Science and Technology Law Commons^™

Network Neutrality And The First Amendment, Andrew Patrick, Eric Scharphorn

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The First Amendment reflects the conviction that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to public welfare. Like the printing press, the Internet has dramatically transformed the marketplace of ideas by providing unprecedented opportunities for individuals to communicate. Though its growth continues to be phenomenal, broadband service providers— acting as Internet gatekeepers—have developed the ability to discriminate against specific content and applications. First, these gatekeepers intercept and inspect data transferred over public networks, then selectively block or slow it. This practice has the potential to stifle the Internet’s value as a speech platform by …

Regulating To Achieve Stability In The Domain Of High-Frequency Trading, Lindsey C. Crump

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

High-frequency trading has become a darling of capital markets debate. This debate thrives because the true and long-lasting effects of high-frequency trading are still unknown. On one hand, high-frequency trading evidences recent and powerful advances in trading technology; on the other, it is said to harness speed at the expense of fairness, prudence, and stability. In part because of this duality, the regulation of high-frequency trading in the United States has been slow to develop. Other nations, however, have been quicker to react and to promulgate laws that directly, or indirectly, affect high-frequency trading. This Note explores the legal responses …

The Uniformed Topograhy Of Patent Scope, Janet Freilich

Faculty Scholarship

Setting and ascertaining patent scope are among the most important questions in patent law. However, we cannot accurately set patent scope. This is because patent scope has a sequence-of- information problem. Patent scope is set at the time that a patent is granted, while the information necessary to set and measure patent scope is not obtained until many years later. In consequence, the scope of any given patent is very likely to contain significant "error," meaning that the scope is broader or narrower than the theoretical ideal (the minimum amount of scope necessary to incentivize innovation). Deviation from the theoretical …

The Ftc Has A Dog In The Patent Monopoly Fight: Will Antitrust’S Bite Kill Generic Challenges?, Jennifer D. Cieluch

Duke Law & Technology Review

Antitrust laws have been notoriously lenient in the patent realm, the underlying reason being that patents’ grant of exclusion create monopolies that defy antitrust laws in order to incentivize innovation. Thus, antitrust violations have rarely been found in the patent cases. But after the Supreme Court’s holding in FTC v. Actavis, brand name pharmaceutical companies may need to be more cautious when settling Hatch-Waxman litigation with potential patent infringers. Both brand-name drug manufacturers and generic drug manufacturers have incentives to settle cases by having the brand-name pay the generic in exchange for delaying their entry into the market. While courts …

Avoiding The Next Napster: Copyright Infringement And Investor Liability In The Age Of User Generated Content, Truan Savage

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Rapid developments in digital technology over the past quarter century have made it easier than ever for people to create and instantly share content. These developments have served as the basis for countless innovations and have spawned some of today’s largest and most profitable companies. As content creation and distribution continues to evolve, businesses seek new ways to profit from these technological innovations. But while businesses continue to develop around new methods of content distribution, the law of copyright, which generally aims to encourage the creation of content, has been slow to adapt. This era of modern technological innovation thus …

Eliminating The No Number, No List Response; Keeping The Cia Within The Scope Of The Law Amidst America's Global War On Terror, Joseph Meissner

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Diagnostics Need Not Apply, Rebecca S. Eisenberg

Articles

Diagnostic testing helps caregivers and patients understand a patient's condition, predict future outcomes, select appropriate treatments, and determine whether treatment is working. Improvements in diagnostic testing are essential to bringing about the long-heralded promise of personalized medicine. Yet it seems increasingly clear that most important advances in this type of medical technology lie outside the boundaries of patent-eligible subject matter. The clarity of this conclusion has been obscured by ambiguity in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court concerning patent eligibility. Since its 2010 decision in Bilski v. Kappos, the Court has followed a discipline of limiting judicial exclusions from …

Understanding The Backlog Problems Associated With Requests For Continued Examination Practice, Sean Tu

Duke Law & Technology Review

One of the greatest problems facing the current patent administration is a long patent pendency period. This study focuses on Request for Continued Examination (RCE) practice, and its effects on the current patent application backlog problem. RCEs are used to continue prosecution after a patent examiner has issued a final rejection. However, now that RCEs are placed on an examiner’s special docket, some examiners may pick up prosecution one to two years after the last action. Accordingly, there are great inefficiencies that may be created by this delay, such as relearning issues and questions from the previous action, diminished value …

Space Joint Ventures: The United States And Developing Nations, Carl Q. Christol

Akron Law Review

Moreover, all of the forces of the social complex have allowed man by the mid-1970's to move beyond mere exploration and into an era of beneficial and man-oriented exploitation of the space environment. The natural consequence was the birth of a host of new and challenging personal interrelationships-the grist of the lawyer's mill.

