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Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Houston, We Have A Public Domain Problem – Commentary

Parker Higgins is an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation: “I received a bogus copyright takedown notice for using public domain audio on SoundCloud yesterday. The sound in question—the famous “Houston, we have a problem” snippet of the Apollo 13 mission—is incontrovertibly available to all, for any use, without copyright restrictions. The fact that it’s… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Aviation Safety, Export-Import Bank, Medicare Fraud, Traffic Safety

AVIATION SAFETY: Additional Oversight Planning by FAA Could Enhance Safety Risk Management, GAO-14-516: Published: Jun 25, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 25, 2014. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK: Status of GAO Recommendations on Risk Management, Exposure Forecasting, and Workload Issues, GAO-14-708T: Published: Jun 25, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 25, 2014. INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional Oversight Needed to Improve Programs at Small Agencies, GAO-14-344: Published: Jun 25, 2014. Publicly Released:… Continue Reading

Launch of openFDA Beta Research Project

“OpenFDA offers easy access to FDA public data and highlight projects using these data in both the public and private sector to further regulatory or scientific missions, educate the public, and save lives. OpenFDA is specifically designed to make it easier for developers, researchers, and the public to access and use the many large, important, health… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Federal Software Licenses, Foster Children, Freshwater

FEDERAL SOFTWARE LICENSES: Better Management Needed to Achieve Significant Savings Government-Wide, GAO-14-413: Published: May 22, 2014. Publicly Released: May 22, 2014: “The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the vast majority of agencies that GAO reviewed do not have adequate policies for managing software licenses. While OMB has a policy on a broader information technology (IT) management… Continue Reading

Metropolitan Museum Initiative Provides Free Access to 400,000 Digital Images

“Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced today that more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum’s world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum’s website for non-commercial use—including in scholarly publications in any media—without permission from the Museum and without a fee.… Continue Reading

IBM Research Discovers New Class of Industrial Polymers

News release: “Scientists from IBM Research have successfully discovered a new class of polymer materials that can potentially transform manufacturing and fabrication in the fields of transportation, aerospace, and microelectronics. Through the unique approach of combining high performance computing with synthetic polymer chemistry, these new materials are the first to demonstrate resistance to cracking, strength… Continue Reading

Restatement of Place

Kuykendall, Mae, Restatement of Place (May 2, 2014). Brooklyn Law Review, Vol. 79, 2014; MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-09. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2432212 “Images and intuitions of place are ubiquitous in human thought. Dominion over place is one of the first anchors of the conception of law, providing a rationale for sovereign control over… Continue Reading

The USPTO Trademark Assignment Dataset: Descriptions, Lessons, and Insights

Graham, Stuart J. H. and Marco, Alan C. and Myers, Amanda F., The USPTO Trademark Assignment Dataset: Descriptions, Lessons, and Insights (April 1, 2014). USPTO Working Paper No. 2014-2. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2430962 “Attention to the asset value of intellectual property (IP) has traditionally concentrated on high-value patent sales and licenses. This narrow focus neglects non-patent… Continue Reading

The Forever Battery – Brainchild of Older Gen Silicon Valley Team

Via Nextgov: “Imergy Power Systems’ headquarters in an office park in one of Silicon Valley’s less glamorous precincts is the type of place where the future used to be invented. There are no Beats headphones-wearing 20-somethings on scooters. No foosball tables, rooftop beer garden or ironically named conference rooms. No birdhouses. Just a sea of drab,… Continue Reading

Commentary – How Copyright Laws Keep E-Books Locked Up

The Digital Paradox: How Copyright Laws Keep E-Books Locked Up By Hilmar Schmundt “…In many cases, it is the readers themselves who, through their taxes, pay the university authors whose studies they are then unable to access. It is also likely that many professors themselves cannot even afford a subscription to the journal in which their work… Continue Reading

New on LLRX – 3D Printing: The Manufactory of Knowledge

Via LLRX.com – 3D Printing: The Manufactory of Knowledge – Ken Strutin’s article addresses the increasing use and impact, social and legal, of the emerging and high visibility technology known as 3D printing. The technology’s use in a wide range of sectors – including education, manufacturing, firearms, robotics and medical devices, as well as in the home – is… Continue Reading

Are Prior User Rights Good for Software?

Vetter, Greg R., Are Prior User Rights Good for Software? (March 17, 2014). U of Houston Law Center No. 2014-W-1. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2410689 “The America Invents Act (“AIA”) gave modern patent law in the United States a general prior user rights defense. The patent right is enforced via infringement litigation, but enterprises sometimes obtain… Continue Reading