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Keynote address at the 2014 North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology symposium.
Volume 15
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When the Founding Fathers promulgated the Progress Clause of the U.S. Constitution, they recognized the potential for certain types of patents to impede rather than promote innovation. The drafting of the Patent Act and its interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court similarly recognized that abstract ideas, laws of nature, and products of nature do not …
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Myriad Genetics’ long-time monopoly on BRCA gene testing was significantly narrowed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Association of Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., and will be further narrowed in the next few years as many of its still-valid patents expire. But these developments have not caused the company to acquiesce in competition. Instead, …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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