An array of new state policies and declining costs for clean energy technologies have opened electricity markets to many new participants, including electric utilities’ own customers. Most low- income customers, however, lack the resources to access these markets. Indeed, low-income customers already face disproportionately high energy and transportation burdens. Regulators and utilities have expressed concerns …
Through a historical analysis spanning nearly five decades, this Article provides a comprehensive discussion of how demand response (reductions in electricity consumption in response to grid emergencies or price signals) has become both a growing resource on the electric grid and a policy trailblazer in the grid’s ongoing transformation. The discussion centers on three separate …
Uber, a company that offers ride-sharing arrangements through its smartphone app, has quickly grown in popularity. As Uber grows in widespread use, injuries involving rides arranged through Uber have been on the rise. Uber maintains that it is a technology platform that connects users on its app, not a transportation company. Such a characterization would …
For the most part, United States patent law is only concerned with activities that take place in the United States and its territories. One of the rare exceptions to this may be found in 35 U.S.C. § 271(f). The first part of this statute makes it an act of infringement for a party in the …
Michael Rothwell previously published an article, Patents and Public Rights: The Questionable Constitutionality of Patents Before Article I Tribunals After Stern v. Marshall, in JOLT’s Volume 13, back in 2012. In response to a rebuttal piece, Michael Rothwell wrote this current piece to further discuss the relevant issues of the constitutionality of Article I post-grant …
The financial technology field is a rapidly growing sector that threatens to disrupt established financial institutions and their accompanying regulatory structure. New types of financial services and products do not fit neatly into the current regulatory landscape, which has hampered growth and competition with traditional financial institutions. This article advances the idea that the Office …
The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), tasked with promoting and protecting public health, has long been recognized as the gatekeeper for drugs. However, the agency has not been immune from criticism from patients and industry stakeholders over its time-consuming and clinical data-driven approval processes, alleged to hinder potentially effective drugs from reaching the market as …
Technology’s ever-changing pace has left law enforcement officials with the job of finding legal ways to investigate and search suspected criminal activity. The advent of the Internet has left these officials with a challenging landscape to navigate regarding what is considered a search and what constitutes probable cause to obtain a search warrant based on …
With the rapid growth of technological innovations in today’s society, manufacturers are in constant competition with one another to produce the best looking and most distinct products on the consumer market. To prevent an inventor’s new and unique design from replication, Congress established the design patent to protect the appearance of any new, original, and …
On July 21, 2015, in light of emerging technology involving autonomous driving vehicles, the United States Senate proposed Senate Bill 1806, or the Security and Privacy in Your Car Act, to address issues surrounding these technologies. The “SPY Car Act” attempts to address issues surrounding cybersecurity, data privacy, and hacking of autonomous driving vehicles. The …
