Intellectual Property

Understanding the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016

The Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 (CRFA) bars businesses from requiring their customers to agree not to post online reviews. These “anti-review” clauses prevented consumers from leaving feedback that would identify poorly run businesses.

Strategies for Discerning the Boundaries of Copyright and Patent Protections

Copyright law protects works of authorship, and utility patent law protects technological designs. Products like toys and software are sometimes eligible for both types of protection. Courts resist extending copyright and design patent protection simultaneously.

Computers and Robots Don’t Count: In Copyright Law, It’s All About People

This article describes judge-made rules that shield copies automatically made by computers from liability for copyright infringement. Studying these cases can help decide more difficult cases involving machines such as killer robots.

Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age: 2016 - Chapters 1 and 2

These chapters of Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age: 2016 examine the justifications for intellectual property (IP) law, which includes trade secret, copyright, patent, and trademark law. Trade Secret law protects information used by a business from misappropriation.

Copyright's Framing Problem

Many copyrighted works can be divided into smaller parts. A court’s decision to frame a copyright dispute by considering the whole work often yields a different outcome than considering only a part. Framing decisions are inconsistent. But taking a unified approach to framing makes little sense.

Divert All Trademark Appeals to the Federal Circuit? We Think Not

Some propose that all appeals of federal trademark and false advertising cases from district courts be sent to the Federal Circuit. But courts in other regions have as much or more expertise in trademark law as does the Federal Circuit.

Disclosing Big Data

Firms that collect big data rarely disclose their methods for doing so. Because of lack of disclosure, others will not trust the data enough to use it. Trade secret, patent, and copyright laws do not encourage the disclosure of big data methods.

The Audience in Intellectual Property Infringement

Each intellectual property (IP) regime (patent, copyright, design patent, and trademark) defines infringement differently. To find infringement, courts should require that the copy be technically similar to the original and that the sale of the copy affects the market for the original.

Hate Crimes in Cyberspace

Some people use the Internet to harass and threaten others, revealing victims’ real names and addresses. These attacks result in serious harms such as loss of employment, assault, and suicide. Police and prosecutors are often unwilling to help.

The Origins of American Design Protection

Design patents protect the visual appearance of a product. Innovation in early American manufacturing lead to expanded design piracy. Lawmakers created the design patent system in 1842. The proposal was modelled on British copyright protection for design.