By: Seagrumn Smith The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) may have won its domestic battle against Napster, but as an increasing number of peer-to-peer (P2P) providers crop up overseas, it has become apparent that the file-swapping battle has really just begun. As the recording and movie industries struggle to protect their copyrighted interests abroad, courts, both in the United States and in foreign countries, are being asked to answer difficult questions concerning international jurisdiction and enforcement. This ibrief will further explore these issues, particularly with reference to the RIAA’s and Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) legal efforts against Kazaa, a foreign-based P2P provider, in an attempt to assess whether copyright in the digital age can survive beyond our shores. Download Full Article (PDF) Cite: 2003 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 0008
Month: March 2003
Software Patent Law: United States and Europe Compared
By: Michael Guntersdorfer Software is a global business. Patents are increasingly the protection of choice; as a consequence, international software patent laws are of growing importance to software vendors. This article focuses on European patent law and how it differs from United States law in regards to software technology. Statutes and relevant case law of both unions are discussed and compared, providing an introductory secondary source for scholars and practitioners. Download Full Article (PDF) Cite: 2003 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 0006
Patent Royalties Extending Beyond Expiration: An Illogical Ban From Brulotte to Scheiber
By: Michael Koenig A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Scheiber v. Dolby Laboratories, Inc., called into question, yet dutifully applied, the somewhat disfavored Supreme Court patent case of Brulotte v. Thys Co. For thirty-eight years, Brulotte has served as an absolute prohibition on the collection of any patent royalties extending beyond the expiration date of the patent. As Justice Douglas stated in writing for the eight-Justice majority, “a patentee’s use of a royalty agreement that projects beyond the expiration date of the patent is unlawful per se.” Ostensibly, this concise and easily-applied exposition of the law seems sensible enough. But, the devil is in the details. This iBrief highlights the flawed reasoning underlying Brulotte as evidenced by its application in Scheiber, but ultimately concludes that overruling the case may be of little help to Mr. Scheiber in his suit against Dolby. Download Full Article (PDF) Cite: 2003 Duke L. & Tech. Rev. 0005