George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Innovate4Health: GRIT Leveraged Freedom Chair Brings Mobility to Developing World

This post is one of a series in the #Innovate4Health policy research initiative.

innovate4healthThe World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 65 million people in the developing world need an appropriate wheelchair. Over 75% of people in the developing world live in rural areas, where standard wheelchairs do not work, as they are hard to mobilize over rugged terrain and rough local roads that may not be paved. Read more

Event Recap: Great Inventors and the Patent System

hand under a lightbulb drawn on a blackboardOn February 16, 2017, CPIP hosted a panel discussion, America as a Place of Innovation: Great Inventors and the Patent System, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The event was co-hosted by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Read more

Innovate4Health: Global Good’s “Arktek”: A Life-Saving Super-Thermos Vaccine Cooler

This post is one of a series in the #Innovate4Health policy research initiative.

Innovate4HealthMore than 1.5 million children die every year from diseases that existing vaccines could prevent. Why aren’t these children vaccinated? One big reason is that vaccines need to be kept cool until they reach patients, but that’s a really hard task in parts of the world where power is unreliable. Read more

Shaping Fair Use to Promote Fair Markets

skyline with U.S. Capitol buildingHow does fair use policy in copyright law affect markets for the production and distribution of creative works? As we come to the end of Fair Use Week, it’s a good time to highlight a report by the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies, titled “Fair Use in the Digital Age,” that offers interesting insights into how we can optimize fair use to promote fair markets. Read more

Can Copyright Help Fight Censorship in China?

cameraFree expression in China has long been a fraught concern for the entertainment industry. Last year, Chinese regulators forbade local companies from working on foreign films that could “harm national dignity and interest of China, cause social instability, or hurt the national feeling,” striking at the rapidly expanding Chinese post-production industry for Hollywood films. Read more

The European Union Extends Copyright in Design—and Critics Balk (Yet Again)

dictionary entry for the word "innovate"The European Union recently decided to support the productive labors of designers by extending legal protections of their works in all areas of copyright, design, and patent law. Just as past legislation in the United States extending copyright terms was attacked with histrionic allegations that this was merely rent-seeking behavior by politically powerful corporations, the EU’s extension of protections for designs have come under similar attack. Read more

CPIP Scholars File Amicus Brief in Trading Technologies v. CQG

a gavel lying on a table in front of booksEarlier this month, CPIP Senior Scholar Adam Mossoff penned an amicus brief in Trading Technologies v. CQG, currently on appeal to the Federal Circuit. The brief was joined by nine other IP scholars, including CPIP Senior Scholars Mark Schultz and Kristen Osenga. Read more