The Fair Play, Fair Pay Act of 2015: What’s at Stake and for Whom?
William W. Shields and Jeffrey S. Becker The United States Copyright Act is primed to take center stage during this current legislative session, as several members of Congress introduced comprehensive legislation earlier this year known as the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act of 2015 (FPFPA). This bill seeks to modify the Copyright Act in three key ways. First, it would create a terrestrial public performance right for recording artists and owners of master sound recordings. Second, it would eliminate the Copyright Act’s exemption against federal copyright protection for sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972. Third, it would establish...
Intersection of American Law and Technology: The Innovation Act’s Fight Against Patent Trolls
Mohamed Elfarra The economic and social burdens of frivolous litigation have led “academics, policymakers, and even judges to suggest that patent law[s] may have overleaped its proper bounds, or at least become too likely to frustrate, rather than to fulfill, its constitutional purpose of ‘promot[ing] the progress of science and useful arts’. The primary causes of this problem are the overly litigious entities pejoratively known as patent trolls, who are collectively responsible for the majority of today’s patent infringement cases. Although solutions to this complex problem are evasive, the need for reform is readily apparent. One of the most important...
A Review of the Modern IPR Process
Michael Thomas Once a patent is issued for a drug there is still a chance that the validity of the patent may be challenged. One such way a purported infringer or competitor can challenge a patent’s validity is through an inter partes review (IPR) Process allowed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Until recently the use of this process by generic drug-makers to invalidate patents has had no success. However, a recent decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) gave generic drug-makers their first break when they invalidated the patent for the multiple sclerosis drug...
Obama’s Broadband Plan
Ben Agatston This July, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), an administrative office within the Executive Office of the President, published a report that highlighted the “digital divide.” Most notably, the report found that a large number of Americans do not use a computer and “substantial disparities in both Internet use and quality of access.” By exploring Figure 3 of the Council of Economic Adviser’s report, “Mapping the Digital Divide,” it becomes clear that rural areas lag behind more densely populated, urban regions. Read Full Text Here
Telemedicine & the Courts: Teladoc v. Texas Medical Board as a Case Study
Mary Delsener Today, health insurance companies such as Aetna and United Healthcare have partnered with telemedicine companies in order to provide the service for its members. Teladoc, Inc., which markets itself as the first and largest telehealth provider in the United States, is one such company. Of all of business generated by Teladoc’s 11.5 million members, one quarter comes from Texas. Over the course of the past year, however, Teladoc’s ability to continue its services in the state has been on legally tenuous ground due to repeated steps taken by the Texas Medical Board to oust the company from its...
Telemedicine’s Opportunities and Risks; A Balancing Act
Robert Park Obstacles that can complicate successful implementation of telemedicine are the legal ramifications. Legal complications can include fraud and abuse, patient confidentiality, and compliance with state requirements. Violation of patient care can result in heavy fines, and in telemedicine, a recent case involving the Texas Medical Board and a Telemedicine company could heat up within the coming months. Because of these obstacles, healthcare organizations face an arduous journey to getting reimbursed for implementing telemedicine. Read Full Text Here
The Defend Trade Secrets Act: Arrival of the Trade Secret Trolls?
Stephen Anderson A new bill that is currently facing Congress, the Defend Trade Secrets Act, is aimed at creating a federal private cause of action under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA). It is a bill that will, if passed, expand the EEA to provide federal jurisdiction for the theft of trade secrets. There is no question as to the degree of importance the protection of trade secrets is to United States businesses and society at large. The question is whether the well-intentioned DTSA will actually do more harm than good. There are a substantial number of legal professionals...
The Daraprim and the Pharmaceutical Pricing Paradox: A Broken System?
Franklin Liu In a recent study by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the average prices for brand-name prescription drugs were found to have increased by an average of 13 percent in 2013, compared to the inflation rate the year of just 1.5 percent. The Daraprim and Cycloserine cases, while extreme illustrations, depict a broader trend of increasing U.S. drug and health care costs to patients. The two manufacturers’ pricing decisions illustrate a longstanding tension in the pharmaceutical industry between the need for firms to recoup the high costs associated with bringing drugs to market and keeping drugs affordable...
Happy Birthday to You’: The World’s Most Famous Celebratory Song’s Copyright Challenged
Kena Patel It is a well-known adage that the best things in life are free, but how true could this be with a copyright looming over the “Happy Birthday to You” song’s head? On September 22, 2015, a U.S. District Court in California freed “Happy Birthday to You” by ruling on the case Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. and declaring Warner/Chappell’s copyright invalid. Although the song is widely known by all, many individuals do not know that “Happy Birthday to You” was copyrighted at all, let alone know that Warner/Chappell was making $2 million a year from ownership. The history...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership on Internet Service Providers: Notice, Counter-Notice, and Liability Limitations
Joseph Davi With the recent release of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) intellectual property chapters, jurists and pundits have quickly begun to comb through the language and pick apart the intriguing and possibly soon-to-be influential document. While many have focused on this document’s proposed changes to the way copyright holders and infringers interact with their governments, each other, and each other’s governments, it is very important to stop and try to understand the changes that are more ground level. More specifically, it is worthwhile to take a close look at the proposed changes in how copyright holders and infringers interact...