Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 1998 Abstract: Genetic science permits, to a previously unimaginable degree, predictions as to the illnesses that a person might confront in the future. At the same time, information technology permits greater transmission, sharing, and storage of personal health care data at ever lower costs on a national and even international […]
Privacy and the Economics of Health Care Information
Data Protection Law and the Ethical Use of Analytics, Privacy and Security Law Report
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2011 Abstract: Organizations now work in a data-rich environment. As the Article 29 Working Group of the EU recently noted, ‘‘[W]e are witnessing a so-called ‘data deluge’ effect, where the amount of personal data that exists, is processed and is further transferred continues to grow.’’From all indications, the data […]
Patent Case Management Judicial Guide
Author(s): Peter S. Menell Year: 2009 Abstract: As the number, size, and complexity of patent cases have grown throughout the United States over the past several decades – paralleling expansion in the role of high technology enterprises in the U.S. economy – the need for a comprehensive, user-friendly, and practical judicial guide for managing patent […]
Patent Claim Construction: A Modern Synthesis and Structured Framework
Author(s): Peter S. Menell Year: 2011 Abstract: The construction of patent claims plays a critical role in nearly every patent case. It is central to evaluation of infringement and validity, and can affect or determine the outcome of other significant issues such as unenforceability, enablement, and remedies. Yet jurists and scholars have long lamented the […]
From Medieval Guilds to Open Source Software: Informal Norms, Appropriability Institutions, and Innovation
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 2005 Abstract: This essay draws on recent scholarship concerning the nature and function of medieval guilds. I argue that certain features of these guilds appear in modern institutions that further collective invention (“appropriability institutions”): patent pools, industry-wide standard-setting organizations, informal knowledge exchange among academic scientists, and (in a more limited […]
Are Patents on Interfaces Impeding Interoperability?
Author(s): Pamela Samuelson Year: 2009 Abstract: Many commentators and policymakers have recognized that patents on interfaces can be and sometimes have been exercised to block the development of interoperable technologies. Out of concern about the exclusionary power of such patents, they have proposed a wide array of legal and policy measures to ensure that interoperability […]
Autonomy and Independence: The Normative Face of Transaction Costs
Author(s): Robert P. Merges Year: 2011 Abstract: Not everyone believes in the desirability of Intellectual Property (IP) rights for individual creators, but almost everyone believes that even when these rights make sense the cost of moving them around is a major headache. One aspect of anti-commons theory is the observation that the cost of assembling […]
Privacy in the Smart Grid: An Information Flow Analysis
Author(s): Deirdre K. Mulligan Year: 2011 Abstract: Smart meters, smart devices, and gateways allowing automated control of in-home devices are linchpins in an ambitious vision of creating a Smart Grid that will increase efficiency, improve grid resilience and reliability, and reduce peak demand. The collection, retention, and use of detailed usage data, however, put individual […]
Flash Cookies and Privacy II: Now with HTML5 and ETag Respawning
Author(s): Chris Jay Hoofnagle Year: 2011 Abstract: In August 2009, we demonstrated that popular websites were using “Flash cookies” to track users. Some advertisers had adopted this technology because it allowed persistent tracking even where users had taken steps to avoid web profiling. We also demonstrated “respawning” on top sites with Flash technology. This allowed […]
The PII Problem: Privacy and a New Concept of Personally Identifiable Information
Author(s): Paul M. Schwartz Year: 2011 Abstract: Personally identifiable information (PII) is one of the most central concepts in information privacy regulation. The scope of privacy laws typically turns on whether PII is involved. The basic assumption behind the applicable laws is that if PII is not involved, then there can be no privacy harm. […]