CPIP Research Scholar Jonathan Putnam and co-author Tim Williams’ paper “The Smallest Salable Patent-Practicing Unit (SSPPU): Theory and Evidence,” shows how poorly patent law measures the value of litigated patents. Using theory and empirical evidence, they show that the economic contribution of patented technology is better measured by the output, such as the commercial product, rather than the smallest input, or component, that embodies the invention. Read more
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Digital Single Market Must Protect the Rights of All Authors and Publishers
Cross-posted from the Mister Copyright blog.
In 2015, the European Commission unveiled a plan to “create a free and secure digital single market” that would expand and standardize the EU’s digital economy for the benefit of consumers. The strategy was named the Digital Single Market and one of its objectives is to modernize the EU copyright framework to fit the digital age. Read more
New Paper Addresses Flaws in Patent Holdup Theory
Stephen Haber and Alexander Galetovic of the Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Prosperity (IP2) published a new working paper on the problems with Patent Holdup Theory. In “The Fallacies of Patent Holdup Theory,” Professors Haber and Galetovic show that Patent Holdup Theory is based on three fundamental errors. Read more
Federal Circuit Improperly Extends Abstract Idea Exception to Industrial Machines
An oil well drilling rig is not an abstract idea. A method of operating an oil well drilling rig is also not an abstract idea. This proposition should be clear to all, but in TDE Petroleum Data Solutions v AKM Enterprise, the Federal Circuit held that a method of operating an oil well drilling rig is directed to the abstract idea of “storing data, receiving data, and using mathematics or a computer to organize that data and generate additional information.” Read more
New CPIP Report: The Global Patent Pendency Problem
Why are some of the biggest fights about patent policy almost pointless in some places? Because in many countries, including some of the world’s most important emerging economies, it takes so long to get patents that the rights have little meaning. Read more
Content Thief Turned Content Creator Rails Against Piracy
Cross-posted from the Mister Copyright blog.
Last week, YouTube celebrity (yes, that’s a thing now) Olajide “JJ” Olatunji posted an expletive-filled tirade aimed at those illegally downloading his new movie “Laid in America.” After fans of Olatunji (aka KSI), whose YouTube page has over 14 million subscribers, began notifying him of the film’s availability on a number of illicit torrent sites, he lashed out at the people pirating the film, listing the many legal services offering his work, and explaining – in not so subtle terms – how illegally downloading the film hurts all who contributed to its creation. Read more
Second Circuit Brings Some Sanity Back to Transformative Fair Use
The Second Circuit handed down an opinion in TCA Television v. McCollum earlier this week holding that a play’s inclusion of Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s on First?” routine was not transformative fair use. Given how expansive transformativeness has become lately, especially in the Second Circuit, the opinion is somewhat surprising. Read more
Supreme Court Should Not Reward Efficient Infringement in Apple v. Samsung
In Apple v. Samsung, the Supreme Court is presented with a classic issue of statutory interpretation in the case that has come to exemplify the Smart Phone Wars. In one of the many lawsuits brought by Apple against Samsung after Samsung rejected Apple’s offer to license its patents, a jury found Samsung liable for infringing Apple’s design patents on the iPhone. Read more
WALA and Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic Hosting Copyright Clinic and Panel
Scalia Law’s Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) are hosting a Copyright Clinic and Panel on the evening of Tuesday, November 1st, 2016, at the law school.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will give local artists, authors, and photographers the opportunity to join Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic students and attorneys for a discussion on important copyright issues. Read more
FTC’s PAE Study Makes Unsupported Recommendations
The FTC released its long-awaited study of so-called patent assertion entities, or PAEs, today. As many predicted, the FTC makes several broad recommendations for substantive and procedural reforms. The problem with this, however, is that the study was not designed to reveal the sort of data that could support such policy recommendations. Read more