Rising interest in biometrics—the modern umbrella term for physical and behavioral characteristics possessed by humans and used to identify one another—has motivated large technology companies to produce products that allow consumers to access vital information using only their unique biometric identifiers. Because biometric information is unique to each person on the planet, it is a …
Many companies, particularly in the Gig Economy, have been the target of lawsuits alleging that they have misclassified workers as independent contractors rather than employees. These issues often present bet-the-company litigation, with billions of dollars and the companies’ very business models at stake. Although there is near-universal recognition that the division of workers into two …
In copyright law, the author of an original work has the exclusive right to prepare further works derivative of that original. Video game developers’ works are protected by the Copyright Act. As video games take advantage of more advanced technology, however, players are doing more creative, interesting, and original things when they play games. Certain …
Human colonization of the planet Mars is not a question of “if” but rather of “when,” or “how soon?” The challenges ahead are immense but so too are the perceived benefits. This article addresses an aspect that, thus far, has been largely unexamined: the interaction between intellectual property laws on Earth and the mammoth Mars …
Society has long enjoyed the benefits of medical advances. In numerous cases, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical (biopharmaceutical) industries build on knowledge accumulated over centuries by traditional communities. As in the case of aspirin and morphine, the use of this knowledge has reduced the time and cost it takes to develop new drugs. Despite the community’s …
This Article reconsiders the drugs-for-the-developing world debate that has taken place in the shadow of free trade liberalization. For the last twenty years, this debate has centered on a supposedly zero-sum conflict between access to drugs for residents of the “third world” and incentives for pharmaceutical multinationals to invest in research and development. Underlying this …
Autonomous vehicles raise new liability questions on the road because the vehicles themselves can act negligently, independent of the human driver’s intentions. For now, these liability questions are expected to be answered through the incremental common law system, rather than by legislation. This means courts will draw analogies and distinctions between autonomous vehicle accidents and …
Blockchain technology has the potential to impact systems and processes across a broad spectrum of industries, including government functions. Several countries are currently exploring the application of blockchain technology to real property record management to take advantage of the security and ease that the platform can foster. Benefits may include lowered transaction costs, more secured …
Partisan gerrymandering, the practice of shaping district lines to the advantage of one political party, has haunted American politics for centuries. Innovations in districting software have sharpened the effects of partisan gerrymanders by increasing their advantages while concealing their creation. In response, courts are reevaluating the judicial manageability of partisan gerrymandering. Any standard arising from …
In its recent decision in Elliot v. Google, the Ninth Circuit reinforced Google’s trademark significance against claims that the mark “google” should be canceled under the Lanham Act due to the public’s verb usage of the trademark. The public’s “verbing” of popular marks has become a particularly onerous problem for internet and technology trademark owners …
