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

Reconceptualizing Open Access to Theses and Dissertations

[Orit Fischman Afori and Dalit Ken-Dror Feldman] Abstract: The global COVID-19 crisis has turned public attention to the special need for accessing cutting-edge studies that are needed for further scientific innovation. Theses and dissertations (TD) are prominent examples of cutting-edge innovative studies. TD are academic research projects conducted by graduate students to acquire a high academic degree, such as a
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End-User Flexibilities in Digital Copyright Law – An Empirical Analysis of End-User License Agreements

[Péter Mezei and István Harkai] Abstract: In the platform age, copyright protected contents are primarily disseminated over the internet. This model poses various challenges to the copyright regime that was mainly designed in and for the analogue age. One of these challenges is related to the fair balance between the interests of rightholders and other members of the society. Copyright
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Overpatented, Overpriced: Tackling the Root of the Drug Pricing Crisis

[Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge (I-MAK)] The patent system is not working as intended and the public is paying the price. Astronomical prescription drug costs are straining the healthcare system and the budgets of American families and employers. Prescription drug spending has increased 60% in the last decade to over $400 billion today. The status quo is unsustainable.
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South African Constitutional Court Reads Disability Exceptions Into Copyright

[Sean Flynn] In a huge court victory that may assist human rights and IP advocacy, the SA Constitutional Court released a quite remarkable judgment today that “reads in” the copyright amendment bill’s disability provisions into the current law because of the long delay in passing the bill. The Court finds that the lack of disability exceptions in current law violates
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Rewarding Failure with Patents

[Robin Feldman] Abstract: It is axiomatic that patents promote success. And yet, a contrary notion—that the patent incentive for medicine should be sufficient to compensate for the losses incurred when research fails—is quietly permeating modern court decisions, commentary, and Congressional discussions, coloring debates relating to pricing and regulation of medicine. The conceptualization is moving forward unchallenged, as if failure compensation
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The UK Government Moves Forward With a Text and Data Mining Exception for All Purposes

[Alina Trapova and João Pedro Quintais] As previously reported, between October 2021 and January 2022 the UK Intellectual Property Office held a public consultation on the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property laws... the UK government has now decided to introduce a new copyright and database right exception which allows TDM for any purpose, i.e. including commercial uses.
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