Blog
Crowdsourcing – Not Just for Businesses Anymore
USPTO director David Kappos is getting things done. He’s opening satellite USPTO offices, helping American University law students patent sex, and now, supporting crowdsourcing prior art searches for patent applications. Crowdsourcing is a method of tapping into the...
This Round of Map Innovation Goes to Google
Apple and Google both received press for their new map applications this month. Map technology has certainly come a long way from paper maps. Among other benefits, web maps are an important tool for attorneys. Criminal prosecutors use interactive maps to analyze key...
Can You Patent a Rectangle?
On March 17, 2004, Apple Computer, Inc. filed patent D504,889. This patent was granted on May 10, 2005. The patent claims "the ornamental design for an electronic device, substantially as shown and described below." Looking at the patent, the picture is a rectangular...
Video Games and Intellectual Property: Chrono Trigger Fan Remakes and Copyright Protection
Before I start, I’d like to state that I realize that this topic has been beaten to death, but I’d like this to be a continuing series of posts on intellectual property issues in the video game community, and this situation is fairly straightforward and serves as a...
FTC cracking down on privacy policies: Myspace, Google, & Facebook
Last September the FTC filed a complaint against Myspace for alleged violation of its privacy policy. Myspace had told users it would not provide personal information about them without first getting permission. However, Myspace had been giving advertisers information...
America’s First Patents: A Discussion with Professor Michael Risch
Last Thursday, the Intellectual Property Student Association and the Federalist Society of the University of Michigan Law School hosted Professor Michael Risch of Villanova School of Law. Professor Risch gave an intriguing talk about America’s first patents and the...
Dog Bytes
I will be the first to admit that my dog is spoiled. In our house, he has pretty much free reign, within reason, and I prefer his company to most people. No offense to humans; my dog is appreciative, doesn’t want to talk about politics and is always happy to see me....
Turning Your Porsche Cobalt Blue Just Got Easier
As NYC’s Fashion Week draws to a close it is perhaps more apparent than ever how fast trends come and go. Last year it was colored denim, this year it’s metallic brocade, and the styles featured on the runways this week will be old by the time the season they’re mean...
More damages for less infringement?
Although the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals brought Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas-Basset to a long-overdue end this week, the decision’s reasoning create a perplexing set of incentives for individuals who reflect on copyright jurisprudence before deciding whether...
Tightening Security–What We Can Learn from the Yahoo! Voices Hack
Yahoo's digital publishing platform, Yahoo! Voices, was the latest major website to fell prey to a cyberattack. A group called 'D33Ds Company' stole over 450,000 usernames and passwords from the site (fortunately, less than 5% were still valid) and published the data...
Faster Swimming Through Technology
In 1992, Speedo unveiled the S2000 swimsuit just in time for the Barcelona Olympics. The suit, which Speedo claims was the suit of choice for more than half of the swimmers who won medals [warning: PDF] that year, offered some important advantages over lycra suits...
Here’s Some Food for Thought…
Have you ever considered what the prices on a restaurant menu cover? Undoubtedly the prices cover the cost of food, the services of the chefs, waiters, busboys, and even the rent and furniture. But have you ever thought that these prices might cover the background...
Apple and the ITC: A Good Lesson for Students of Patent Law
Recently, HTC announced that some sales of the One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones would be delayed while they are examined for compliance with an exclusion order obtained by Apple from the International Trade Commission (ITC, a U.S. agency that is responsible for...
Negligent Texting
A New Jersey judge recently held that a person who sends a text message to a driver cannot be held liable if the driver causes an accident due to the text message. While most states have laws banning text messaging while driving and it is well settled that a driver is...
Android v. Apple: The Latest Round of Legal Disputes in a Long Fight
On April 24, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender of the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple was in violation of infringement of a Motorola patent on 3G wireless technology. The violation is in regards to the use of the 3G wireless technology in...
Facebook Co-Founder Eduardo Saverin: Ex-PATRIOT?
Concerned about Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin "renounc[ing] his U.S. citizenship just in time to avoid a large tax payment" on gains from Facebook's impending IPO, Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey have proposed legislation that would penalize Saverin and...
Instagram Acquisition: Not So Insta(nt)
Just over a month after Facebook's widely-reported acquisition of Instagram for one billion dollars, there are strong signals that the purchase may be delayed by the FTC. Although Facebook's CEO (and majority shareholder) Mark Zuckerberg was able to single-handedly...
Will Legal Troubles Ground Planetary Resources?
Planetary Resources, a company backed by investors such as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and director James Cameron, has announced a plan to mine asteroids. The company says it will initially mine water and platinum, hoping to “provide stability on Earth, increase...
Can Computer Code Be Stolen? The Second Circuit Says No.
Sergey Aleynikov, a former programmer for Goldman Sachs, recently became a free man. His conviction was overturned by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals after serving a year of his original eight year prison sentence. Aleynikov’s crime? He downloaded the highly...
ITU to Host Internet Treaty Conference This Year
Michael Gross writes in this month's Vanity Fair about an internet treaty conference to be held in Dubai later this year. The International Telecommunications Union, about which I've blogged in the past, will attempt to forge some sort of consensus between countries...
New Washington State Law Stopping Trafficking in its Track’s? Not Likely
According to the government in the State of Washington, “Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world today.” In response to this crime, the Washington State website against trafficking boasts that the state has passed the “most stringent...
The Disaster that was the BATS IPO and Increased Market Complexity
It is no secret that the cost of doing business in the United States is higher as a result of disclosure obligations and liability threats that stem from public company status. Accordingly, the decision about pursuing an initial public offering is one that companies...
US v. Jones and Technology’s Displacement of Values
Judge Frank Easterbrook and Professor Lawrence Lessig had a famous exchange in the late 1990s regarding cyberspace law. Easterbrook argued that scholars and judges ought not waste energy developing a body of law specific to cyberspace. Such law would be as parochial...
With New USPTO Fees, More is Less?
Imbued with its new fee setting authority after the America Invents Act (AIA), the USPTO has, unsurprisingly, decided to raise its fees. Taking a page out of the USPS playbook, the PTO is not promising any better or faster service with its increased fees. In fact,...
Posts on the MTLR Blog are editorial opinion pieces written by student-editors of the Michigan Technology Law Review. The opinions expressed in these editorial posts are not espoused or endorsed by the University of Michigan or its Law School. To view scholarly Articles and Notes published by the Michigan Technology Law Review, please visit the MTLR home page.