Data Privacy Regulation In The Age Of Smartphones, Matthew Hettrich

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law's Acceleration Of Finance: Redefining The Problem Of High-Frequency Trading, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Powered Satellites: The U.S.S.R. Cosmos 954 And The Canadian Claim, Eilene Galloway

Akron Law Review

“On January 24, 1978 the Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, fell from outer space and entered Canada's airspace. The component parts of this nuclear powered satellite disintegrated and scattered radioactive debris over northwest Canada in an area the size of Austria. Fear of a nuclear explosion and unknown hazards to the environment evoked worldwide alarm. This incident set in motion a variety of studies analyzing one of the most unique multidisciplinary problems created by the use and exploration of outer space. These continuing studies of nuclear power for satellites will lead to decisions of global significance. There is an opportunity to …

Radioactive Waste Disposal: The Emerging Issue Of States' Rights, John F. Seiberling

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to examine the issue of the state role in federal nuclear programs and the need for Congressional action to insure that states will have an active role in federal decisions to dispose of radioactive waste within their jurisdictions.

The Buying And Selling Of Human Organs From The Living: Why Not?, Timothy M. Hartman

Akron Law Review

This article will examine the propriety of establishing a system for the sale of human organs, especially the kidney. Initially, the debilitating malady of end stage renal disease will be discussed as will the marginal "cure" of the disease via hemodialysis. Next, the superior alternative to dialysis, i.e., kidney transplantation will be discussed in two ways. First, the current procedure of using living, related donors will be examined as well as harvesting kidneys from cadaver "donors". Second, the practice of transplantation will be explored for its ramifications to society and the participants in the following areas: medicine, psychology, and the …

Patentability Of Micro-Organisms, Diamond V. Chakrabarty, Ann Amer Brennan

Akron Law Review

The decision rendered by the Supreme Court in Diamond v. Chakrabarty allows the new science of biotechnology to come out of the closet and to take its place in the public domain with other scientific achievements that have, for better or for worse, shaped the industrial life of the United States. It is probable that the products which will result from this emerging science will affect each of us in some way during our lifetimes.

Resolving The Energy War Through International Law And Solar Technology, Aldo Armando Cocca

Akron Law Review

A striking feature of the past decade has been a new form of war. This war, a controversy carried to extremes, apparently will not remain isolated. This conflict may be seen as a predecessor of future battles for survival, for instance a "non-renewable resources war." Such wars are not concerned with territorial boundaries; they have a much wider economic effect. They involve the entire civilized community.

The energy conflict presently has gone beyond the crisis stage. Not only is a forthcoming peace beyond the horizon, the war itself is becoming increasingly aggressive. The fact that the weapon is an exhaustible …

Application Of Computer-Assisted Analysis Techniques To Taxation, Richard J. Kovach

Akron Law Review

Thus, it may be useful at this early point in the development of computer-assisted legal analysis to speculate on the full potential for computer applications to taxation in light of the analytic complexities commonly encountered in tax work.

Lawgical: Jurisprudential And Logical Considerations, John P. Finan

Akron Law Review

Such "creative" statutory construction is familiar to anyone who reads appellate decisions. Whatever one's views on so-called strict construction, one must recognize that in the actual working of law, this type of creative interpretation is prevalent. One who designs a computer system to do some aspects of legal analysis must take into consideration the creative dimension of the judge's role. Otherwise the computer will "calculate legal results" which are literally correct but faithless to the law as it is actually interpreted. It would be easy to design a system to draw legal inferences if one accepted a mechanical, slot machine …

The Detection And Recovery Of Contraband Nuclear Material, John N. O'Brien

Akron Law Review

The feasibility of detection and subsequent recovery of nuclear fissile material illicitly removed from a facility is a question which has rarely been addressed. This article will explore the adequacy of remote detection and location devices designed to find contraband fissile nuclear materials and will examine the legal consequences of going beyond remote detection and location to actual searches for contraband. The TMI incident made it clear that such societal consequences were not given sufficient attention in the past and their relevance to the issue of whether to use a plutonium economy is unquestionable.

Hazardous Biological Activities In Outer Space, Philip Mcgarrigle

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to focus on space acts that may be classified as ultrahazardous (specifically microbiological research) and to discuss how these activities are or will be affected by current or future legal regulations. Legal standards from both a United States and an international perspective will be discussed.