When the United States Supreme Court hears Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. (04-480) on March 29th, it has an opportunity to consider for the first time, the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of p2p network creators and their users, the content industry, and ISPs. Over 25 of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates joined together in [...]

In 1999, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decided Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc., in which a group of Native Americans (the “Petitioners”) alleged that the term “Redskin(s)” was a pejorative, derogatory, degrading, offensive, scandalous, contemptuous, disreputable, disparaging and racist designation for a Native American person; the marks owned by Pro-Football, Inc. (“Pro-Football”), were offensive, [...]

Current trends in trademark law have not met the issue of deep linking with open arms. To date, there is a dearth of cases that touch on deep linking and trademark infringement. Cases such as Ticketmaster Corp. v. Tickets.com dismissed claims of deep linking as trademark infringement with little explanation, simply stating that deep linking [...]

In a spectrum of governments that range from totalitarian (dictator or communism) to tribal (without any central government), there is a unique form that provides a symmetrical balance between the government and the independent inventor; this symmetrical balance produces technological advancement.1 Once this symmetrical balance is discovered, it allows independent inventors to have secure and [...]

The common-law doctrine of equivalents extends a patent’s protection to cover certain similar devices that do not literally infringe on the patent’s claims. [1] It is an equitable doctrine meant to protect patentees against devices whose elements perform substantially the same functions, in substantially the same ways, with substantially the same results as the patentee’s [...]

The September 11, 2002 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York killed thousands of Americans. [1] Numerous firefighters and police officers lost their lives in attempts to save innocent civilians. [2] There is little doubt that capitalizing on such tragedy would be cruel and inhumane, yet many items memorializing September 11 were sold [...]

In 1996, Panavision International, L.P., demanded that Dennis Toeppen stop using the domain name panavision.com because it was identical to the Panavision trademarked name. Toeppen replied that he had a right to the domain name, which he had registered with Network Solutions, Incorporated. [1]   If your attorney has advised you otherwise, he is trying [...]

Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of the Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.   We have no elected [...]

Researchers and engineers have long increased the speed of scientific and technological development by borrowing ideas from others. [1] The ideas contained in a work are often learned when the work is publicly sold or used. [2] Legitimate use of other’s ideas for the benefit of broader society has its underpinnings in the U.S. Constitution [...]

As the Internet continues to become an everyday part of people’s lives, its widespread use is giving rise to complex and novel legal issues. In particular, trademark law is evolving to meet the rapid pace of the Internet. The legal community is currently analyzing traditional trademark legal principles to determine whether those principles sufficiently address [...]

Starting in the early 1980s, and ending in the very beginning of the 1990s, a number of scholarly commentators proposed that biotechnology works are proper subject matter for copyright protection. [2] Typically, these commentators focused on the idea that DNA sequences may be copyrightable works of authorship. Many commentators argued that copyrighting biotechnology might be [...]

There are two kinds of digital signatures: signatures good enough for a six dollar trade among friends, and signatures good enough for a six figure trade between strangers. [1] This Article considers both, from the digital equivalent of an initialed placemat to secure verification techniques more like notarizations. Nationally and internationally, diverse groups and bodies [...]

“If you can’t protect what you own–you don’t own anything.” [2] Motion Picture Association of America “To promote the progress of knowledge on the Internet, those who are building the Net itself need fair and predictable ground rules” [3] U.S. Telephone Association INTRODUCTION: The above quotes, the first from a member of the content community [...]

The enactment of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 [1] (“EEA”) was greeted with great fanfare as an unprecedented and broad federal attack on foreign and domestic trade secret misappropriation. Negligent, even inadvertent conversions of trade secrets seemed subject to criminal prosecution in the broad wake of the statute. The statute’s draconian criminal penalties for [...]

Gambling has been a part of American life longer than the Constitution. The first recorded instance of gambling in the English colonies occurred in 1620 with horse races in Virginia. [1] Shortly thereafter came the first instance of government in America addressing the issue of gambling when in 1621 the Plymouth Colony placed restrictions on [...]

If motorcyclists are a unique breed, Harley-Davidson motorcyclists must be considered a cult unto themselves. They have transformed the hobby of motorcycling into a lifestyle, replete with clubs, clothing, and a distinct “biker culture.” [1] The official Harley-Davidson web page describes the Harley history and allure:   In 1903, three Davidson brothers and their friend, [...]

The United States is well known for its vigorous protection of intellectual property rights owned by American nationals as well as foreigners. Similarly, the United States expects other nations to observe intellectual property rights of American nationals. Not surprisingly, the United States makes determined effort to urge other countries, especially the countries with emerging economies, [...]

Russia’s attempts to introduce large-scale competition into the Russian telephone industry got off to an encouraging start in late 1995 when a public offering of shares in Svyazinvest, the holding company representing the government’s 51% stake in 85 of Russia’s 87 regional operating companies, attracted the bids of several foreign investors. But a promising set [...]

Despite the cries of some commentators that copyright law is dead (or at least that they wish it was), [1] copyright law is fully capable of responding to the challenges posed by the new technologies of the digital revolution. Copyright law initially developed in response to the invention of the printing press, [2] and has [...]

There is an accelerating trend in the electronics industry toward implementing an entire electronic system on a single chip through the integration of multiple, reusable, virtual components including both digital and analog circuitry. These systems perform specific functions (i.e. digital signal processor graphics controllers) and are sometimes interchangeably referred to as intellectual property (“ip cores [...]