Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2009 Abstract: Telecommunications surveillance raises complex policy and political issues. It is also a matter of great concern for the general public. Surprisingly enough, however, the phenomenon of telecommunications surveillance is poorly measured in the U.S. at present. As a result, any attempt at rational inquiry about telecommunications surveillance is […]
Keeping Track of Telecommunications Surveillance
The Continuing Vitality of Music Performance Rights Organizations
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 2008 Abstract: Some commentators see the need for major changes in the legal and institutional framework surrounding the music industry. Some proposals call for revising or eliminating performing rights organizations (PROs), which have for many years now represented the interests of songwriters in their dealings with broadcasters and other companies […]
Operating Efficiently Post-Bilski by Ordering Patent Doctrine Decision-Making
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 2011 Abstract: Now that the Supreme Court has decided Bilski v. Kappos, there is an enormous amount of speculation about the case’s impact on patent applicants, litigants, and other participants in the patent system. Most of the commentary is concerned with the holding in Bilski, how this holding will be […]
Regulating Governmental Data Mining in the United States and Germany: Constitutional Courts, the State, and New Technology
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2011 Abstract: For the anthropologist Clifford Geertz, law is “part of a distinct manner of imagining the real.”1 In Local Knowledge, he argues that, at a fundamental level, legal systems create a way of envisioning the world and then develop different kinds of “techniques”—whether through legal institutions, methods, or doctrines—that […]
Promoting Patent Claim Clarity
Author(s): Peter S. Menell Year: 2012 Abstract: Fuzzy patent claim boundaries undermine the functioning of the patent system by making it difficult for inventors and competitors to assess freedom to operate in many technology marketplaces, especially those relating to computer software and business methods. This commentary advocates the use of a detailed, electronic, claim application […]
Foundations and Principles Redux: A Reply to Professor Blankfein-Tabachnick
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 2013 Abstract: This is a response to a commentary by Professor David H. Blankfein-Tabachnick (“B-T”) on my book, Justifying Intellectual Property (JIP) (2011). In JIP, I describe IP law at three levels: foundations, midlevel principles, and specific doctrines and institutions. At the bottom are foundational justifications for the field, ultimate […]
Patents in the University: Priming the Pump and Crowding Out
Author(s): Suzanne Scotchmer Year: 2013 Abstract: The Bayh-Dole Act allows universities to exploit patents on their federally sponsored research. University laboratories therefore have two sources of funds: direct grants from sponsors and income from licensing. Tax credits for private R&D also contribute, because they increase the profitability of licensing. Because Bayh-Dole profits are a source […]
A Quick Guide to Software Licensing for the Scientist-Programmer
Author(s): Jennifer Urban Year: 2012 Abstract: Computing is ubiquitous in every domain of scientific research. Software is the means by which scientists harness the power of computers, and much scientific computing relies on software conceived and developed by other practicing researchers. The task of creating scientific software, however, does not end with the publication of […]
Does Familiarity Breed Contempt Among Judges Deciding Patent Cases?
Author(s): Jennifer Urban Year: 2013 Abstract: We offer the first comprehensive look at how a district judge’s experience affects decisionmaking in patent cases. We find that that there is a strong, statistically significant relationship between a judge’s experience and case outcome: more experienced judges are less likely to rule for the patentee. Notably, the relationship […]
Exploring Information Sharing through California’s ‘Shine the Light’ Law
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2009 Abstract: Consumers have a dim understanding of how companies share personal information. To “shine a light” on information sharing practices, the authors employed a unique California law to survey the information sharing practices of 112 businesses. This follow-on study to a similar, smaller survey in 2007, found that four […]