Professor Michael J. Madison | University of Pittsburgh School of Law | Intellectual Property and Electronic Commerce

Intellectual Property and Electronic Commerce -- Spring 2002
Prof. Michael Madison
University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Readings

Recommended background and reference material:

Overview of electronic commerce issues, including discussions of intellectual property issues: Jane Kaufman Winn and Benjamin Wright, The Law of Electronic Commerce (4^th ed. 2001), on reserve in the Pitt Law Library
The business of electronic commerce: Excerpts from Patrick H. Sullivan, ed., Profiting from Intellectual Capital: Extracting Value from Innovation (1998), on reserve in the Pitt Law Library
The business of electronic commerce: Resource materials on “The Information Economy,” presented by Dean Hal Varian of UC-Berkeley (http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/resources/infoecon/)
The changing technology of electronic commerce, and associated legal problems: Jane Kaufman Winn, Open Systems, Free Markets, and Regulation of Internet Commerce, 72 Tulane L. Rev. 1177 (1998) (http://faculty.smu.edu/jwinn/esig.htm)

One: What is intellectual property, what is electronic commerce, and what do they have to do with one another?

E-Commerce background

Speculative Microeconomics for Tomorrow's Economy, J. Bradford DeLong and Michael Froomkin http://personal.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/spec.htm

Sun Microsystems v. Microsoft case study: strategic issues involved in IP in e-commerce

Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 999 F. Supp. 1301 (N.D. Cal. 1998) (granting preliminary injunction)
Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 21 F. Supp. 2d 1109 (N.D. Cal. 1998) (granting preliminary injunction)
Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 188 F.3d 1115 (9^th Cir. 1999) (reversing preliminary injunction)
Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 992 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (reinstating preliminary injunction)
Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 2000 WL 33223397 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (granting Microsoft’s motion for summary judgment)
Technology License and Distribution Agreement, at http://java.sun.com/lawsuit/document.www.html or http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/sunwvmsft/60311tlda.htm
Review the effect of United States v. Microsoft Corp. on the business relationship between Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, at http://java.sun.com/lawsuit and http://www.microsoft.com/java/issues/openletter.htm)

The limits of private ordering

Cohen v. Paramount Pictures, 845 F.2d 851 (9^th Cir. 1988)
Random House, Inc. v. Rosetta Books LLC, 150 F. Supp. 2d 613 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)

IP primer, if needed

Professor Andrew Beckerman-Rodau has assembled a brief, useful, and readable account of relevant intellectual property law, at http://www.law.suffolk.edu/arodau/ipbasics/ipbasics.htm
Copyright Act, at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/index.html. Review sections 101-107, 109, 117.
Lanham Act, at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/ch22.html. Review sections 1051, 1114, 1117, 1125, 1129.
Patent Act, at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/35/index.html. Review sections 101, 102, 103, 271, 273.
Uniform Trade Secrets Act, at http://execpc.com/~mhallign/usta.html

Two: Where does intellectual property come from (I: The Money)?

Background: Secured lending in the intellectual property context

Alice Haemmerli, Insecurity Interests: Where Intellectual Property and Commercial Law Collide, 96 Colum. L. Rev. 1645 (1996) [Read the following sections: Copyright: 1645-68, 1672-95; Patent: 1668-72, 1696-1716; Trademark and trade secret: 1716-21]

Copyrights

In re Peregrine Entertainment, Ltd., 116 B.R. 194 (C.D. Cal. 1990)
In re World Auxiliary Power, 244 B.R. 149 (N.D. Cal. 1999)

Patents

In re Cybernetic Services, Inc., 252 F.3d 1039 (9^th Cir. 2001)

Trademarks, trade secrets, and domain names

In re Together Development Corp., 227 B.R. 439 (D. Mass. 1998)
Network Solutions, Inc. v. Umbro International, Inc., 259 Va. 759 (2000)
Section 9-311 of the Uniform Commercial Code, at http://www.law.pitt.edu/madison/ecommerce/9-311.htm
Section 9-408 of the Uniform Commercial Code, at http://www.law.pitt.edu/madison/ecommerce/9-408.htm
Ronald J. Mann, Secured Credit in Software Financing, 85 Cornell L. Rev. 134 (1999) [Read in particular 147-165]

Optional

Optional: Software Sale, License and Development Agreement, at http://techdeals.biz.findlaw.com/agreements/drkoop/salelicenseanddev.html
Optional: Development and License Agreement, at http://techdeals.biz.findlaw.com/agreements/nettaxi/nettaxiebaylicenseagt.html

Three: Where does intellectual property come from (II: The People)?

