Tag Archives: intellectual property

  U.S. Supreme Court To Decide if Companies Can Patent DNA Myriad Genetics has isolated a human DNA sequence used for tests to detect whether women are at a higher risk for breast or ovarian cancer. The Salt Lake City, Utah, company holds patents on two isolated genes, which gives it a monopoly on these tests. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Patent Protection Foundation assert companies should not be able to patent human genes, which occur in …

Digital music cannot be sold secondhand over the Internet, even if the seller deletes the original file, a federal judge ruled last week. The precedent-setting decision handed down by a district court in New York has implications for other digital goods like books and movies as well. “Courts have not previously addressed whether the unauthorized transfer of a digital music file over the Internet – where only one file exists before and after the transfer – constitutes reproduction within the …

The U.S. Supreme Court today heard arguments over whether big pharmaceutical companies can pay generic drug manufacturers to delay their entry into the marketplace. In FTC v. Actavis, the court will rule if payments made to preserve a name-brand prescription drug’s grip on the market count as collusion that violates federal antitrust laws, as the Federal Trade Commission is arguing. Opponents of the “pay-to-delay” system claim that the name-brand companies are essentially bribing their cheaper competitors to stay away, in …

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman whom the recording industry martyred with a $222,000 damages award after several trials for stealing music online, has reached the end of her legal rope. The U.S. Supreme Court on Mar. 18 refused to hear her argument that the damages were unconstitutionally excessive.   Excessive Damages? The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn the damages award in September, which meant Thomas-Rasset owed record companies including Capitol Records, Sony BMG, Warner Bros. Records, and …

  All news radio WTOP (103.5 FM and 107.7 FM) in Washington, D.C. interviewed Lawyers.com Editor-in-Chief Larry Bodine on Internet viral sensation the “Harlem Shake.” Read the WTOP article below. You can also listen to the radio interview in the accompanying audio podcast. ‘Harlem Shake’ artists unlikely to win copyright suit, lawyer says by Neal Augenstein, wtop.com WASHINGTON – Two recording artists whose music was sampled in the viral Internet hit “Harlem Shake” would likely not win if they took …