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Business Method Patents after Bilski v Kappos

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), on October 30, 2008, decided In re Bilski (545 F.3d 943), which had serious implications for the future of business method patents. The eleven members of that court found that a method of hedging risk...

National Trademark DNS Servers

Much has been written about the enforcement of trademarks in cyberspace. The rationale behind trademarks is to allow companies to protect their identifiable brand names and goodwill developed through investing in service, quality, etc.  Traditionally the geographic...

Trademark Infringement in Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a juggernaut of online advertising, generating huge amounts of revenue for both Google and for AdWords account holders.  It has revolutionized the way advertisers and consumers connect with each other online—and lately, it has also strained the...

FCC and the Internet: Edit->Undo?

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the FCC was not authorized to prohibit Comcast from interfering with P2P networking applications, erecting what appears to be a large roadblock on the FCC's path to net neutrality. The court held that the FCC's...

Copyright and Religion

If Jesus told you to sue for copyright infringement to protect the purity of your religion, would you?  At least one person has answered “yes.”  If someone stole your “secret” religious text and criticized it on the internet, would you sue them for copyright...

State and Federal Robocall Laws

My note, Regulating Robocalls: Are Automated Calls the Sound of, or a Threat to, Democracy? discusses the federal and state laws that limit the use of automated political phone calls. Robocalls are a popular campaign tool because of how cheap they are, with vendors...

The Performance Rights Act — The Future of Radio?

Ask the average American how much an artist receives when his or her music is played on the radio, and most will suggest that the musicians earn a penny or two per play.  And if we're talking about online radio, they would be right.  But in the context of terrestrial...

Microsoft Proposes Cloud Computing Regulation

Microsoft’s long awaited cloud computing platform, Azure, opened for business this week.  Now available in 21 countries, the platform comes with a flexible and transparent payment schedule.  This might not sound as nifty as the iPad, but startups with small budgets...

President Obama Bets Big on Solar Energy

From a technical/efficiency standpoint, it’s hard to imagine solar energy not becoming a significant contributor to our national grid.  Unlike conventional energy sources, photovoltaic cells contain no moving parts, produce minimal waste heat, and have no...

Heading toward a pathway for biosimilars

On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed a landmark health care reform bill. Included within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, which contains provisions for the regulation of cheaper versions of...

Texas DA uses Twitter to scrooge with people arrested for a DWI

PC World wrote a story that people arrested for DWI during holidays in Montgomery County, Texas will have their names put up on Twitter by the local district attorney.  So far Brett Ligon's tweets haven't included any names although there sure is a lot of information...

CPSIA – Building a Castle to Protect from the Rain

It’s been seventeen years since I tore the wrapping paper off my G.I. Joe Battle Wagon.  I believe I ended its electronic-missile-firing life a few months later with a poorly thought out tour through the bathtub.  But nearly a score later, it’s not so certain that the...

1,200 TV Stations Sue BMI Over Music License Fees

The topic of music royalties has come up time and again in 2009, from the introduction of the Performance Rights Act, currently making its way through Congress, to various digital performance royalty rate disputes, from Internet broadcasts to satellite radio. To end...

Stud or Dud: How much should your date know?

It is a fair guess that just about anyone uses the Internet regularly has run some kind of search on themselves, a future employer, their co-workers, etc. Reviewing a Facebook profile or Googling a name are two common techniques. Capitalizing on this sleuthing,...

Sexting at Work: Right to Privacy?

The Supreme Court granted certiorari to City of Ontario v. Quon on December 14, 2009 (No. 08-1332). Quon was a SWAT member who had sent and received text messages on his work-issued pager. While the city's written policy was that employees should have no expectation...

Protecting Traditional Medicines from Biopiracy

As biotechnology continues to expand the boundaries of medical treatment, it is important to protect the traditional medicines used and developed over hundreds of years by communities around the world. To that end, the Indian and U.S. government have recently taken...

Court Dismisses AT&T’s Trademark Claim Against Verizon

When AT&T sued Verizon Wireless for its "There's A Map for That" advertising campaign, AT&T could have brought a dilution claim against Verizon's use of the slogan, "There's a map for that," which is very similar to AT&T's slogan, "There's an app for...

New Legislation Targets Unsolicited Text Message Ads

New Jersey senators Joseph Vitale and Sean Kean have proposed legislation that would impose heavy fines on entities that sent unsolicited text message advertisements. Though the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was enacted prior to the advent of text messaging, such...

FCC re-examines cableCARD as part of the national broadband plan

Most people don't think of TV when the subject of broadband internet comes up.  That may change if the FCC gets its way.  The commission is currently reviewing some of its TV policies as part of its National Broadband Plan to encourage nationwide adoption.  Last...

Cloud Computing: Risks and Regulation

Cloud computing, though its definition can be expressed in a more detailed manner, is basically the next generation of IT systems organization, where data and applications are centrally accessible through individual portals such as laptops or desktops.  Many popular...

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.