Resolving competing claims of ownership of intellectual property rights

Works for hire

Aymes v. Bonelli, 980 F.2d 857 (2d Cir. 1992)
MacLean Assocs. v. Wm. M. Mercer-Meidinger-Hansen, 952 F.2d 769 (2d Cir. 1991)
IXL, Inc. v. Adoutlet.com, 2001 WL 315219 (N.D. Ill. 2001)

Joint authorship

S.O.S., Inc. v. Payday, Inc., 886 F.2d 1081 (9^th Cir. 1989)
Holtzbrinck Pub. Holdings, L.P. v. Vyne Communications, Inc., 2000 WL 502860 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)

Collective works

New York Times Co., Inc. v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483 (2001)

Shop rights

United States v. Dubilier Condenser Corp., 289 U.S. 178 (1933)

Unfair competition

MTV Networks v. Curry, 867 F. Supp. 202 (S.D.N.Y.1994)
Northwest Airlines v. American Airlines, 853 F. Supp. 1110 (D. Minn. 1994)
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. v. Avant! Corp., 125 F.3d 824 (9^th Cir. 1997)
Avant trade secrets trial to begin, CNET, May 14, 2001, at http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5904356.html
Avant ordered to pay $182 million, CNET, July 19, 2001, at http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6618114.html?tag=bplst

Optional

Optional: Ronald Gilson, The Legal Infrastructure of High Technology Industrial Districts, 74 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 575 (1999)
Optional: Model Technology Assignment Agreement, at http://techdeals.biz.findlaw.com/agreements/glasser/techassignmentagmnt.html
Optional: Model Consulting Agreement, at http://techdeals.biz.findlaw.com/agreements/glasser/consultingagreemnt.html
Optional: Model Non-Disclosure Agreement, at http://techdeals.biz.findlaw.com/agreements/glasser/onewaynondisclosure.html

Memorandum Assignment Number One will be distributed following this set of readings

Four: Where does intellectual property come from (III: The Product)?

Standards, compatibility and reverse engineering

Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v. Accolade, Inc., 977 F.2d 1510 (9^th Cir. 1992)
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp., 203 F.3d 596 (9^th Cir. 2000)
Lotus Development Corp. v. Borland Int’l, Inc., 49 F.3d 807 (1^st Cir.1995)
Micro Star v. Formgen Inc., 154 F.3d 1107 (9th Cir. 1998)
Mark A. Lemley and David McGowan, Legal Implications of Network Economic Effects, 86 Cal. L. Rev. 479 (1998) [Read 481-500, 523-37]
Optional: Mark A. Lemley and David McGowan, Could Java Change Everything? The Competitive Propriety of a Proprietary Standard, 520 PLI/Pat 453 (1998)

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001)
RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc., 2000 WL 127311 (W.D. Wash. 2000)
Optional: Pamela Samuelson, Intellectual Property and the Digital Economy: Why the Anti-Circumvention Regulations Need to be Revised, 14 Berkeley Tech. L. J. 519 (1999)

Preemption of state contract law by federal intellectual property law

ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7^th Cir. 1996)
Softman Products Co. v. Adobe Systems, Inc., 171 F. Supp. 2d 1075 (C.D. Cal. 2001)

Memorandum Assignment Number One will be due following this set of readings

Five: What do firms do with their intellectual property (I)?

Background

Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, “The Information Economy,” chapter 1 of their book, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy (1999). The text is available on-line through Amazon.com, at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/087584863X/excerpt/002-1688081-8864817 (click on the “Look Inside” icon above the picture of the boook), and through Barnesandnoble.com, at http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?userid=2V6QXRQ4CF&mscssid=&salesurl=Iwww.inforules.com/reading.htm&isbn=087584863X&displayonly=chapter (look for the link that says “Read Chapter”). The website for the book as a whole is located at http://www.inforules.com/

Patents

Amazon.com v. Barnesandnoble.com, Inc., 239 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2001)
Xerox Corp. v. 3Com Corp., 267 F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2001)

Copyright and the DMCA

A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9^th Cir. 2001)

Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 280 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2002)

Optional: Mark A. Lemley, Dealing with Overlapping Copyrights on the Internet, 22 U. Dayton L. Rev. 547 (1997)

Trademarks and Domain Names

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. v. Check Point Technologies, Inc., 269 F.3d 270 (3d Cir. 2001)
ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, at http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm
Lucasfilm Ltd. and Lucas Licensing Ltd. v. Cupcake City and John Zuccarini, at http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2001/d2001-0700.html
Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., 756 F. Supp. 1292 (N.D. Cal. 1991)

Data Protection

Ebay v. Bidders’ Edge, 100 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (C.D. Cal. 2000)
Southco, Inc. v. Kanebridge Corp., 258 F.3d 148 (3d Cir. 2001)
EF Cultural Travel BV v. Explorica, Inc., 274 F.3d 577 (1^st Cir. 2001)
Optional: Maureen O’Rourke, Shaping Competition on the Internet: Who Owns Product and Pricing Information?, 53 Vand. L. Rev. 1965 (2000)

Six: What do firms do with their intellectual property (II)?

