BLOG POST: DR. AMAZON: SHINING A LIGHT ON HIPAA INADEQUACIES THROUGH AMAZON’S EXPANSION INTO THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY*
*This writing is a blog post. It is not a published IPTF Journal Article. Alexa Dawid Technology giants are spending billions to enter the healthcare space.[1] Offerings like Apple’s health monitoring functions on the iPhone, Microsoft’s cloud computing services for healthcare companies, and Meta’s fitness applications through its virtual reality goggles have transformed traditional notions of doctor’s offices and paper records into convenient digital systems.[2] Amazon has been one of the most ambitious within the space, debuting six HIPAA-compliant skills for Alexa in April 2019.[3] These skills mark the first time Alexa has surpassed HIPAA requirements in utilizing HIPAA-compliant...
BLOG POST: Lessons from the China Initiative: The Perils of Pursuing Foreign Policy Through Prosecutions*
*This writing is a Blog Post. It is not a published IPTF Journal Article. Joshua Nacht One week before Jeff Sessions was fired as Attorney General, he announced the November 2018 creation of the Justice Department’s “China Initiative”.[1] The China Initiative emerged to counter myriad economic and national security threats, including intellectual property (IP) theft, forced technology transfer, cyberespionage of trade secrets and national security information, and efforts to obtain and/or penetrate critical military technology.[2] By some estimates, these PRC-linked efforts cost the United States up to $30 billion a year, and have totaled $600 billion cumulatively.[3] Under Attorney General...
BLOG POST: Promises, Patents, and the Pandemic: Moderna v. Pfizer*
Emily Stark *This Writing is a Blog Post. It is not an official IPTF Article Publication. In 2020, the world desperately needed a vaccine to address the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Three companies: Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, developed and produced vaccines that would allow people to return to their ordinary lives.[2] Two of those companies, Moderna and Pfizer, both used mRNA to develop the platforms for their vaccines.[3] Researchers had been developing mRNA vaccines for years prior to the pandemic.[4] Moderna is responsible for much of the development of the mRNA vaccine technology, and Moderna filed for patents in 2010...
Disclaimers: The Solution to Source Confusion in Sports Merchandising?
William Wheeler This Article evaluates the ramifications of modern trademark law in the context of sports apparel and logos. Collegiate and professional sports teams have utilized modern trademark law to enact a licensing regime where third-party companies must pay royalties to produce apparel with collegiate logos. This regime assumes the inherent value of trademarks on sports apparel is derived from their association with the teams they represent, not the logo itself. This Article examines various approaches courts have taken to address the dichotomy between the necessary consumer association and the reality that the logos themselves are what draw consumers. Most...
The Supreme Court’s Missed Opportunity to Save Genus Claims in Life Sciences Patents
Alexander Franzosa The life sciences industry is a vital sector of the American economy, and its success is reliant on the protection of patent holder rights. One common feature in life sciences patents is the genus claim, a claim type traditionally allowing the patent holder to claim a group of related species based on common functionality. A novel interpretation of “written description,” a required element for patent applications, has emerged in recent decisions by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This new interpretation has caused concern among some members of the life sciences industry regarding the validity of...
“Your Honor, the Car Crashed Itself”: Navigating Autonomous Vehicle Liability in an Age of Innovation
Julia Doskoch Autonomous vehicles are increasingly permeating the consumer marketplace. This trend has caused a conundrum in tort liability law. It is standard in product liability law for manufacturers to be held strictly liable for defective products, but there is a gray area when autonomous vehicles are involved in car accidents due to defects. This Article dissects various proposals concerning how the legal system should proceed regarding autonomous vehicle liability. This Article also advocates for federal regulation to define the legal personhood of autonomous vehicles in the eyes of the law. Read Full Text Here
The Secret Life of Platform Intellectual Property Adjudication
Shih-wei Chao An emerging trend in intellectual property law is e-commerce platforms adjudicating infringement disputes. When platforms receive right holder complaints and decide whether to remove product listings, suspend the seller, or destroy the infringing inventory—intentional or not—they are acting as “courts,” applying unique “laws” and granting platform-style “remedies.” To provide a peek into this nascent realm of intellectual property alternative dispute resolution, this article first compiles what is known about platforms’ adjudication mechanisms, from complaint to decision, from enforcement to “appeals,” covering both platforms’ basic complaint systems and Amazon’s UPNEP/APEX program. Normatively, however, there are concerns that platforms are...