Kristina Petrasova, Jonathan Poritz, Matthew Rimmer, Melissa Terras, Harry Thomass, Maarten Zeinstra

Commissioned Reports, Studies and Public Policy Documents

This paper is intended to act as a pillar and reference point for CC’s advocacy work in copyright reform in the cultural heritage context, with a focus on issues arising in the digital environment. It may serve to support members of the CC community in their own advocacy efforts, guide policymakers in their legislative processes, and inform anyone interested in the policy issues gravitating around access and reuse of culture and cultural heritage. It will likely be adapted into a GLAM Guide for Policymakers and will be augmented with real-life examples, case studies and practical advice. It starts with an …

Facilitating Open Science Without Sacrificing Ip Rights, Or Cohen Sasson, Ofer Tur‐Sinai

Articles

No abstract provided.

Fashion In The Times Of War: The Recent Exodus Of Luxury Brands From Russia And What It Means For Trademark Law, Irene Calboli, Vera Sevastianova

Faculty Scholarship

In February 2022, Russia infamously invaded Ukraine, starting an unprovoked war. As a result, many foreign companies left their Russia-based operations, including most luxury fashion houses. In these remarks, we elaborate on the possible issues that these companies may face regarding the enforcement of their IP rights in Russia, particularly trademark rights, following their departure resulting from the sanctions imposed by Western countries.

At the time of writing, perhaps the most pressing issue is whether luxury fashion houses risk losing their trademark rights in Russia due to their decision to suspend their operations, even though temporarily. An additional issue facing …

Cloud Gaming Demystified: An Introduction To The Legal Implications Of Cloud-Based Videogames, Mitchell Longan, Gaetano Dimita, Johan David Michels, Christopher Millard

Michigan Technology Law Review

In this paper, we “demystify” cloud-based videogaming and its legal implications, in two stages. First, we describe the videogame sector; explain the basics of cloud computing and traditional videogame technologies and set out how the two converge in cloud-based videogame systems. Based on this analysis, we distinguish three separate models for cloud gaming services: (i) the “layered” model of Gaming-as-a-Service (‘GaaS’); (ii) the ‘integrated’ model of GaaS; and (iii) the ‘consumer infrastructure-as-a-service’ model. We argue that these three models are key to analyzing how intellectual property rights, contractual rights, and regulatory issues will develop in this novel environment for videogame …

Unclean Patents, Sean B. Seymore

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The doctrine of unclean hands is perhaps the most storied affirmative defense in civil cases. It allows a court to dismiss a lawsuit without reaching the merits if the patent owner (patentee) engaged in misconduct related to the claim being asserted. In patent law, the Supreme Court has stated that the doctrine is of "paramount interest" given the nature of the patent bargain between the inventor and the public. Nonetheless, unclean hands has been a relatively dormant defense in patent cases, other than in the specific context of patent procurement at the Patent Office (where it has evolved into the …

The Conduit Theory Of Secondary Liability In Patent And Copyright Law, Tun-Jen Chiang

Nevada Law Journal

Both patent and copyright law impose liability not only on direct infringers—those who actually make, sell, or use copies of the protected invention or work—but also on some third-parties that facilitate the direct infringement. Although such secondary liability has a long pedigree, it has remained undertheorized. The doctrine is often explained as a way to provide intellectual property (IP) owners with a remedy when pursuing direct infringers is not practically feasible, or as a way to catch and punish morally culpable bad actors beyond the set of direct infringers. Neither of these explanations provides much concrete guidance on how secondary …

Against Progress: Intellectual Property And Fundamental Values In The Internet Age, Or Cohen Sasson

Articles

No abstract provided.

Hoosier Athletes Get An Assist From Law Students Through Name, Image And Likeness Initiative, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Student-athletes at Indiana University Bloomington will get an assist from their peers at the IU Maurer School of Law under a new Name, Image and Likeness Initiative through the school’s Center for Intellectual Property Research.

As student-athletes navigate the still-emerging complexities of the NCAA’s new policy surrounding name, image and likeness — also referred to as NIL — they’ll now have a homefield advantage: one of the country’s top intellectual property clinics.

Are Cryptopunks Copyrightable?, Brian L. Frye

Pepperdine Law Review

Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks NFTs are iconic. Created in 2017, they were among the first NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Four years later, they are among the most valuable, selling for anywhere from $200,000 to millions of dollars. The CryptoPunks collection consists of 10,000 NFTs, each of which is associated with a unique CryptoPunks image. Everyone knows who owns each CryptoPunks NFT. The Ethereum blockchain provides indelible proof. But people disagree about who owns - and who should own - the copyright in the CryptoPunks images. Most CryptoPunks NFT owners believe they should own the copyright in the image associated with …

Traditional Knowledge And Twail, Gunjan Deshpande

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Traditional Knowledge (TK) is a deep-rooted notion in the Indian culture, it is the knowledge that has been passed on for centuries and is governed by the traditional customary laws. It applies to everything from food storage, agriculture to medicine to the preservation of the environment. TK are protected by national or regional laws that provide limited protection. There have been various instances where Indian TK was patented outside India some of the examples are Turmeric, Amla, and Neem. TK is the base of modern science and technology, as it is derived from a strong cultural heritage that is vital …