License or sale? Of price discrimination, digital rights management, and open source licensing

DSC Communications Corp. v. Pulse Communications, Inc., 170 F.3d 1354 (Fed. Cir. 1999)
Adobe Systems Inc. v. One Stop Micro, Inc., 84 F.Supp.2d 1086 (N.D. Cal. 2000)
Communications Groups v. Warner Communications, Inc., 138 Misc. 2d 80, 527 N.Y.S. 2d 341 (1988)
Microsoft Corp. v. Harmony Computers & Electronics, 846 F. Supp. 208 (E.D.N.Y. 1994)
Novell v. Network Trade Center, 25 F. Supp. 2d 1218 (D. Utah 1997)
Michael J. Meurer, Price Discrimination, Personal Use and Piracy: Copyright Protection of Digital Works, 45 Buff. L. Rev. 845 (1997)
Licensed to Bill, from Wired magazine, October 2001, at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.10/drm.html
David McGowan, Legal Implications of Open Source Software, 2001 U. Illinois L. Rev. 241 (2001 UILLR 241) (2001) [Read pages 253-75]
Open source licensing, defined, at http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.html
Compare the Mozilla Public License, at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
Compare the GNU Public License, at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html

Memorandum Assignment Number Two will be distributed following this set of readings

Seven: What do firms do with their intellectual property (III)?

Background

Optional: Primer on Antitrust Law, prepared by the Federal Trade Commission, at http://www.ftc.gov/bc/compguide/index.htm
Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property (Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, 1995), at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/ipguide.htm

Refusals to deal

Image Technical Services, Inc. v. Eastman Kodak Co., 125 F.3d 1195 (9^th Cir.1997)
Optional: In re Independent Service Organizations Antitrust Litigation, 203 F.3d 1322 (Fed. Cir. 2000)

Tying

United States v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001)
Optional: Caldera Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 72 F. Supp. 2d 1295 (D. Utah 1999)

Misuse

Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds, 911 F.2d 970 (4^th Cir. 1990)

Standards

Intergraph Corp. v. Intel Corp., 195 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 1999)
Optional: Maureen A. O’Rourke, Striking a Delicate Balance: Intellectual Property, Antitrust, Contract, and Standardization in the Computer Industry, 12 Harvard J. L. & Tech. 1 (1998)
Optional: Mark A. Lemley, Antitrust and the Internet Standardization Problem, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 1041 (1996) [Read pages 1079-92]

Memorandum Assignment Number Two will be due, and Memorandum Assignment Number Three will be distributed following this set of readings

Eight: When bad things happen to good IP (I)

Background

The bankruptcy process, at http://www.ncbj.org/faq1bktcylaw/chapter.htm

Intellectual property assets of the bankruptcy estate

Stuart S. Moskowitz, Intellectual Property Licenses in Bankruptcy: New "Veto Power" for Licensees under Section 365(n), 44 Bus. Law. 771 (1989)
Lubrizol Enterprises v. Richmond Metal Finishers, 756 F.2d 1043 (4th Cir. 1985)
11 U.S.C. § 365(n)
Optional: FTC v. Toysmart.com, LLC, Complaint at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/07/toysmartcomplaint.htm, Settlement at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/07/toysmartconsent.htm, and a summary of the final resolution of the case at http://news.com.com/2100-1017-251893.html?legacy=cnet&tag=mn_hd

Nine: When bad things happen to good IP (II)

Debtor as licensor

In re Prize Frize, Inc. 32 F.3d 426 (9th Cir. 1994)

Debtor as licensee

In re Quintex Entertainment, Inc., 950 F.2d 1492 (9th Cir. 1991)
Harris v. Emus Records Corp., 734 F.2d 1329 (9th Cir. 1984)
Gardner v. Nike, Inc., 279 F.3d 774 (9th Cir. 2002)
In re CFLC, Inc., 89 F.3d 673 (9th Cir. 1996)
In re Catapult Entertainment, Inc., 165 F.3d 747 (9th Cir. 1999)

Memorandum Assignment Number Three will be due following this set of readings

Last edited: July 24, 2002