Wind energy is gaining prominence as a source of pollution-free electrical energy. An old environmental statute, however, may act as a roadblock for this clean, renewable energy. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the killing or taking of nearly all birds found in the United States. While this legislation has been a boon for the …
Over the last few decades, the generic drug market has grown substantially. Today, generic drugs account for four of every five drugs sold. The affordability of generics has been a welcome change for drug purchasers throughout the value chain, but thinning protections for generic drug consumers are causing many reasons for concern. Recent Supreme Court …
A convoluted system regulating arms-related technology exports has frustrated U.S. defense manufacturers for decades. The Obama Administration is implementing sweeping reforms and relaxing export controls to address these concerns. While described as an attempt to bolster national security by aiding the U.S. private sector’s dominance of defense technology markets, these reforms pose a substantial risk …
Patent trolls are companies that do not invent or manufacture any products. These companies acquire patents for routine activities, such as scanning documents to email. They then send out thousands of letters to potential infringers, demanding exorbitant fees for a license to engage in the patented activity, and threatening suit if the recipient fails to …
This Article explores whether abstract ideas can and should be patentable. Historically, the patent system’s scope has been restricted to protecting tangible products or processes as opposed to abstract ideas. Ongoing advances in information technologies, however, have blurred the boundaries of the traditional doctrine, and many recently issued patents appear to protect abstractions. A recent …
Patent cases at the district court level are one of the most complex, time-consuming, and contentious forms of civil litigation. As an alternative to the conventional, two-sided adversarial process, this Article proposes a structural change to the manner of conducting patent litigation in the district courts: the addition of a neutral litigant who, as the …
The products of synthetic biology may improve medicine, national security, environmental protection, and the economy, but under-regulated development could catastrophically compromise these endeavors. Considering the dangers exhibited by existing microorganisms and public access to tools of synthetic biology construction, the field’s untested novelty implicates human health and safety. Further, social justice concerns are raised by …
The Hatch-Waxman Act allows generic drug manufacturers to market a generic equivalent of a pharmaceutical company’s patented drug prior to the patent’s expiration by bringing Paragraph IV challenges against the patent holder. To encourage generic manufacturers to make these challenges, the Hatch-Waxman Act grants the first generic challenger (“first-filer”) for a particular drug a 180-day …
This Article contributes conceptually and empirically towards an innovation-based growth theory for developing countries. The proposed theory adheres to the growing importance given by theoreticians and policy makers alike to re-visiting the neoclassical economics “one size fits all” innovation policy propagated by current international intellectual property instruments. In arguing for an innovation-based growth theory, the …
The high-profile prosecution of the popular online storage website Megaupload for criminal copyright infringement is the latest in a series of recent criminal prosecutions of online filesharing services. This Article addresses what pushes a legitimate online file-storing business over the edge to criminal enterprise, and how criminal copyright enforcement differs from civil enforcement. The Article …
