Contrary to popular perception, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., finding certain patent claims reciting isolated genomic DNA molecules patent ineligible is likely to have a relatively minor impact on the patenting of diagnostics and personalized medicine. Method claims generally play a much more important role than …
While manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and customers wait on the dilatory FAA to create formal rules governing commercial drone integration into the U.S. airspace, states have begun to regulate drones on their own accord. However, the direction of state legislation risks the benefits of an emerging industry worth billions—an industry in which the United States has a …
Since the 1980s, the outcome of the fair use defense to copyright has appeared to turn on whether the secondary use provided the infringer with any commercial benefit. However, recent cases suggest that the commerciality inquiry is no longer controlling. In November of 2013, Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. authorized Google Books to use …
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), the nation’s leading anti-hacking statute, criminalizes unauthorized access to any computer in the world. The CFAA does not specify what types of computer use qualify as unauthorized access, and circuit courts are split over approaches to defining the term. Although some courts have held that violations of private …
Carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) is an emerging climate change mitigation strategy involving the permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide captured from emission sources like power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized a rule (the “Conditional Exclusion”) that excludes CCS operations from all hazardous waste regulations under the Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act. Instead …
Everyone knows what “apps” are (or they will know soon). Apps fill our smartphones, tablets, and computers; apps will fill our cars and control our homes. Apps of all varieties have been downloaded billions of times by sophisticated technologists and grandparents alike. These apps are collecting and sharing data in previously unimaginable ways. Developing standard …
Smartphones and tablets have provided a plethora of new business opportunities for a number of industries, including healthcare. Technology, however, appears to have outpaced the regulatory environment, which has spawned criticism over the current guidance of the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for mobile medical applications. Commentators have remarked that the FDA’s guidance is complex …
ReDigi is a cloud based internet company that facilitates the buying and reselling of pre-owned digital music. A recent ruling against ReDigi by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seemed to cast doubt upon its business model. This article analyzes the decision in Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc. and …
The right to be forgotten or mandatory deletion of online information squarely confronts the First Amendment right to free speech. But the underlying problem provoking advocates of a right to be forgotten is only increasing: harmful information posted online has the real potential to destroy a person’s reputation or livelihood. In addition, the way Internet …
Presidential Policy Directive 20 authorizes the United States government to counterattack state-sponsored hackers who target America from overseas, such as recent malefactors from Syria and China. However, despite actively legislating in the field of cybersecurity, no act of Congress authorizes or rejects Presidential Policy Directive 20. Because an execution of the directive could cause collateral …
