Uncategorized

BLOG POST: Closing the Third Party Doctrine Loophole: An Argument for the Blockchain Integrity Act*

*This writing is a Blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Mira Ward When James Madison wrote the Fourth Amendment, he likely never predicted that 250 years later, Americans would argue for privacy over Bitcoin transactions.[1] During the Revolutionary War, the Fourth Amendment protected American colonists from unwarranted searches and seizures.[2] In 1967, the Court built upon Fourth Amendment jurisprudence in Katz v. United States.[3] Katz specified that a person must have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” to protect their interest from search and seizure.[4] For example, Katz ruled that a reasonable privacy interest exists over that which is physically enclosed from the public, such...
2025Blog Post

BLOG POST: Is (Fair) Competition Alive and Well? The Demise of the FTC’s Proposed Ban on Non-Compete Clauses*

*This writing is a Blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Ariana Harris Non-compete clauses have long faced skepticism.[1] Though intended to protect a company’s proprietary information (e.g., trade secrets, business plans) by limiting employee mobility and thus avoiding unfair competition, their legitimacy is sometimes questioned with respect to unfair employment practices.[2] Advocates for a nationwide ban argue reduced non-compete enforcement raises wages and boosts innovation.[3] These individuals cite increased innovation in California resulting from the state’s ban on non-compete clauses and prevention of monopolies.[4] Opponents of a nationwide ban argue employers might invest less in employee...
2025CopyrightPatentTrade SecretTrademark

Protecting Native Knowledge Systems? Implementing WIPO’s GRATK Treaty

Allie Verdesca The World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK) was passed in May 2024 to establish a mandatory patent disclosure requirement for inventions that are based on genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge. This Article assesses whether the United States should ratify it. By grounding the challenges of Native intellectual property (IP) interests within the historical context of the American IP system, this Article argues that ratifying the GRATK Treaty is necessary to support Native IP rights. Although the Treaty’s provisions alone may not fully protect tribal sovereignty, its ratification,...
2025Technology Law

Waivers to the Ryan Haight Act and the Future of Telemedicine

Quinn Hartman Under the Ryan Haight Act (RHA), the federal government has tightly restricted the prescription of controlled substances through telemedicine. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, which led millions to rely on telemedicine, lawmakers have introduced and renewed waivers to these restrictions to ensure continued access to treatment. By relaxing enforcement, those waivers have inadvertently spawned a resurgence in the unlawful activities that the RHA aimed to prevent. This Article proposes that special registration, a reliable process allowing legitimate providers to apply for the ability to prescribe virtually, is a better alternative to renewing the waivers, as it preserves telemedicine...
2025Privacy

BLOG POST: The Golden State Killer and the Privacy Risks of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing

*This writing is a blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Jordan Rose In 2018, a breakthrough in a 40-year-old unsolved case involving a series of homicides, sexual assaults, and burglaries, known as the Golden State Killer, shocked the public.[1] Law enforcement used an innovative, yet controversial, approach to identify the suspect.[2] Investigators uploaded an unidentified DNA sample from one of the original crime scenes to GEDMatch, an open-source genetic database specifically designed to provide consumers a method of identifying genetic relatives by uploading their DNA samples, rather than to help identify criminal suspects.[3] Over four months,...
2025Blog Post

BLOG POST: Generative AI – The Future of Efficient Police Reporting?*

*This writing is a blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Maeve Silk Axon Draft One is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that generates police reports using recorded audio from body cameras.[1] Police departments across the United States use such tools to increase efficiency.[2] Officers spending less time writing reports are free to spend more time directly interacting with, and protecting, members of their community.[3] If officers no longer draft police reports independently, their reduced direct involvement in the process—which reinforces accountability—could affect their policing methods.[4] Many fear that the use of AI to generate police reports...
2025Blog PostCopyright

BLOG POST: Copyright Royalty Distribution Law Violations in the Streaming Era – A Solution to the Problem*

*This writing is a blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Melina Iavarone Music has never been more accessible.[1] Digital service providers (DSPs) like Spotify and Pandora allow consumers to stream songs digitally.[2] The shift to streaming has also transformed how artists get paid.[3] Despite massively lucrative streaming careers, major names like Taylor Swift have taken issue with how mechanical copyright royalties are distributed.[4] In 2014, Swift temporarily removed her discography from Spotify, believing that the streaming service should not undercut her profits by allowing users to access her music for free.[5] Specifically, she objected to Spotify’s...
2025Blog Post

BLOG POST: Chain Reactions – Decentralized Web3 Markets and the Jurisdictional Challenge*

*This writing is a blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal article. Mira Ward Augmented reality, virtual reality, and decentralized finance are the essential building blocks of Web3, the third generation of the internet.[1] Intuitively, Web3 is the successor of Web1 and Web2.[2] Web1 refers to the earliest phase of the internet, a set of non-interactive sites aimed at content consumption rather than creation.[3] Web2 allowed for content creation and user interaction.[4] Web3 offers a decentralized, borderless online economy where users can own and trade assets.[5] The decentralized nature of Web3, the Metaverse, and encrypted transactions raises numerous...
2025Data PrivacyTechnology Law

Fragmented Data Privacy Laws: Time for Federal Legislation

Lydia Rudden Federal data privacy legislation is necessary to safeguard consumer data against privacy breaches by tech companies with increasingly intrusive data practices. In 2018, California pioneered its own comprehensive data privacy legislation, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Currently, with nearly half of U.S. states in the process of formulating their own digital privacy laws, businesses are struggling to maintain compliance, causing financial difficulties and harming innovation. Piecemeal state legislation also leaves consumers with disparate protection depending on where they live. Without a comprehensive and uniform federal law, Big Tech lobbyists shift their focus to securing industry-friendly regulations from...
2025Copyright

The Art of Economic Restraint: Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith

Kristine C. Braddock Copyright aims to incentivize the creation of original art, but it does so at the cost of public access. As technology has evolved over the past two hundred years, Congress has persistently extended the copyright term, theoretically providing more incentive and less public access. But this trend toward perpetual protection strains the “limited Times” constraint of the Copyright Clause, whose entire purpose is to maximize creative output. This Article examines the implications of an extended copyright term, focusing on its impact on artistic innovation, particularly in light of Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v....