Monday Morning JETLawg: Patent Law Symposium this Friday

JETLaw Symposium on Patent Eligibility

JETLaw’s 2013-2014 symposium, Patents 101: From Computer Code to Genetic Codes, will take place on Friday, Jan. 24th, at Vanderbilt Law School. The symposium focuses on what, exactly, is eligible for patent protection. Chief Judge Randall Rader of the Federal Circuit will deliver the keynote, and panels will address software patents, gene patents, and patent eligibility generally.

The symposium is open to the public and will be webcast here. You can submit questions (in advance) for the panel moderators to consider here.

Monday Morning JETLawg

Now, on to the latest news in entertainment and technology law:

• The D.C. Circuit strikes down the FCC’s “Net Neutrality” rule, potentially allowing internet service providers to charge customers not just baed on how much data they use, but where the data is coming from (or going). The FCC can still appeal to the Supreme Court, or attempt to issue a new rule that passes muster at the DC Circuit.
• Google Images now allows you to filter searches by image reuse rights, for example only returning images that can be adapted and redistributed for commercial use. [via Lessig]
• Sony/ATV settles with Marvin Gaye’s family in a lawsuit over Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” Thicke had preemptively sued the Gayes (after they made some media statements about the song) seeking a declaration that it did not infringe the copyright in Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up.”
• Kanye West sues the anonymous creators (as well as the web hosts) of the Bitcoin-like “parody cryptocurrency” called “Coinye.” Apparently this is a thing, because Chuck Norris has also filed claims against the apparent creators of “Norris Coin.” [via Hollywood, Esq.]
• A federal judge denies preliminary approval of the NFL’s  $765 million settlement in a concussion-focused class action lawsuit against the league, fearing it might not be enough to cover 20,000 ex-players. [via Hollywood, Esq.]
• A record 98 underclassmen opt to make the jump from the unpaid college football world into the NFL draft.
• At Steptoe & Johnson’s Cyberblog, Jason M. Weinstein calls on Congress to further punish hackers, not just create a national breach notification standard, in the wake of the Target 100-million-plus customer data breach.
• Google acquires the smart appliance company Nest, possibly presaging the search giant’s development of a “smart home division.”
• Engineering deliciousness: Hershey’s partners with a 3D printer manufacturer to develop a 3D printer for chocolate.
• President Obama calls for changes in the NSA’s data collection programs, including the winding down of the current database of Americans’ phone call metadata, as well as requiring a court order for each number the agency searches. [via SANS]
• In the e-discovery realm, this court took the unusually harsh step of entering summary judgment on liability as a sanction for spoliation. (The spoliation was pretty bad though.)

–Brad Edmondson

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