The first round of talks gave 15 minutes for presentation and 15 for Q&A. The first presenters were Gaia Bernstein, Tun-Jen Chiang and Carliss Balwin. 1. For Bernstein, user adoption problems are proportional to the novelty and complexity of the hardware in question, and referencing Benjamin, should be resolved with the formation of an office [...]

The Technology Adoption Problem Established corporations (hereafter firms) make decisions about when and which technologies to adopt to increase revenues and stay competitive. The types of technologies they adopt are diverse, from information technology infrastructures that facilitate communication and customer service to manufacturing equipment that increase output and precision. The process a firm undergoes in [...]

Josef Solterer, writing in 1950, quipped that “If there were no entrepreneurs at all, i.e. all acts are merely repetitive, then all durable goods could be replaced only” (Solterer, 1950).[i] His statement cuts at the heart of the purpose and value of the entrepreneur: to propel an otherwise stagnant society towards progress, improvement, and, generally, [...]

Bilski v. Kappos is a 2010 Supreme Court case concerning process patents, as allowed under section 101 and defined under section 100 as a “process, art or method, include[ing] a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.” At issue in Bilski is whether patent protection should be granted over [...]

          This article attempts to describe the contemporary landscape of University Technology Transfer. Part 1 presents a brief history of the field. Part 2 summarizes the Litan-Mitchell model of university tech transfer and licensing optimization. Part 3 augments this optimization model. Part 4 supplements the licensing gap with entrepreneurial considerations. I.                    University Technology Transfer: An [...]

Introduction In his “Taking the Utilitarian Basis for Patent Law Seriously” Professor Olson suggests we reevaluate the current US patent regime with an eye for economic efficiency.[1] Olson points out that granting a patent is only efficient when the social benefits flowing not from the invention, but the patent itself, outweigh the deadweight loss to [...]

D.J. Girl Talk is one of the budding artists in the music industry today, and his instrument is a laptop. D.J. Girl Talk (hereinafter also referred to as “Girl Talk”), whose real name is Gregg Gillis, “samples,” or uses short clips, from other artists’ songs to create popular dance music. Girl Talk’s songs combine old, [...]

The dawn of peer-to-peer networks and the subsequent rise of file sharing over the Internet have proved to be a considerable threat to the revenues of the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) and the international music community.  While early music downloading across peer-to-peer networks on the Internet was largely limited “to college students with [...]

Cloud computing, a computer networking model that gives users on-demand access to shared software applications and data storage, [1] is becoming increasingly popular among businesses and individuals. For example, if you use Google’s Gmail [2] for your email and calendaring, or Snapfish [3] for your online photo sharing and storage; or if your business remotely [...]

History has venerated the free transfer of tangible property, and this is partly why students of copyright law can purchase their textbooks “used” at discount prices. [1] If 2L Dave buys Professor William Patry’s copyright treatise at the bookstore, Dave acquires title to the book and can freely transfer it to thrifty 1L Sara the [...]

Mainstream search engines derive their principal source of revenue from advertising. [1] Pay Per Click Advertising (hereinafter “Paid Placement”) is one of the most widely utilized advertising practices, offering content providers the opportunity to create short textual advertisements hyperlinked to their website. [2] Providers bid on keywords associated with their advertisement, [3] and when a [...]

Abstract–“The descriptions in patents are not addressed to the public generally, to lawyers or to judges, but, as [35 U.S.C.] section 112 states, to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains ***.” [1] This leads to a tenet of patent law, that the meaning of patents and claim terms must be construed [...]

The Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) regulation of drugs and medical devices impacts the everyday lives of Americans in both noticeable and inconspicuous ways. [1] For example, a recall of contaminated food or adulterated pharmaceuticals illustrates how the FDA noticeably affects impacts our everyday lives. [2] Additionally, unobservable consequences springing from the overlap between FDA [...]

Although the right of publicity has historically been a cause of action invoked by celebrities to protect themselves from an extensive range of conduct, the question remains whether non-traditional celebrities deserve the same rights. [2] Can President Obama protect against the unauthorized use of his image since he has arguably attained celebrity-like status? I believe [...]

Unlike traditional pharmaceutical drugs, which are small molecule compounds synthesized by chemists, biologics are typically large molecules that are produced in living things. [1] [2] Breakthroughs in the life sciences over the last two decades have led to new biologically derived treatments for debilitating diseases including autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, degenerative diseases, blood disorders, and [...]

“[T]he Internet represents a brave new world of free speech … [it] is fundamentally different from traditional forms of mass communication in at least three important respects. First, the Internet is capable of maintaining an unlimited number of information sources …, Second, the Internet has no “gatekeepers”–no publishers or editors controlling the distribution of information [...]

Abstract–Guitar tablature Web sites have been the subject of recent cease-and-desist letters, forcing most to shut down. Litigation has been side-stepped with the arrival of new creative means to continue operation. The case that may have gone to court is discussed here, ranging from the appropriate legal claims of copyright infringement to the fair-use-defense arguments [...]

On the heels of their ubiquitous and controversial decision in Harvard College v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents) (the so-called ‘Harvard Mouse’ case), [1] the Canadian Courts were soon asked to re-consider the issues surrounding the patentability of biotechnological inventions in Monsanto v. Schmeiser. [2] Unlike Harvard Mouse, this matter was an infringement action. At the [...]

Much of the information to the public is provided by the Internet today. The Internet has also become increasingly popular among researchers who now turn to it for articles, journals, and online databases. [2] Therefore, the question of whether an Internet reference is a “printed publication” is critical for today’s inventors, patent attorneys, and judges. [...]

Abstract–European Patent Office (EPO) practice, guided by the European Patent Convention (EPC) is in many aspects very similar to Europe’s national patent practice, such as the German patent law. In this article, the US practitioner is briefly reminded of some of the considerable differences between US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent prosecution practice and [...]