Advocating for a world where intellectual
property law serves the public interest.

Patenting New Uses for Old Inventions

[Sean B. Seymore] Abstract: A bedrock principle of patent law is that old inventions cannot be patented. And a new use for an old invention does not render the old invention patentable. This is because patent law requires novelty—an invention must be new. But while a new use for an old invention does not make the old invention patentable, a
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A Final X-Ray of Article 13: Legislative Wishful Thinking that Will Hurt User Rights

[Communia Association] The final version of Article 13 continues to be so problematic that as long as it remains part of the overall package, the directive as a whole will do more harm than good. This is recognised by an increasing number of MEPs who are pledging that they will vote against Article 13 at the final plenary vote. The
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Dispelling Myths About Fair Use

South Africa and other countries are currently considering proposals to convert from a “fair dealing” to a “fair use” user rights system. Some critics of the change fill their arguments with hyperbole without describing the facts about what is really at stake. This note attempts to dispel some common myths about fair use by describing what fair use is, and
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Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy Sections of India’s 2nd Draft e-Commerce Policy

Last week, the Indian government released its second Draft National e-Commerce Policy, which is open for stakeholder comments. The document outlines anti-counterfeiting measures which would oblige platforms to work with trademark owners to ensure the authenticity of items sold. In cases of “high value” goods, the platform would need prior authorization from the trademark owner […]

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Acting Public Advocate and Speaker Johnson, Elected Officials, The Prep4all Collaboration, and Advocates Rally for Affordable HIV Prevention Medication

[NYC Councilmember Press Release] cting Public Advocate and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Carlina Rivera, Assembly Member Dick Gottfried, former State Senator Tom Duane, founders of the PrEP4All Collaboration (and organizers of the #BreakThePatent campaign), and advocates held a rally to call on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to exercise its march-in rights and break
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The New Legal Landscape for Text Mining and Machine Learning

[Matthew Sag] Abstract: Individually and collectively, copyrighted works have the potential to generate information that goes far beyond what their individual authors expressed or intended. Various methods of computational and statistical analysis of text — usually referred to as text data mining (“TDM”) or just text mining — can unlock that information. However, because almost every use of TDM involves
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